Former Kilkenny hurler, Tommy Walsh calls on the public to support Pieta’s urgent appeal for donations and join us for ‘Sunrise’ on May 9th to mark the occasion
Whether in the jersey of Tullaroan, St Kieran's College, UCC or Kilkenny, Tommy Walsh has usually found a way to survive and thrive.
The past couple of months have brought challenges, but Walsh instantly recalls Ger Loughnane's words about remaining focused and optimistic when the most demanding questions were being asked.
People have been forced to deal with different circumstances due to Covid 19, but Walsh has embraced the situation.
"I'm working from home so most days are the same Monday to Friday," Walsh says.
"I get up early in the morning, working away throughout the day. It is the evening time really where everything changes.
"I dived into the whole home life really. I was telling the lads earlier on, I remember listening to an interview with Ger Loughnane on Off the Ball, it really had a great influence on the way I was thinking.
"He had got very sick that time, he had to go to hospital up in Dublin for quite a while. Rather than just saying why me the whole time he just said I'm going to dive into this life. 'Whatever they ask me to do, I'm going to do.'
"Since then it is a great mindset to have I always thought - very, very positive. So when this happened, working at home, you don't leave the house. So I just dived into home life."
It has led to endless hurling and games in the Walsh household.
Tullaroan won the AIB All Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Championship at Croke Park in January.
"Once I'm finished work in the evening I'm outside until about half nine or 10 o'clock most nights," Walsh explains.
"Not wondering about hurling or anything else. I'm playing a lot of games of tip the can. A lot more than I did in my childhood. I spend about an hour every evening playing tip the can."
That brings a much needed sense of joy and fun which had swept through Tulloaran from autumn until January.
Kilkenny, Leinster, and All Ireland Intermediate titles decorated a glorious campaign, but having the return to the senior ranks in the county deferred for a stint hasn't overly bothered Walsh.
"Not really," Walsh replies. "That time will come. But it would be very tough if we don't get hurling in this year. The club is on such a high. We won, and we enjoyed it and we parked it.
"We had time to enjoy it which is so important. But now it's in the past. We have that whole positivity coming from that, that might have helped you this year. So it's probably disappointing from that side of things.
"We have great young lads there, the culture has been brilliant the last couple of years. You'd worry when you win, when people get to the holy grail, does that hunger diminish? From what I've seen from the young lads, it's encouraging them to train even harder and better.
"So you'd be looking forward to it coming around. You'd be hoping that if it's safe to do so, 2020 won't be lost yet. Senior is exciting because suddenly you could be marking a county lad.
"If you're to get a score or two off one of them, or mark one of them, you know it's just back to the big time really." In that company Walsh always prospered.
