A proud native of Galway, he got his first taste of GAA involvement with Belcoo over four decades ago when he was asked to take on the responsibility of coaching some underage teams. Tim quickly moved up the ladder and represented the club at committee level in the role of secretary and chairman. 

 

“The late Maurice Ferguson got me involved in coaching at underage levels and that was back in the early 80s. I have been a committee member. I was the secretary for a while and then I was the club chairman for six years.”

 

Now, despite not being a permanent member on the O’Rahillys committee, Tim has been entrusted with the job of club groundsman and while the role can sometimes be quite challenging, Tim feels very privileged to be able to help his club out.

 

“In recent times, I was just a committee member and like a lot of people, a general gofer by just doing things that needed to be done and doing different bits of volunteering. I am not a committee member any more. I make myself available to the club as and when they require somebody to do something that needs to be done and I am always available.

 

“I ended up being the groundsman inadvertedly. I used to be helping Larry McKeown mind the fields sometimes and whenever he retired I carried on the role. Myself and a few other boys take on this role with Phil [Corrigan] being the other main committee man.”

 

Looking back over a lifetime of service to the Belcoo club, Tim feels very fortunate to have been able to help the club out in all of these different roles and also to be able to continue to stay involved in his native sport in this particular capacity.

 

“It was rewarding because you don’t stay at a thing if you don’t enjoy it and it was a personal satisfaction. I am a GAA man and it is my main sport and I am happy to help the club in whatever way I can.”