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He could have been an Irish ambassador to any country at any time such was his sheer presence and personality, his natural intellect and approachability, his warmth and wide understanding of human nature.
Tom Mc Kay was born in 1935 in the townland of Aughlisnaflin outside Castlewellan, and the family moved shortly after to Merchants Quay in Newry and later to their permanent home in Courtney Hill.
Like so many others of that time, he was too early to avail of the 1947 Education Act and so, having left school at 14, largely educated himself to become such a distinctive personality in Newry and in Crossmaglen.
Following school he went to work in Quinns of the Milestone in the town and eventually took up his life long occupation in Department of Employment. Tom was initially inspired into community and local sporting action by his father Tommy, a well known Newry Shamrocks GFC personality who founded the famous Newry GAA street leagues back in the fifties involving up to 12 teams, and devoted himself relentlessly to the promotion of gaelic football at every level.
Along with his younger brothers Anthony and Benny, Tom played for the Shamrocks senior team and along with Tony Hadden, Eddie Burns and TP Murphy and were part of the successful Shamrock side of the mid fifties, winning the Co Down senior league and championship double in 1956. He was remembered as ‘big strong full forward,’ and earlier played in four consecutive minor finals, winning in ‘53, ‘54 and ’55.
But it was as club secretary and treasurer that his administrative gifts and rare style of leadership set him apart. There was a glow of friendly efficiency and self confidence about him that set him apart. He could inspire by his very presence and attitude, and could always see the big picture.
Club president Mickey Keenan said that Tom Mc Kay shaped generations of players and volunteers, always working behind the scenes, a man of quiet strength and confidence, with a deep passion for gaelic games. His legacy, he stated, would live on in every corner of Páirc Esler.
When he married Joan on Sept 2, 1963 they came to live in her native Crossmaglen. But it wasn’t long before his gifts were in demand and he became involved in ROSA - Regeneration of South Armagh, notably in the development of such prominent constructions as the Cardinal Tomas O Fíaich Centre in Cullyhanna and the Ti-Chulainn cultural-events-and- in Mullaghbawn. He was awarded the Benemerenti medal by the Pope and also received the St Patricks medal from the Archbishop of Armagh for his outstanding service to parish life in Crossmaglen over a long period. Tom served for many years as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the local St Josephs High School.
Tom accepted an offer to become involved in Project Children in his district under the American Denis Mulcachy , an organisation dealing with children from disadvantaged areas by bringing them on extended trips to the United States.
In 1996 he became PRO for the local Rangers club and held the position for the next twenty years throughout the most successful period of any GAA club in Irish history, six All-Ireland titles, eleven Ulster titles and nineteen consecutive Armagh titles.
His PRO work over that long period was a masterpiece of presentation and is remembered to this day as very much a part of the overall club memory and folklore of those tremendous days . He got to know all the sports reporters both local and throughout Ireland, balancing the needs of the reporters and the team - the lasting image of a smiling Tom Mc Kay always on top of his game.
A statement from the club following his death on Sunday 29 June described Tom as a true supporter and dear friend, thanking him for his long and dedicated service, that he represented the black and amber of Rangers with pride and distinction. It stated how he was immensely proud of his daughters, Áine & Sinéad, son-in-law Joey and grandson Aaron when they togged out for the Rangers. Joey (Cunningham) also wore the orange jersey of Armagh with distinction.
It was appropriate that the minutes silence in his memory was announced in Croke Park itself on the day of his death Sunday 29 June where his very name instantly silenced the full championship intensity of the day.
His overall life reveals what is possible in a given society where the positive, warm and visionary personality asserts a presence. The enrichment reaches so many, lasts so long, in Newry, Crossmaglen, anywhere.
He is predeceased by his wife Joan, and survived by his daughters Patricia (McKeown, Lurgan), Siobhan (Cunningham, Crossmaglen), Sinead (Morgan, Dromintee) & Áine (Muckian, Mullaghbawn), sons-in-law, David, Joe, Mickey and Shane, grandchildren, Sister Marie (Lambert) and the entire McKay and McShane families.
