𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝘆𝗻𝗰𝗵

The sudden passing of Tom Lynch which occurred on Tuesday evening last came as a great shock to his many friends in Cavan and beyond. His passing severs another link with the great Cavan teams of the 1960s.
Tom won a junior championship medal with Castlerahan in 1959 but when Mountnugent was reformed in 1961 he commenced playing with his native club. He won a junior championship medal in 1964 and a senior league medal in 1967 when Mountnugent defeated the great Crosserlough team in the final.
Tom played his first football with Cavan juniors in 1959 and he got his place on the senior team for the national league that autumn. He started his career at centre half-back but soon teamed up at midfield with Ray Carolan and for years the two dominated many games and were widely recognised as one of the top centre-field pairings in the country. Tom was very much part of the legendary clashes between Cavan and Down in the 1960s which are often recalled as both counties vied for supremacy in Ulster. He played in six Ulster finals against the great All-Ireland winning Down teams and he was on the victorious Cavan team in 1962, 1964, 1967 and 1969. He was a powerful player, and an outstanding fielder of the ball with a keen positional sense. He played in Cavan’s two memorable victories in Wembley in 1966 and 1967 and he won Dr McKenna Cup medals in 1962 and 1968.
After he retired he continued to be heavily involved with the Mountnugent club and he also served as a Cavan senior selector with the late PJ Carroll in the early 1980s. In later years he was deeply involved in Cavan minor football and he managed the Cavan minor team in 1991-92.
Tom was elected as honorary President of Cavan GAA in 2023. He was a regular attender at club and county games in Kingspan Breffni and was always to be seen around the stand enjoying the banter and a bit of slagging among his many friends. He had a great love of Cavan and was always a happy man when they won. His passing is deeply mourned by his many friends in different walks of life.
The officers of Cavan Co Board extend their deepest sympathies to his sons Tomas, Conor, Fergal and Cathal, their mother Kathleen, his daughters-in-law Regina, Aisling, Katja and Debbie, his close friend Alice, his grandchildren his sister Bernie and his extended family and the Mountnugent club.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.