Sincere sympathy to the cunningham family got to know Tom very well a true gentleman RIP Tom

Sincere sympathy to Tom's family. A true gentleman and great Waterford man. It was a pleasure to have known him. May he rest in peace.

Tom a lovely gentle man may you rest in peace Tom our thoughts and prayers are with all your family at this time

Deepest sympathy to all the family at this time.May Tom rest in peace

DUNGARVAN GAA NOTES REGRETTED DEATH OF CLUB LEGEND TOM CUNNINGHAM The club was saddened to hear of Tom’s death last Thursday morning in hospital in Waterford. Tom was our oldest member, and a treasured one, not just because of his achievements on the inter County playing fields around Munster and Ireland but also because of the service he gave to the club he began with and his loyalty to it from start to finish. Most of Tom’s generation have gone before him and it is those people who had the pleasure of seeing ‘Cunn’ in action with his Waterford team mates in the halcyon days of the late 1950’s and early sixties. Those players lifted Deise folks’ lives in that period of time and they were the heroes of the young people growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Tom’s achievements on the playing fields are well chronicled, three Munster senior hurling medals in 1957, 59 and 63 with his All Ireland medal won in the middle of those three years. This gave him the full collection of championship hurling medals on offer in those times as he had previously been part of the County minor hurling side that won Munster and All Ireland in 1948. Always included in Tom’s C.V is his winning point for the Waterford senior football team when they beat Kerry in the Munster senior football championship in Walsh Park in 1957. Though the County did not go all the way and win the Munster championship, this feat enabled Tom to create club history in being our only player then and since to play in Munster finals in both codes in the one year. He refereed the Munster senior football final between Kerry and Cork in Killarney in 1959 with his two umpires being fellow Inter County hurlers Frankie Walsh and Larry Guinan. In the Railway Cup, Tom was a duel player on Munster teams. He represented his Province in football for six years in a row from 1955 to 1960 and he was on the hurling side in 1964. When Tom’s inter County career finished in 1966, he threw himself into the administrative side at inter County level when he was elected as one of Waterford’s Munster Council representatives. He held this position, undefeated in County Convention elections from 1967 to 1991 until he retired from this position after 24 years of dedicated service, the year a certain Fergal Cunningham was named under age footballer of the year in Waterford... Briseann an duchais. Many outside our club will not be aware of the service Tom Cunningham rendered it. He first served on the club committee as an 18 year old in 1951, the following year he was treasurer and he went on to fill many positions including secretary of our under age teams in the 1960’s. While Tom was in the middle of his inter County career, he trained our minor footballers to win the County title in 1961, he was involved in our under 16 hurling win in 1964 and the minor title in 1966. Into the 1970’s, Tom trained our intermediate hurlers to win the County title in 1978 and he trained adult teams in the 1980’s and juvenile sides in the 1990’s. His late friend Seamus O Brien once said that one of Tom Cunningham’s greatest attributes was his wisdom and the Dungarvan club benefitted from this right up to recent times when his guidance was often sought on club matters. Behind the scenes, he was very much a key negotiator in the purchase of our club grounds in the 1980’s and when it was up and running he helped maintain the fields. Tom was one of the club’s five trustees all his life. In his later years, Tom loved walking around the club grounds and asking about developments and he always enquired about the result of club games and who such and such a young fellah was. His last visit to the club was at the beginning of this year with Fergal but we feel that his presence will always be there along with his contemporaries who ensured that our club eventually had a home of its own to enjoy. Though he was 91 years old, nobody regarded Tom as old and that someday he would not be with us. However, that day has now come and Cumann Dungarbhain extends its sincere sympathy to his family at this sad time for them. We won’t use clichés to conclude just to say that all of us were fortunate to have known Tom Cunningham and may the sod of his beloved town rest lightly on his noble breast. THANKS The club committee wishes to thank all of our club members who attended Tom’s funeral services last weekend and who took part in the guard of honour on route to and outside the Parish chapel. A special thank you to the Enterprise pop up pipers who played a lovely tribute to Tom as his cortege passed through the square on Saturday, an unexpected but lovely touch by his fellow townspeople. Our senior hurling league game against Ballygunner was postponed as a mark of respect to Tom and a minute’s silence was observed before the Waterford v Tipperary Munster senior football championship game at the Fraher Field on Saturday evening with the National flag at half mast.