Tomás Mac Gabhann, who with his wife Treasa died recently in a tragic accident, was a stalwart of the Irish language movement and well-known as a trade union organiser.
He was born of Irish parents in 1921 in Glasgow where he spent his early years, holidaying each year in his parents' home area of Castleblayney, Co Monaghan. On the death of his father, the family returned permanently to live on his grandparents' farm.
He continued his education at the local technical school where his teacher Micheál Ó Marcaigh encouraged his interest in Irish, which had been sparked by his grandmother, a native Irish speaker.
On completing his education, he found employment in a footwear factory, the first industrial enterprise to open in Castleblayney in the 1930s. A committed trade unionist, he became an organiser for the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in Cos Monaghan and Armagh, representing footwear, grocery and hospital workers, and was a Labour Party candidate in the local elections of 1948.
With John Hume and others he pioneered the credit union movement in Ireland.
Having been a member of the highly idealistic Craobh na hAiseirí of Conradh na Gaeilge, he followed his fellow-members into Glún na Buaidhe in 1942. He was closely involved with the Irish-language weekly Inniu, working full-time for its associated printing and publishing business in Westport, Co Mayo.
In 1952 he began working for Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, travelling by van to every corner of Ireland to sell books in Irish published by Sáirséal agus Dill. He founded Club Leabhar na Sóisear to foster the reading of Irish-language literature among secondary school students.
Working for Gael Linn, he made a major contribution to the development of the national inter-schools debating competitions and the introduction of Gaeltacht scholarships.
He was a founder in 1973 of Gaelscoileanna, the Irish-language schools movement, and served as president of the organisation. One result of his endeavours is the tenfold increase in pupils attending Gaelscoileanna during the last 30 years.
He was a long-time friend of Breandán Ó hEithir, who dedicated his 1988 book Sionnach ar Mo Dhuán to him. They first met in 1952 when Ó hEithir joined him to work at Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge.
In Over the Bar, Ó hEithir recounted how he doubted that he would last a week in the job but for Tomás Mac Gabhann. "He cheered me greatly by telling me that I seemed to possess the degree of lunacy necessary for survival in the strange world of which I was now to become a part."
Tomás Mac Gabhann more than anyone else encouraged his younger colleague to write in Irish.
He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Ireland and its people. Working selflessly for the good of the country, his life was a practical example of patriotism. Sociable and humorous, his conversation was full of anecdote.
In 1953 he married Treasa Brennan. From Doohamlet, near Castleblayney, she shared his enthusiasm for and dedication to the Irish language.
Theirs was an Irish-speaking household, and while he worked tirelessly to promote Irish she was the backbone of the family. Tomás and Treasa Mac Gabhann are survived by their daughters, Siobhán and Máire, and sons, Ultan and Dara.
Tomás Mac Gabhann: born, August 13th, 1921; died, September 24th, 2003