‘I had some wonderful times in both jerseys’ – Walsh’s fond memories of Carlow/Wicklow days

Tom Walsh is talking whiskey and football, single malts and Mick O’Dwyer.

Walsh is in Boston, where he has lived now for over 10 years, his work with Netwatch took him to America and effectively brought the curtain down on a fascinating intercounty career, certainly one less ordinary.

On Sunday, Carlow face Wicklow in the Leinster SFC. It might be a tad crude to label it the Tom Walsh derby, but for a period no player possessed a greater hold over this fixture.

In 2007 Walsh’s transfer from Carlow to Wicklow catapulted two of the GAA’s least celebrated counties towards the top of the prevailing sports discussions.

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Walsh, who was living in Wicklow at the time, transferred from his home club Fenagh to Bray Emmets. It was a contentious transfer, Carlow vehemently objected to the move but eventually it went through at the third attempt.

Walsh made his Wicklow debut on this very date, April 8th, in 2007. He would play with Wicklow for three years before returning to Carlow in 2010 – the Hollywood scriptwriters fixing it that his first game back would be against . . . Wicklow.

He played for Carlow in 2011 too but had moved to America prior to the 2012 season. He recently set off on another road less travelled, along with his brother Patrick, who also represented Carlow, they have created a family whiskey enterprise – Flying Tumbler.

But before we get to that, Walsh’s decision to take flight for Wicklow is not something he has discussed much over the years. Seanie Johnston recently spoke about the negative impact arising from his Cavan-Kildare transfer, but Walsh evaluates his crossover experience very differently.

“I’ve so many wonderful memories, whether it was with Carlow or Wicklow,” he recalls. “My personality is built in such a way that I always just loved playing, whether it was hurling, football, rugby, it was all about playing and meeting new people. And when you consider it, that was just a small period of my overall time playing sport.”

Walsh debuted with the Carlow senior footballers in 2002, having already represented the Barrowsiders at hurling, and that January the talented midfielder was part of a history-making team that won the county’s first ever O’Byrne Cup.

But few journeys are linear and some end up in the unlikeliest of places. Just weeks after stepping away from Laois in 2006, Mick O’Dwyer was announced as Wicklow’s new manager.

Carlow had also tried to attract Micko, but they were outmanoeuvred by Wicklow. And within weeks, one of their best players would also be in the Wicklow dressingroom.

“Micko had this aura about him,” says Walsh. “You felt he would change any team for the better. I obviously had great respect for him and what he had achieved, so I guess it worked out that I kind of followed Micko to the Promised Land.

“Having that positivity and the mindset of striving for success, whatever that success is, being part of a team with that culture was definitely appealing to me.”

In Micko’s first year Wicklow won the Tommy Murphy Cup.

“He knew how to get the best out of individual players to increase the overall team performance. Whereas I’ve been involved in other teams where probably it’s more robotic, he had a good mix of both.”

In April 2008 Wicklow beat Carlow in a league game, during which Walsh scored a point. Patrick played with Carlow during that period, but the siblings never met as opposing players.

For the early part of 2009 he concentrated on one of his other sporting loves, rugby. Walsh played in the Towns Cup for Tullow, who at the time were coached by one Seán O’Brien.

Walsh then rejoined the Wicklow squad ahead of the championship – during which they beat Longford, Fermanagh, Cavan and Down.

He transferred back to Fenagh after that campaign ended and eventually rejoined the Carlow footballers on the eve of the 2010 championship. His return generated plenty of debate, especially as Carlow were to face Wicklow in the first round of the championship, but he never allowed outside noises to bother him.

“I’m very fortunate where I’m from, because I’m a farmer’s son,” Walsh says.

“I like to challenge myself and to do different things. Dad instilled in us the value of hard work and my mother instilled the value of positivity and keeping the head up.

“I think that’s how I’ve always operated, it’s almost like a light switch. Some people use negativity as fuel for the fire, but I’ve learnt over the years that real success in life comes from surrounding yourself with positive things and positive people.

“When I look back on that period, all of the stuff I remember and talk about, they are positive memories.”

Still, in that comeback game for Carlow, against Wicklow in Portlaoise, Walsh got sent off after picking up two yellow cards. Wicklow eased to victory, 3-13 to 0-12.

“My intention was always to go back, return home as such, and play out my days with Carlow,” he adds.

“But it was interesting to be playing Wicklow first. I don’t remember anything being said to me on the pitch, getting involved in that kind of stuff was never my game, but I do recall sitting on the sideline with 10 minutes to go and wondering what does the next year hold here.”

But the coda of his Carlow-Wicklow dovetail story was a positive one. In February 2011, the sides played out a league draw, during which Walsh netted an important second-half goal for Carlow.

“Did I? It wouldn’t have been something I was known for,” he smiles.

However, it was to be his last season. When Walsh moved to America he didn’t seek out a GAA team but instead joined the Boston Irish Wolfhounds rugby club.

And over the years, sparked by the brothers having a keen interest in whiskey, an idea germinated and ultimately Flying Tumbler was born.

“We are bonders, blenders and bottlers,” says Walsh. “Our whole concept is we are sourcing different whiskeys, different matured natural spirits from distilleries around Ireland, bringing them all back to our central location in Carlow and we are putting together unique blends.

“We came up with this concept about five years ago, and it was based on trying to diversify our farm, just to have a different angle on traditional farming.”

Their signature brand, The Bird, is now available in Massachusetts and the plan is to push it out across the rest of the US over the next 12 months.

“The flying tumbler is an Irish homing pigeon, the bird leaves its home loft every morning and returns in the evening.

“It’s kind of a nice play on being Irish, leaving, going across the world, which I have done and so has Patrick, he was in London. The whole idea is we are returning to the family farm with this.”

They use water from the farm to cut the whiskey down to 43% ABV and eventually they want to convert all their storerooms into bonded warehouses where people can have tastings.

Thankfully, for Tom Walsh there has been no lingering bitter aftertaste from his days representing both Carlow and Wicklow. Indeed, if anything he feels fortunate to have been afforded those experiences and opportunities.

“I had some wonderful times in both jerseys,” he says. “I definitely wouldn’t hand them back for the world.”

Whiskey and football, in the end it’s about getting the blend just right.