In January 1949 he started work as a house accountant in the Old Ground Ennis, which was owned during this time by the O’Regan family.
In 1951 he commenced the first self-drive car business in Co.Clare, as there was no self drive at Shannon until 1953. He operated the Car Rental business on a sideline basis and developed it.
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| At the Club in 1952 |
In 1952 he joined the local conference of St. Vincent de Paul, where he devoted a lot of time in helping the less well off in the community.
In 1953 Tom married Breda Fahy from Bunratty. She also worked in the Old Ground. Also in 1953 he became a founder member of An Tostal, organizing events at local level to attract visitors, which was the forerunner of Bord Failte.
Tom recollects: “The early 50’s saw the development of the first hard court in Ennis which was planned and built by members voluntary labour. Those principally responsible were Bill Ryan, Dermot Geraghty, Mick O’Sullivan and a little help from yours truly. The work extended over an approx 12 month period and was acclaimed at the time as a great success giving us an option to grass-court play.”
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| Breda second row 2nd from left |
Tom was elected Tennis Club Treasurer in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961.
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| Breda |
Breda also played tennis and featured on many teams.
“Socials or Hops were held at the Clubhouse every Saturday night during the season with an entrance fee of one shilling and three pennies in the early days but later increased to 1/6.The increase gave rise to controversy from some of the members who objected to the “exorbitant” increase which resulted in some members intentionally arriving late and paying the original entrance fee, claiming as they that they had missed over an hour’s dancing. To ensure that the new charge was implemented in its entirety, yours truly, as Treasurer at the time, used to call to individuals after the weekend to collect the extra 3 pence. There was no such thing as an overdraft operated at the time, so the Club was never in debt. Music for the socials was provided by the McMahon Brothers and Michael Ball. Yours truly acted as M.C. for the Hops during which we used to have fun dance variations such as a “Statue Dance”, “Mistletoe Dance” and “Excuse Me” dance. Frank (Diver) McNamara was always in charge of the mineral bar which consisted of crates of minerals outside in the corner shed.”
“We formed our own theatre Guild in 1955/56 and did one play each winter for fundraising purposes, visiting centres such as Kilmihil, Doonbeg, Killaloe, Newport and Scariff. One of the leading lights behind this venture was Leslie McCrum and these were certainly fun days and nights. As introductions to our plays we always had a few comedy/skit acts, one such being Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters. Bill Ryan as Bing Crosby and Leslie McCrum and yours truly dressed up as the “beautiful” sisters…those were the days my friends, we thought they would never end….but they did…!!!”
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| Tom Mannion Treasurer |
In 1956 he was on the committee which organized the famous All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil.
“From the mid 50’s to the early 70’s two fundraising dances were held each year, one in the Hydro Hotel Kilkee in July, with music provided by the resident band of Johnny McMahon or Bud Clancy. The second dance was in the Old Thomand Hotel Lisdoonvarna in September with entry prices of 3/6 to 5 shillings. We also had a Club annual Black Tie Dinner Dance at the Old Ground Hotel in November each year. Between the Hops in the Club, Kilkee, Lisdoonvarna, and the November Social, many love stories began, some ended quickly and others did come to fruition”
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| Tom wins the Mixed Doubles |
In 1957 he won the Club Mixed Doubles with Miss Mary McMahon.
He also played badminton at the Catholic Social Club which was formed in 1958, across from the Old Ground in St Michaels Hall. He had a very respectable handicap of -1 for the club tournament and was especially helpful of the annual dinner dance held in the Old Ground.
In the 1960’s he became involved with the Ennis Tidy Towns group of which he became chairman.
“A prominent member of the Club at the time, and a great accordion player had his 21st birthday party in his parents home in Co. Limerick. The Daffy Brothers, Andy and Allen, provided a Vauxhall car, which in some strange way was capable of carrying 11 passengers (yes 11), who duly made the trip. On the return at 6am we got a puncture at Ballycasey Cross but had no spare. The accordion was taken out and we danced a half-set on the Junction Road which was witnessed and photographed by American visitors, who probably thought we were all mad, but we weren’t really…just enjoying ourselves.”
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| 1961 Sean Hurley marries Ann Brooks |
In 1961 he became a founder member of the Clare Tourist Council and subsequently became chairman. He played his part in helping to promote tourism in the county and later at regional level when he joined the Shannonside Tourism Board.
“In 1961 the Committeee, headed up at the time by Finbar Dempsey, engaged the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem on their very first trip to Ireland for a concert in “Paddy Cons”. Their fee at the time was £300 which was enormous by our standards, but the support was also enormous. There were no licensing limit on numbers at the time and we rammed 2,340 patrons into the hall that night – all in by 9.15pm. Thank God there were no casualties, but the Gardai were very co-operative. The end result was sufficient funds to engage a contractor and build our second hard court”
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| Committee 1962 |
Tom was elected Tennis Club President in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966.
“ Having been Treasurer for a few years in the 50’s, I was later elected Chairman succeeding Gerry Ryan which at the time carried the lovely title of President. At that time the rule was very strict for juniors, all those under 12 years of age had to be out of the Club and gone home by 7pm, so it used to give me great pleasure to use my enormous “power” to send home those who were slow to move i.e. John Duggan, Michael Houlihan, Brian McMahon, Jimmy Monaghan, The Cahir Brothers and many others.”
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| New Court opens 1963 |
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| Tom leaves the Old Ground |
In 1964 he left the the Old Ground after 15 years, to expand the car rental business and open a travel agency.
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| Tom opens his new business |
Tom retired as President in 1966 and was sadly missed. He kept in close contact especially when the pitch and putt course was built, which cost £300. The Club changed its name from the Fergus LTC to the Ennis Tennis and Pitch and Putt Club.
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| Opening of pitch and putt course 1967 |
In 1969 he became President of the SKAI Club of Shannon, catering for those involved in travel and tourism. Also in 1969 Tom purchased 71 O’Connell Street converting the ground floor for the Travel and Car Rental business.
He also spent many years with the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, promoting the commercial side of Ennis. In 1973 he was their President.
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| 1981 Tom Lions President with Breda President of the Soroptimists |
In 1978 he was the founder member of the Lions Club in Ennis of which he became President in 1980. With these he spent years raising funds for many worthy causes (including the Tennis Club). In 1980 the Tennis Club Trustees bought the title for their site for £500. This was thanks to Tom Mannion and the Lions Club, and allowed the club make plans for a new clubhouse and an amalgamation with the Ennis Badminton Club. In recognition of his efforts he received the prestigious Lions International Melvin Jones Fellowship award.
He was also very committed to the Ennis-Phoenix Twinning since the 1980’s, and was its Chairman in 1998. In 2006 he received the Vodaphone Business Passion For The World Around Us Award.
He was passionate about golf and a very good golfer, winning many competitions. He played golf on all five continents. He was very involved with the Ennis Golf Club of which he was President in 1993 and 1994. I was fortunate to play in a tournament in Dublin with him. We represented Clare in the Irish Saab Tournament, after winning the qualifiers in Lahinch.
He was a great GAA personality and attended no less then 119 All Ireland Finals in both football and hurling!  |
1984 and 1985 Club Championships |
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| 1983 Tom sponsors a draw |
When the new Tennis and Badminton club was formed in 1982 Tom sponsored the first Club Championships, and continued to do so for many years after that. He also sponsored Club Draws to raise much needed funds.
In 1985 he became Trustee of the Ennis Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club, and also a Life Member.
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| 1987 Tom presents a sponsorship cheque |
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| 1993 Club Championships |
In 1995 he was a huge help in the construction of the two new artificial grass courts, and again in 1997 when three more courts were constructed.
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| New courts 1997 |
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| 2000 Fergus LTC reunion. Tom in the centre. |
At the Fergus Tennis Club reunion in 2000 Tom met again his friends from the 50’s and 60’s. Over 140 attended from all over the world to celebrate their years at the club, and held a dinner dance at the Old Ground, with a tennis tournament and BBQ the following day.
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| Reunion 2000 |
In 2009 I called to his house many times regarding the compilation of the club history. I was delighted to give him a tribute with numerous pages of photos and articles of his involvement with the Club over the decades.
In June 2010 he sent a card congratulating the Club on winning the Regional Club of the Year Award from Badminton Ireland.
He was an excellent Trustee who had a vision of where the club could go with a bit of hard work. He sponsored numerous Club Championships, Golf Classics, Race Nights, Lotto Draws, Cycles, Xmas Draws etc. He was an excellent Treasurer and President for 13 years.
He was remorseless in looking for continuous improvements whether at the club, in the town, in the County or in the Region. Where did he find all his energy? I am proud to say he was a friend.
Tom died in July 2011, and was buried at Drumcliffe Cemetry.
At his funeral Canon O’Donoghue said of Tom “ He enriched the lives of all he touched, especially his loving family and the Ennis community in the town he loved so well.”
“ I have many happy and numerous other memories of my days in the Tennis Club, but the above gives just an example of our simple and most enjoyable way of life at the time. I hope that the present members and the future members of the Tennis Club in Ennis will derive as much pleasure and enjoyment as we did 40-50 years ago.”
Tom Mannion. A gentleman.
