'He wanted so badly to see you all succeed' - Munster's next generation urged to remember Tom Tierney when they realise potential

The former Ireland international was remembered as a talented player and coach and welcome presence in any dressing-room.

RESPECT: Both CBC and Crescent College teams stand for a minute's silence before their Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup semi-final replay at Thomond Park on Thursday. Picture: INPHO/Evan Treacy

Tom Tierney was remembered as a gentleman who approached life with a quick wit and cheeky smile at his funeral Mass in rural Tipperary.

A player and coach for club, province, and country, his coffin was draped in the flags of Ireland, Munster, and Garryowen as he was carried out of St Nicholas’ Church, Solohead, by members of the Munster Academy who he coached until his sudden death, aged 46.

In her eulogy to the packed congregation of family, friends, and former teammates, his wife Mary addressed those players who Tom had devoted so much time to nurturing.

“The last five years of Tom’s life I know with every fibre of my being were his happiest. He finally found his rhythm in a job where he belonged,” she said.

“He wanted so badly to see you all succeed and grow as players. He had so many plans and I’m so sorry he won’t have the opportunity to see them through.

“I know each of you will go on to do great things and if I could ask just one thing for my Tom, remember him with a little wink and a nod when you get there.” 

He was Ireland’s scrum-half at the 1999 Rugby World Cup and head coach when his country lifted the 2015 Women’s Six Nations title but first and foremost, Tom Tierney was remembered as a family man.

A creature of comfort, he loved nothing more than coming home to Mary and his daughters Isabel and Julia. He lived for the everyday moments, doing the school runs, packing the lunches, and still slipping over a few euros for the tuck shop.

His daughters brought forward symbols of the life he lived so richly, including his debut Ireland jersey and cap from the 1999 Tour of Australia, and his notebook, pencil, and Carmex lip balm from his coaching days.

His sisters Elaine and Anne-Marie carried up a framed family photo and his pillow, in memory of his propensity to fall asleep in any location. That thread ran all the way back to his Fairgreen upbringing in Limerick City when kids would come in off the street to announce: ‘Mrs Tierney, Tom is asleep in the road again!’ 

“For a young fella from Fairgreen with no rugby background, it was his God-given talent that got him to what he achieved in the years that followed,” said Mary.

“Who would have thought back then that he’d go all the way to the top and wear with pride the Irish jersey?” 

She remembered every game and every injury, going back to when they first met in her family’s bar. Tom was on crutches back then, and not for the last time in a playing career that brought him from his first club Richmond to Leicester Tigers, and west to Galwegians and Connacht in later years.

A popular member of any changing room, he was always first for a sing-song, with everyone among the congregation sure to have their own stories of celebrations and interactions with Tom.

Monard locals recalled a modest and unassuming member of the community, who never conducted himself with any hint of ego from his on-field achievements.

He started coaching at Crescent College Comprehensive and, via Cork Constitution and Garryowen, worked his way up to Irish teams from underage to senior levels. He was fully invested in his players, excited to relay news of call-ups and there to console those hearing bad news.

He became an IRFU employee in 2014 and was based out of Munster’s High Performance Centre since 2021 as a national talent coach.

He spoke about his players at home every day, to the point that Mary felt she knew them herself. The turnout of players for his funeral blew her away.

“My family and I are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love shown to Tom the last few days. It has been an enormous comfort for all of us.

“I don’t think Tom ever truly realised the regard in which he was held or the impression he left on people.” 

As his players, teammates, and friends gathered around the Tierney family to line the road from the church gates down to Solohead Cross, that much was left in no doubt.