The late Tommie Fergus Long before there were such things as big supermarkets chains such as Tesco, Dunes Stores and Supervalu - Loughrea had its very own night time shopping facility, thanks to the late Tommie fergus and his wife Mausie. Tommie was born in Raford in 1925 and it was there that eh spent his early school days, before heading east to live with is aunt Bridie, in Dun Laoghaire. His heart was in Loughrea, though, and as a young man, he came back and started a bicycle repair shop on Abbey Street. After some time he moved to Church Street, where he began his training as a mechanic in the grange of Jack and Graham Joynt. this move was to shape the rest of his life, for it was here that he met his wife to be, Mausie Joynt. They were married by Fr Jennings in St Brendan's Cathedral. The couple wanted to start up their own business, and purchased an almost derelict building from the late Dr Ita Ryan on Barrack Street, where they opened their own garage and shop. Tommie bought a petrol tank from Cahill's, Main Street, made a trailer himself and moved the underground tank down Church Street to his premises. Over the years many would question how he actually raised the tank to the ground - he dug down all around it and flooded the hole, which caused the tank to float to the top. Tommie was not content with being an agent for Shamrock petrol and, as well as the garage and shop owner, he also drove a hearse for Joe Kilboy, was a relief ambulance driver, and was the envy of every child when he was seen at the wheel of the fire engine. Business was not always a bed of roses for the couple though. Their premises were almost devastated by a fore on two occasions. In the 1960s one fire was so bad that some of Barrack Street had to be evacuated for fear that the tank would explode. Tommie ran down to the Fire Station and drove the fire engine up on his own. When he was not working, Tommie was a very good hurler and played in goal for Barrack Street - these were the days of The Street League, where almost every street had a team. During one match, the Barrack Street boys were playing against those from The Hill. Tommie had been promoted to manager of The Barrack Street Team and, none other than, Bertie Donohue was manager of The Hill Team. It was a very hard fought game and the pulling was something terrible. Both Tommie and Bertie were on the same side of the pitch, running up and down the sideline, roaring and shouting and 'everything else' at their teams. Barrack Street were getting the better of The Hill lads; Bertie was near the end of his tether when he turned around to The Hill supporters and declared: "The Fergus, the bicycle mender seems to have a solution for every patch of this game." The Galway and Tuam Races were the few days he would take off from work each year and,with three or four of his pals, they would pour into his 'Triumph 10 Standard'. Another regular for Tommie was Croagh Patrick - he proudly told everyone that he climbed it 40 times. Local people could time their clocks by him, as he would head up King's Entry every night at 12.30am for a few pints. There, he and Tom O'Brien would discuss the happenings of the day. No matter where Tommie went, his cat followed. One night he was having a late pint in a pub on Bride Street, and a Garda heard the talking inside. They were just about to raid the pub when one of them recognised, 'Snozzle' Tommie's cat, sitting outside - they decided to 'come back later'! Tommie helped the Gardai out too, tough. The story goes that 'Din Joe' - of dancing on the Radio fame (Radio Eireann) - ran out of petrol at 2am one morning. He went to the Garda Station and asked could they help. They told him to go up to Tommie Fergus, that he wouldn't let them down. The exchange of words that went between Din Joe and Tommie outside the house is another story! Tommie and Mausie reared four children, Teresa, Tommie, Angela and Michael, all the time keeping their thriving business going. An integral part of Loughrea life, there were many smiles among mourners at Tommie's funeral when Marie Barrett read out the memories of her husband, Pat, who grew up opposite Fergus' on Barrack Street. "Whether you wanted a loaf of bread, a pint of milk, a Mac Smile blade, a bulb or a fuse, Mausie had it in stock. As you opened the shop door, the bell rang. The first thing you saw were the big jars on the counter - full of every sweet you could possible think of. On the right were the biscuit tins - Lemonpuff, Mikado, Kimberley, Marietta and Figrolls and 'Gerary's Penny Biscuit'. "Also on the right was a very special window, that looked our on Tommie's bench in the garage, where he worked in the early days, until 2 or 3am in the morning. Standing at his bench Tommie could see Mausie, and Mausie at the counter, could see Tommie" He showed even more enterprise during the days of th elate night dancing in The Town Hall and Ceili upstairs in The Temperance Hall. "Back then, people cycled to the dances and Tommies used his garage to park all the at 6 pence per bike", recalled Marie. He built up one of the biggest petrol sales businesses in the County, but this success never got to his head. "Nobody was ever left without messages or petrol - no matter what hour of the night. And whether it was a bike, a tractor or a car or even a wheelbarrow, Tommie would fix it. I recall even on Christmas Days, if a child got a toy from Santa that didn't work, it was brought up to Tommie. And Tommie fixed it. It was also a very well-known tradition at Fergus' that almost every house in town got a present at Christmas". Members of Loughrea Fire Service accompanied Tommie's remains as they moved through the streets of Loughrea on their way to St Brendan's Church. Chief celebrant was Fr Patrick Beecher, The Abbey, Loughrea, who joined by Fr Tom Higgins, Fr Pat Conroy and Fr Kieran O'Rourke, in concelebrating Requiem Mass. - Michael Fergus and Pat Barrett Courtesy of the Connacht Tribune 15 June 2007 Tweet

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