Glenbeigh Construction director Michael Muldoon is a keen follower of Meath GAA. He no doubt inherited his passion for gaelic football from his father Tom, who scored the winning point for Meath against Cavan in the 1962 All-Ireland junior championship final in Ardee. Tom Muldoon from Killallon was a central figure for the Royal County when they won the 1962 All-Ireland junior football championship, beating neighbours Cavan by 1-11 to 3-4 in the home final at Ardee. He scored the winning point in the decider to book a special place for himself in Meath GAA history. Tom had an illustrious career at club and county level, accumulating so many medals that it's difficult to work out what they all represent. Suffice to say, he was a well-known performer on the football and hurling fields of north Meath - and beyond - from the late 1950s right through into the '70s. Today, Tom's son Michael ('Mick') is a director with Blanchardstown-headquartered company Glenbeigh Construction. Established in 1985, Glenbeigh Construction is part of the Glenbeigh Group, which also comprises Glenbeigh Contracts Management and Glenbeigh Off-Site. The company offers a full design and build package to all its clients, entailing everything from the initial design right through to completion of a project. At the time of writing, Glenbeigh Construction was active on projects valued at in excess of 50m. The company carries out regular work for an impressive list of corporate clients, including the likes of the HSE, the Irish Prison Service, the Office of Public Works, the Department of Justice, Dublin Airport Authority, RTE and Trinity College Dublin as well as various private projects. At local level, in Meath, one of the contracts completed last year for the Health Service Executive included a new TSSV unit and the upgrade of two existing operating theatres and associated facilities at Navan Hospital. Recently, a 40,000 sq.ft. facility was completed for the Glenbeigh Off-Site production facility at the company's Damastown Business Park HQ in Blanchardstown. An additional 40,000 sq. ft. of industrial units is also being developed at the Dublin 15 head office. Not surprisingly, considering his Dad's exploits, Mick was brought up as a big Meath supporter. He lives in Athboy and notes: "We were brought up in a strong GAA household and we've all been keen followers of Meath down through the years. I was born in 1972 and my first memory of Croke Park was the Centenary Cup final against Monaghan in 1984." Meath had many big days at HQ since then and the Muldoons were invariably there to cheer them on." Tom started his playing career with Ballinlough circa 1956 and also hurled with Kilskyre around the same time. As well as winning the junior All-Ireland in '62, he was on the Meath senior panel for four or five seasons, but those were lean times for the Royals. He finished off his career with Killallon. Many of the players Tom played alongside in the county colours went on to feature on the Sam Maguire winning side of 1967. With Kilskyre, Tom garnered county IHC medals in 1965 and '69, as well as a junior county title in 1961. Tournaments were a big thing at the time and he collected a Bohermeen Football Tournament with Ballinlough in 1956 and a Dunboyne Football Tournament in 1964. In 1962, he was to the fore as Ballinlough qualified for their only county SFC final appearance, but unfortunately they were beaten by Trim on the big day. That same year, Tom Muldoon made a dramatic intervention when sprung from the bench in the All-Ireland JFC final. Having registered the decisive score, he retained his place for the clash with London (which was regarded as the final proper). Tom's first memory of Croke Park was, as a 13-year-old, being part of the travelling party that accompanied the parish priest Fr Tyrell to the three Leinster SFC meetings of Meath and Louth. Meath eventually came out on top and - battle hardened -went on to collect Sam for the first time. Those were different times for footballers. Even club players are pampered today in comparison to county stars of 40 or 50 years ago. "It wasn't such a big deal back then," Tom recalls. "Often, there wouldn't even be a team photo taken before a game. You played the match and went home and forgot about it. Those were completely different times. There was a bit of training, but nothing like what you'd see today. We trained together for the junior All-Ireland, but I can remember games where I was involved with Meath and there was no warming up or anything. All the players just sat on the sideline and an old heavy jumper would be all you'd have to protect you from the cold. When you were called, you just went straight into the action." Tom got to play for the Royal County seniors in Croke Park on a couple of occasions. "Meath weren't going that well at the time," he concedes. "I would have played alongside Mick Grace from Kells, who won an All-Ireland in 1954. Mick used to bring us to the games and I remember he brought us down to Kerry once as well, which would have been a big adventure at the time." Near the autumn of his career, Tom was involved with Killallon when the club was re-emerging and he featured on the young team that went to the 1966 Meath JFC decider, only to lose to his bogey team Trim. Having started out with Ballinlough at the age of 21, Tom played until he was well into his 40s. "There were no cars at the time, either," he says. "I had a bicycle and I used to ride it over to the pitch for games. After the match, you'd cycle home and then you'd get up for work the next morning." Having undergone a heart bypass operation, Tom doesn't travel to Meath games any more, but it's not that long since the Killallon man used to cut quite a dash for both club and county. Tweet

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