"He means everything to the town. He's a legend. He has no airs and graces." "Anyone who had met Big Tom knew that he was an utter gentleman." "There was a shyness about him… He didn't know he was as famous as he really was."
So said some of the people of Castleblaney of the late, great Big Tom. Reporter Evelyn O'Rourke made the trip to Big Tom McBride's hometown in Co. Monaghan ahead of the unveiling of a new statue honouring the country music legend this weekend.
One of the people she met with was a fellow country star, Margot O'Donnell. She shared a particularly close relationship with Tom and his wife Rose, who died in January of this year, just months before Tom. The statue was her idea and she had Tom and Rose's approval for it before they passed away. She told Evelyn, "I've sung for 55 years and I have a statue of Big Tom in Castleblaney and I'm happy."
Eveyln also had the opportunity to speak with two of Tom and Rose's four children. "I knew how popular he was," said his son Dermot. "I've been travelling with him down through the years. Every night people would come over to me and say what they thought of him." Aisling had nothing but fond memories of her father who was widely referred to as 'the gentle giant'.
"I think the man that the people saw on stage is the exactly the man that we had at home. There were no airs and graces with him, he was just a man of the country… He was a very kind person."
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