It was November 1918 and John Walsh was only three years old but that vivid memory has remained with him for life.

"It shows how great a worry it must have been for them, for their sense of relief to have been projected onto me so strongly at that young age," the 94-year-old recalls with typical clarity and eloquence.

Although the family moved to Cork a year later, John has spent 64 years of his long life in Clonmel, having returned in 1949 to become chief accountant with what was then a relatively new cider factory established by Magners and Bulmers.

Even in his tenth decade, John has exceptional physical and mental agility and is still renowned for his age-defying fitness. He was almost 70 when he ran his third and final marathon and, just last year at the age of 93, he cycled 145 miles in four days from Clonmel to Knock to attend a pilgrimage.

Until three months ago he walked six miles every day and, although rheumatoid arthritis is now taking its toll, he still cycles for miles around the town of his birth.

He attributes his extraordinary energy to a simple love of exercise for its own sake.

"I have always taken exercise and I suppose I just have a natural liking for it, though maybe I am pushing it a bit now at my age," he smiles cheerfully.

While he has few childhood memories of Clonmel, John has inherited a rich legacy of local anecdotes from his father Dick Walsh, the first manager of Magners Theatre, which was founded by Bill Magner in a premises opposite Kickham Barracks and subsequently became the Regal Cinema.

In the early years of the last century, Magners Theatre featured colourful vaudeville shows and travelling acts as well as the latest silent films from a nascent Hollywood.

One early film that caused something of a local scandal was D. W. Griffith's 1915 blockbuster Birth of a Nation, which is now considered a cinematic masterpiece. The opening night in Clonmel was attended by all the great and good, including the parish priest, but proceedings descended into chaos when the highly delicate audience realised with shock that the film featured a nude bathing scene, albeit in the very distant background.

"Miss Magner, the founder's sister, lacerated my father and he spent half the night cutting the offending scene and checking the entire film to make sure there was no further outrage," John reveals. "The following day, all the 'tough lads' of the town turned up to see this 'horror' film - only to be totally disappointed because the famous scene was excised!"

John's father, a trained electrician from Midleton, Co. Cork, was immersed in the world of travelling players and vaudeville shows.