John cycled 145 miles to Knock aged 93 - "because the bus journey would have killed me
One of his earliest memories is of his overjoyed parents telling him that the Great War was finally over.
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. He also loved circus performances, particularly Duffy’s Circus which at that time wintered in Clonmel.
However, while he loved the entertainment world and held the title of manager his salary was not particularly managerial, so he accepted an offer of a more lucrative position at Ford’s motor factory in Cork.
John still remembers the journey from Clonmel to Cork in 1919 with his father and his mother Louise. He remained an only child until the birth of his brother James, eleven years his junior, who was to become Professor of Chemical Engineering at UCD.
“My brother is still alive - but he is only a young fellow of 83 now!” he laughs.
The family subsequently moved to Foynes in Co. Limerick, where John qualified as an accountant and went on to begin working life with the civil service in Dublin. He later became Secretary of the city’s Dolphin Hotel, long since gone, and it was there that he met one of the hotel’s directors, Dermot Findlater, who brought Magners and Bulmers together in 1937 to form Clonmel’s most famous enterprise.
John’s return to his native town came exactly 30 years after his childhood departure and he would remain with the Bulmers firm until his retirement in 1980.
During his past six decades in Clonmel, one of his main interests has been the Secular Franciscan Order and he was on the council of the Third Order of The Friary for many years. However, it was not until he attended a surprise celebration for his 90th birthday, held at The Friary in Abbey Street, that he suddenly realised this special place was just around the corner from the house at New Quay where he was born.
John and his wife Brigid (Sis), a native of Co. Clare who passed away in 1974, raised a family of five in Clonmel - daughters Mary, Joan and Ruth and sons Frank and Colman, who is now a GP in Mary Street.
It was when the children were small that John became increasingly interested in running, initially as a side product of beagling that he enjoyed with a cousin who had foxhounds. What began as a practical means of pursuing energetic dogs evolved into an avid pastime for its own sake and by the 1970s he was an enthusiastic marathon runner.
He was the oldest participant at his first marathon in Cork in 1973, which he ran again the following year. The three-in-a-row was completed with his final marathon in Belfast in 1975, shortly before his 70th birthday, which he ran in his personal best time of three hours and 55 minutes.
John continued running until his mid-70s but eventually turned to cycling as an easier form of exercise, after he started to become prone to injuries. While he had cycled long distances in his youth, it was as a practical means of transport rather than a pastime and it is only in recent years that he has cycled purely as an enjoyable form of exercise.
As part of his involvement with The Friary, John again took part in their pilgrimage to Knock last year at the age of 93, on condition that he be allowed to cycle the 145-mile journey to the shrine rather than travel on the bus, an experience he had not enjoyed in the past.
“Having to travel to and from Knock on a bus in one day would have nearly killed me,” he says, apparently blissfully unaware of any irony, “but at least I did come back on the bus!”
Although he celebrated his 94th birthday on September 10 and leads a very healthy lifestyle, John confesses that he really never expected to live so long.
“My father was the only one of ten children to survive past the age of 70 and so, for the past 15 years, I have been expecting to hear God’s call. And I don’t mind very much if he does call,” he says.
“I always felt that if I reached the age of 80 that would be the ultimate, with the result that I have been prepared for the end for the past 14 or 15 years. At this stage it is almost a joke, because I have been telling people for so long that I will hardly see them again!”
As he prepares to cycle the return journey from Clonmel’s centre to his home on Mountain Road, a familiar figure in fluorescent jacket and insulated outdoor wear, it is clear that John Walsh is one of a kind. With an independent spirit and zest for life that would challenge many people half his age, he shows no intention of slowing down any more than is necessary. As long as he can walk or cycle, he is at peace and life is a wonderful gift.
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