Remembering Tom Flatley
Benefactor and National Board Director of The American Ireland Fund

Tom Flatley, benefactor and National Board Director of The American Ireland Fund, passed away in May of 2008. Tom had left Co. Mayo in Ireland for the US when he was 18 and went on to become one of the leading businessmen in Boston with vast real estate holdings. However his love for the city of Boston and commitment to philanthropy was what he was most recognized for.

Fellow AIF Board Director and dear friend Joe Corcoran shares his thoughts on Tom.

“I’m a cultchie”
There’s a trite saying that “he never forgot where he came from.” Tom was the epitome of that person. When Tom was asked where in Ireland he was from, his immediate answer was, “I’m a cultchie”, which throughout Ireland means “a farmer, a country boy.” In 2006, in recognition of his lifelong friendship and support, Tom was made the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Kiltimagh, County Mayo, his home town. Proud of his roots, and though enormously successful, Tom had a modest lifestyle devoted to his family.

Tennis
In the seventies Tom and I became tennis buddies with a few other friends. Tom and I played almost every Wednesday for thirty years until two years ago. I was new to the game and Tom, a great competitor, beat me regularly by pounding the ball to my weak backhand. For over a year I never won a set – but I did develop a decent backhand. Later I gave him full credit for my improvement when I would smash a backhand by him. In spite of his competitiveness, he was a delight to play with, always complimentary, and generous with his line calls. He was also a lifelong handball player and biker, and in recent years in his seventies he did the Pan-Mass Challenge bike trip. He was a delightful tease on and off the tennis court. Between tennis, handball, and biking, he kept himself in marvelous shape, and it was tough keeping up with him just walking across the street.

Pioneer
After tennis in the cold months, always in overdrive, Tom would be first out of the locker room to the club watering hole, ordering a beer for me and a ginger ale for him. We would talk about everything, and he was always generous with his ideas and advice. Once I told him I was going to do some “pioneering in housing.”
“Joe, you know what a pioneer is? It’s a guy laying face down in a field with an arrow in his back.” Of course, he was one of the great pioneers in our industry, taking on each segment from apartments to health care to shopping centers to office and industrial parks, excelling in each segment, learning from scratch by using his determination and native intelligence. He was a hands-on owner, visiting each of his properties, unannounced, at least once a year.

Philanthropy
There’s not enough space to list all the great things Tom did with his philanthropy. What I remember most are the simple acts of kindness off the radar screen. He had a dear friend from their Gaelic football days who came down with ALS, and Tom would take him out on a regular basis for years and ride around for a whole afternoon. If he heard of someone trying to make a worthy charitable effort, Tom would seek him out and help. It was Tom who dragged me to one of the first Ireland Fund dinners that he chaired when allegedly trying to pay for the expenses of the previous dinner.

When Mayor Menino was looking to build a memorial on the 150th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine, he handed the job to Tom, who landed a perfect site on the Freedom Trail at the corner of School and Washington Streets. He took charge and erected an extraordinary memorial whose sculptors convey the terrible plight of those Irish who stayed and the youthful hope of the millions who crossed the sea to Boston. It is an extraordinary accomplishment that is now one of Boston’s treasures and draws thousands of visitors.

As a devout Catholic, a daily communicant, and a fervent believer in his faith, Tom was devastated by the scandals in the Church. For two years, Tom and a few friends worked to reinstate a wonderful priest who had been falsely accused. He had monthly meetings in his office, obtaining the best defense available. When depressed during a grueling two-year process, Tom would cheer him up at our monthly meetings and vow that his good name and reputation would be restored. The lawyer for the accuser dropped the case the day of the trial. With the priest exonerated, it was fantastic to hear the cheers of his parishioners and friends who packed the church on his return to the altar. This is the Tom Flatley I knew and miss every Wednesday.