Family silverware: Incredible story of Markham family and their minor miracle

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

TOM Markham is making his way up the steps of the Cusack Stand.
The two-year-old has just escaped from a photo with his grandad Tom Markham and his dad Tom Markham and the Tom Markham Cup — all pictured together for the very first time.
'It's a special moment for us,' says grandad Tom (or Tom III) as he heads after the youngest.
This is the story of five Tom Markhams and a trophy that's played for the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship every year.
The first was as a gun-runner and spy for Michael Collins, the second played for the Dublin minors for five years, the third played with some of the biggest names in Irish sport, the fourth works with some of the biggest names in soccer, film and video games.
The fifth? Well, he's just getting going… But let's start with the trophy.
On Sunday Kerry and Tyrone meet in Newbridge in the 2025 minor decider. The winner will collect the Tom Markham Cup.
It has passed through some famous hands — from future All Stars to TV presenters and movie stars with everyone from Sean Cavanagh and David Clifford to Paddy Kielty lifting it down the years.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was even pictured with the cup after partying with the 2012 victorious Dublin minor team.
But there was little contact between the Markham family and the trophy for decades.
'I was invited to the Roscommon celebration dinner in 2006,' says Tom III. 'And that happened by accident really. I just happened to meet a Roscommon man on a building site and he contacted the Roscommon PRO.
'It was an amazing night. They put myself and my wife Deirdre at a table with the only living survivors from the last Roscommon minor team that won the All-Ireland in the early 1950s.
'These men were all in their 80s by then and they were seriously emotional. They were all wearing their medals pinned to their lapels and it was such a memorable night.
'That was what sparked me to start finding out a bit more about my grandfather.'
The first Tom Markham was born in Ballynacally near Ennis in 1878. In a 2020 lecture for Clare County Library, the writer Joe Ó Muircheartaigh described his colourful life and times:
'He was a British civil servant, but an Irish Volunteer and an IRA man. A gun runner, a veteran of Easter Week, a social activist, a champion of the sick during a global pandemic, an Irish language activist, a youth worker, a newspaper editor and a writer.'
Tom Markham I was in Croke Park with the Dublin team on Bloody Sunday and set up GAA clubs in the city.
He also worked in Dublin Castle and became one of Collins' key intelligence men during the War of Independence.
'My grandfather died 13 years before I was born, but I'm immensely proud of him,' says Tom III. 'I think it was an extraordinary era to be living through.
'My dad was quite a quiet man and there is only one story from that whole era that he ever mentioned to me.
'My grandad was bringing my father home from school and they came to a British checkpoint somewhere near Ballybough.
'My grandfather actually had a pistol on him and it wouldn't have been an option to turn around or whatever. So he slipped the pistol into my dad's school bag.
'They searched him, but they never searched the school bag.
'The hair is standing up on my neck thinking about that and how people lived on their wits. It's extraordinary.
'Imagine the pressure of dealing with that on a day-to-day basis if you were involved.'
Tom Markham I was the chairman of the Dublin Minor Board and founded the Desmonds and Crokes clubs.
He died in 1939 and the Tom Markham Cup was presented to the All-Ireland minor football winners for the first time the following year.
By this point, the second Tom Markham had already carved out his own little piece of history by playing minor football for the Dubs for five consecutive years from 1929 to 1933.
He also played in a match at Croke Park in the 1930s to raise funds for 1916 veterans and the medal from that game is something Tom III holds dear.
'An old boy came up to me at his funeral and said, 'Do you know your father at 13 used to take the 50s with an old leather ball and could put them over the bar,' says Tom III.
'I just couldn't believe that.
'There's a great photo in Humphrey Kelleher's book 'GAA Family Silver' of the Dublin minor team in 1930. My dad is in the front and my grandfather is in the back.'
As a kid, the third Tom Markham was brought to Croke Park and knew about the cup and the connection, but went to rugby playing schools in Cork and Dublin and amazingly never played GAA.
Instead, Tom III played rugby for Clontarf alongside Dublin GAA legends David Hickey and Brian Mullins and with Brian O'Driscoll's dad Frank before lining out with former Ireland captain Ciaran Fitzgerald on the Army team.
'I played with Dave (Hickey) in UCD and in Clontarf. He was unbelievable,' he says.
'He would run flat at somebody and they would just bounce off him. He was so strong.
'I lived on St Lawrence Road and Brian Mullins lived on the next road. We played soccer together in one of the street leagues where the two streets combined.
'He was playing centre-half and he was about two years younger than me, but he was more than holding his own with the older kids.
'In the air he took everything out and he was a talented rugby player too.'
Tom III ended up playing rugby for Athlone and was selected for Connacht, only for injury to deprive him of the chance to play.
But he got to play alongside Triple Crown-winning captain Fitzgerald during their time together in the Army.
'His ability to motivate players was exceptional. He seemed to be able to get into people's heads,' he says.
When the fourth Tom Markham was due in 1982, Tom III and his wife Deirdre discussed the topic of names. There was an obvious choice, but he wasn't convinced.
'I remember saying, 'You know, maybe we've had enough of all this Tom Markham stuff. Maybe we should call him something else,' he says.
'Deirdre obviously mentioned that to her mum and I got a phone call about two or three days later saying, 'Tom, it's not for me to say, but this is a very important family name and I think he should be called Tom.'
'So it was probably my mother-in-law who was the biggest driving force.'
And along came the fourth Tom Markham.
He's a huge Arsenal fan — there's a family connection on his mother Deirdre's side through her uncle Billy Duffy who was at the club in the 1940s — and he lives in the grounds of the old Highbury Stadium.
After working for a bank in Dublin, he did a PhD in football finance and has become one of the most respected figures in the business side of the beautiful game, brokering deals between major clubs and prospective owners.
Tom IV even had a spell as CEO of Wigan Athletic.
He was also head of strategic business development at the company behind the Football Manager video game and more recently has been producing hit documentaries about Brazilian footballers — Kaiser in 2018 and The Phenomenon, the story of Ronaldo in 2022.
'He heard this story about a footballer in Brazil who had a long career without ever playing a game,' says Tom III.
'Tom actually went into the favelas and found him and got him to agree to tell his life story for Kaiser.
'Then he was involved in a film about Ronaldo. We went to the premiere in Madrid and that was a great night. (Carlo) Ancelotti was there and quite a few other big names.'
Tom III served in Lebanon with the UN in the 1980s before setting up his own business as an engineer.
He's still working, but his current job for Ballyboughal GAA club might be his last before retirement.
That will leave more time for researching his grandfather Tom I and for trips to London to see his grandson Tom V.
The fifth Tom Markham covered the back seat of the car with his breakfast on arrival at Croke Park, but then he wouldn't be the first to have a jittery stomach before taking to the famous field.
Thankfully his dad, Tom IV, had a change of clothes at the ready.
On the side of the pitch the famous cup has caught the eye of Tom V. It's gleaming in the morning sunlight after a fresh lick of polish.
Maybe he'll be back to pick it up again one day as a player...
'That really would be something,' says Tom III, laughing.
'We might need Tom (IV) and his wife Eleanor to move back from London for that to happen. But you never know.'
With his name, anything is possible.