Larry Tompkins (left) is presented with his Gaelic Football Hall of Fame award by Ronan McCormack of Dalata Hotel Group ahead of the 2025 Gaelic Writers Association Awards. Photograph: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Like so many of those stories about the unfolding of serious illness, Larry Tompkins’s began with something trivial. As soon as you hear the opening disclosure, a sense of unease enters the conversation, recognisable from countless and various narratives.
“I suppose it starts as little things and that’s why people should always be wary of maybe a little bit of a niggle or a little bit of a pain somewhere, but you know, I got a little bit of a pain, kind of in towards my ribs.
“I remember – maybe it’s going on three years ago now – it started off like a little annoying pain and just developed then after not seeing an
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