Pal pens a beautiful song in honour of Tom Fleming
A HUGELY popular Killarney man, who passed away in November after several years battling serious illness, is to be remembered in a memorial concert to raise funds for a cause very close to his heart.
Tom Fleming was diagnosed in childhood with a serious kidney ailment and, over the years, he underwent a series of transplants that prolonged his life which he always lived to the full.
The easygoing 53-year-old from Whitebridge, Killarney, who always smiled through his troubles and never let his illness define him, finally lost his battle for life before Christmas, just days after he married his partner, Liz, in a poignant ceremony at his hospital bedside.
Tom’s pals – who play in the trad band Galleon – are to hold a special memorial concert in the Danny Mann, Killarney on Thursday next, February 5. All proceeds from the event will go to the Kerry branch of the Irish Kidney Association of which Tom was an active and passionate member.
Members of Galleon and the late Tom go back a long way as band member Tim O’Sullivan was his next-door neighbour while lead singer, Andy Dunne, became very close friends with Tom because of their shared experiences through illness and their visits to the dialysis unit in Cork University Hospital.
Tom’s love of life and his determination to beat the odds inspired Andy to write a very special song, Take This Man, which he dedicated to the Killarney man and he gave a powerful, poignant rendition of the ballad (see link) at Tom’s month’s mind Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral.
He will perform the song again at the Remembering Tom Fleming concert which will celebrate the life of the charming Killarney man and all proceeds will be donated, in Tom’s name, to the Kerry IKA.
Tickets for the 8.00pm concert, priced at €10, are available from Theresa Looney on 087-2059205 or at the door on the night.
