Far from Fermanagh, Tom McGrath gives Manhattan traffic a run for its money.
By Max O’Neill
Tom McGrath has been through the literal and metaphorical wars and has come out the other side as the fittest 67 year old you will ever meet.
McGrath, a long distance runner and then some, is now an author and has had a documentary made about his life – from early years in Northern Ireland to the present day in New York.
McGrath has struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.
However, he says he would not change anything. He likes his life the way it currently stands – and runs.
“I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad I went through what I went through,” the Fermanagh native said during a recent interview at his bar and restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
“Now I want to help people not to do what I did.”
McGrath learned from a wise old man that frequented his first bar what he wished he had known back when he was struggling through the demons of alcoholism.
“No matter how tough you think you are, you will never, never, beat the top shelf.”
McGrath owns “The Black Sheep” on Third Avenue.
While some would see this line of business as being oxymoronic, McGrath has another view.
“I think in the stage when you abuse alcohol, the brain has to mature to the extent where it knows this can’t continue.
“I’m talking alcohol abuse. I’m not talking taking two or three drinks. A very important word in anybody that abuses alcohol a lot, and I certainly didn’t understand this word, is moderation.
“Moderation never existed in my life until now. The only way it exists now is I know it didn’t exist years ago. When I come into the bar I know now, as the doctor said to me, the next fall could be your last.”
McGrath has a soft spot in his heart for kids with disabilities and is a deeply religious man.
As shown in the documentary about his life, he visits New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan with the kids from Achilles Kids to have the cardinal bless them, and himself, before he sets out on one of his many marathons.
Achilles Kids is a charity in New York City that helps kids with physical disabilities. The kids run a marathon over the course of a school year, and every day the little bit that they do is documented until they reach the 26.2 miles.
Once they reach that number, they are rewarded with a brand new pair of sneakers, which Tom has supplied for the last three years.
According to Tom, he has, through his running and fundraising, purchased between five and seven thousand shoes for the Achilles Kids.
It is the kids who drive Tom at his lowest points when he is running, when he is close to the breaking point.
When asked if he ever wants to quit he responded: “Every five minutes, why am I out here by myself in the middle of the night?”
Then his mind will turn to God and the thought of the kids in hospital beds.
Tom wants to be seen as “a wee man from Northern Ireland trying to do good, trying to help people, not for a clap on the back, not for praise, not for sympathy, just to help other people, especially those that abuse alcohol and children that need help.”
McGrath is happy with his life after going through all the struggles to get to where he is today.
“I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad I went through what I went through. Now I want to help people not to do what I did.”
Tom McGrath is a man that has been through some tough things in his life but has come out of it a changed man, wanting to help others, and to serve God with every stride he takes.
“It’s a simple, humble life,” he said.
