Known as Tommy to his wife, he was born
the youngest child of Patrick Golden and
Bridget Forde and grew up on his
Grandfather's farm in Doughlough (2 miles
west of Ballycastle) with three brothers
and a sister. He left school at the age of
14 to work on the farm. After his siblings
had left to pursue other lives, Tommy
inherited the farm in the late 1930's.
Tommy acquired a nickname when, as a
young lad in his early twenties, he was
courting a girl whose father was nicknamed
'Cracker McCann'. Tommy's witty comrades
dreamed up the name "Biscuit", and it stuck.
His brothers had gone into construction work
in the Ballina area and formed a partnership
with the Langan brothers from Ross. Later,
during World War II, the Langan and Golden Brothers found a load of wreckage from ships on the beach. As all flotsam and jetsam washed up on the beaches was being claimed by the Customs and Excise officials for the Government, they hid it under the hay in Biscuit Golden's haggard. Wood was a rare and expensive commodity during the war and these young chaps were trying to start a business.
In 1946 Tommy formed his own personal partnership with one of the Langans when he married Teresa (Tess) Langan the youngest daughter of Patrick Langan and Ellen Connor.
Tommy was a great Gaelic footballer, playing both for Ballycastle and for County Mayo. He helped his team to victory on numerous occasions. His sporting ability and physical strength were legendary. Tommy would cycle 16 miles to Ballina, compete in a cycle race, win, then cycle back home again with the prize. Throwing weights was another of his sporting talents. Here again, he would cycle to Ballina for the competitions and usually came away with the prize. His speciality was the half-hundred (weight), for which he won many medals.
Some of Tom Golden's sports medals
Having settled down with his new wife, Tess, on the farm in Doughlough, they produced seven daughters. After working on the farm all day, Tom would sometimes make night-time fishing trips in his curragh (an ancient style of boat native to Irish shores built by sewing a tough skin of ox-hides over a light canoe-like frame of wooden splints) to catch salmon, pollock, bream, mackerel or herring. Tom would sell some of the fish at the local market and the family would then gut and salt the rest to preserve them for food through the winter.
As the farm could not adequately support his growing family, in the early sixties Tommy ventured to England to look for work in the more lucrative construction industry. The temporary work stretched into years and in 1965 his wife and seven daughters finally followed him to make a new home in Bristol. Two years later his eighth child and first son was born, Thomas Junior.
Tommy was a man of great strength in every way. His courage, charm and sense of fun are remembered by all who knew him. He enjoyed the best of health throughout his life, never missing a day's work until, sadly, he died prematurely from a brain tumour in May 1982.
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