Barber Tom celebrates 40 years in business

From Taoiseach to bishops, All-Ireland winning GAA captains to mayors, barber Tom Nally, who this week celebrates 40 years in business at High Street, has cut the hairs of them all.

The list of clients, who frequented Tom’s city centre barbers over the years, is a ‘who’s who’ of Irish and Galway society, with politics and sports personalities regularly dropping in.

Among them, Joe McDonagh, former President of the GAA, Bishop of Galway, Martin Drennan and several Mayors of Galway City over the past four decades.

Kerry football legend, six times All-Ireland winner, Darragh Ó Sé is a regular when in Galway; and Gary Fahey, Galway’s All-Ireland winning captain in 2001 even popped in for a cut the Friday before the final in Croke Park.

The arrival of the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the noughties, while on an election campaign whistle-stop tour of Galway, was perhaps the ‘celebrity’ visit that generated the most interest among the general public. “It was amazing after that visit,” recalls Tom.

“All of the people that came in, who I’d never seen before or since, and they asked: ‘What seat did he sit in and did he pay for the haircut?’. That’s the truth, there were so many asking that. The answer always was: ‘This is the seat he sat on and Frank Fahey (FF Galway West TD at the time) paid for it!’ One lad said – ‘Sure that fella never paid for a thing in his life!”

Like Bertie, who chatted to Tom about the Dublin footballers and about being a referee, clients pop in as much for the chat as they do for a hair-cut.

“I enjoy going in there every single day – it’s very socially oriented. Coming in for a chat is a big part of it.”

The relationship between a man and his barber is unique – regulars tell Tom all sorts of things. “Some things I don’t want to hear,” he chuckles.

Though Tom’s shop on High Street is in a prime location to attract passersby, the majority of his clientele is repeat business.

“There’s passing trade but 80% of my customers would be regulars. A lot of them would be sportsmen, particularly GAA . . . I have people coming into me from all corners of the county – and I can tell you, the country guys now are just as trendy as any townie! I remember a barber saying to me when I started, ‘Tom, you won’t get the people you expect you’ll get and you’ll get the people you don’t expect to get, but as long as you get enough of them at the end of the day you’ll be happy enough’.

“I’ve lots of customers whose hair I cut 40 years ago. The last person whose hair I cut today was Noel Elwood (Elle’s café, Shop Street) and I cut his hair 40 years ago. There’d be quite a few like him. The customer that has been coming here the longest is a fella called Ronnie Ward, a retired postman, from Shantalla. He’s still going, and more importantly he still has hair!”

For another regular, a hair-cut at Tom’s has become a pre-wedding ritual. “He got married three times and I cut his hair each time before the wedding. The third time I said to him: ‘If this doesn’t work out, change your barber!’ But it has worked.”

A well-known and accomplished club football referee, Tom, a Shantalla native, has a lifetime association with St Michael’s football club and Rahoon/Newcastle hurling club.

Tom started as an apprentice to John Nestor when he was just 14 or 15 and fresh out of ‘The Tech’ on Fr Griffin Road. Nestor opened up the barbers in the 1960s, and took over the drapery that was known as Small Gleeson’s.

“Someone once said to me: ‘You scrub floors first and then you scrub heads’. There was nothing formal about the apprenticeship. You were judged on the progress you made,” he says.

Tom’s progress was steady, and in 1974 he took over the lease, firstly downstairs in the basement – it was 25 years ago when he returned to the ground floor of High Street where he originally started.

During those 40 years, haircut styles have changed, and come full circle.

“It’s changed big time. When I started it was very short hair. Then it went to long hair, which was in the late 1970s. And then through the years you had the flat-tops, undercuts, steps, mullets . . . we’ve done them all at this stage, and I intend doing a lot more.”

The business environment has changed, too. “There’re more barber shops now than ever. It’s got more competitive than ever.”

Tom is not content at looking back: he’s preparing for the future and constantly evolving the business.

The shop itself has a fresh new look, styled by La Maison Chic, a local interior design business; and he’s added new lines of affordable luxury products, and even a Facebook page.

His trusty lieutenant is Jacqueline Byrnes, who has been working with Tom for 25 years and trade is so good at the minute, they’re looking to recruit new barbers.

Tom’s thirst for cutting hair, and his barber business, is as strong today as it was when he started.

“I absolutely love it. I love coming into that shop every day. I keep fit. I do a daily swim in Galway Bay and referee matches. I’ve no intention of retiring. As long as my health continues, retirement doesn’t come into it.”