ON 21 May 1931 Ireland lost one of its most promising hockey players when Naas man Gavin Tyndall was killed in a motor cycle accident.
He was 25 and at the peak of his career as a hockey player with Monkstown Club and an Irish International.
Gavin Tyndall was a former Naas club player and also played with Leinster and the Midlands. He is buried in St Corban’s Cemetery, Naas.
Gavin was the son of William and Elizabeth Tyndall, Dublin Road, Naas. William Tyndall, originally from Gilltown, Co Wicklow, married Tullamore, Co Offaly native, Elizabeth Brophy, in Church of Ireland, Kilcullen, in 1899. William was Church of Ireland, while his wife was a Roman Catholic. Between the 1901 and 1911 census William converted to Catholicism.
The 1911 Census reveals that William Tyndall, then a Roman Catholic, was a 41-year old gardener, living at Tipper Road, Naas, and married to Elizabeth (31). They had six children - William (11); Joseph (9); John (7); Gavin (6); Cletus (3) and Irene Mary (1), all of whom were born in Co Kildare.
Two more children were born in 1914 (Claude) and 1916 (Bernedette). William Tyndall, Snr, was chairman of Naas GAA from 1918-27. An expert in bee-keeping and apple growing William Tyndall was the first horticultural advisor in Co Kildare. All the Tyndalls played hockey for Naas, while Irene was on the winning ladies team which won the White Cup in the late 1940s. The Tyndalls lived in the two-storey houses at Dublin Road, then moved to Ballyrogan Cottage.
Gavin and his brothers and sisters all learned their hockey skills with Naas club, but Gavin went further afield to play for one of the country’s leading clubs, Monkstown, in Dublin. His Monkstown profile said he was ‘undoubtedly one of the best players in Leinster.’ His stick work had few equals and he was known as Monkstown’s ‘strong man.’ The Kildare Observer of 7 April 1928 reported on the success of two Naas players on the Monkstown team - Gavin Tyndall and HGC Legg (captain) - which won the 1928 Mills Cup, played for by the Leinster Senior teams. The Observer commented that “many people are confident he (Gavin Tyndall) will represent Ireland in due course”. Two years later when Naas entered the senior league, Monkstown were the first of the big teams to travel to play Naas. An added attraction was that former Naas players Gavin Tyndall and HGC Legg, were playing for Monkstown, while Jack, Joe and Cletus Tyndall lined out for Naas.
As expected an exceptionally large crowd turned up at Oldtown, Naas, to witness the battle between
Naas and Monkstown in their Senior League engagement, and they were not disappointed. The game was a very fast, keen, and exciting struggle, which ended in a victory for Naas by two goals to one. By this win Naas retained their position at the top of the league being two points in front of champions, Railway Union. Monkstown were best served by the former Naas players, Tyndall and Legg.
Sadly Gavin Tyndall was killed six months later. He had played one international for Ireland and was going to Dublin for training when killed in an accident near Kill. On 30 May 1931 the Kildare Observer carried his obituary and a memoriam poem.
“By the untimely death at the age of 25 of Gavin Tyndall, which occurred at Naas on Saturday, after a motorcycle accident, which occurred on Thursday, Irish hockey has lost a player with a very bright future. He came of a great Naas hockey family, three of his brothers being prominent members of the Naas team, while his elder brother, Rev W Tyndall, was once a fine player. Gavin Tyndall was a member of the Monkstown Club, and for the last five seasons was almost the outstanding player on the team at centre-half and occasionally centre-forward. He represented Leinster and the Midlands in the inter-provincial matches and played in the final trial last season, getting his first cup in the last match against England at right half. He was a particularly sporting and cheerful player and was always a wonderfully fit player.”
The funeral took place on Sunday 23 May, to St Corban’s Cemetery. William Tyndall died in 1949, aged 79. His wife Elizabeth died in 1930, aged 49. William, Jnr, O’Carm, 1900-89; Joseph, 1902-66; Jack, 1903-72; Gavin, 1905-31; Cletus 1908-87; Irene, 1909-60; Claude, O’Carm., 1914-61.
Bernedette, was born in 1916 and is still living in Naas. Ita Tyndall, daughter of Joe Tyndall, is the only person carrying the Tyndall name in Naas.
[My thanks to Ita Tyndall, and Dr John Kehoe for help with this article.]