A Front Row Seat. Birkenhead Park RFC to host a fitting tribute to Tighearnán McLoughlin-Roche

It takes immense strength to play in the front row in rugby union.

That is just one of the things that front rower, Tighearnán McLoughlin-Roche, had in abundance.

He’ll be forever remembered as Tig or T to his many family and friends and, since he passed away at the hospice on February 3rd, there has been an outpouring of love that has described him in glowing terms.

“An amazing young man, kind, devoted, caring, determined, warm, funny, amazing, brave, a friend, and a beautiful soul.”

On Saturday 25th April, there’s going to be a rugby match played as both a memorial and a celebration of Tig’s life. Friends are flying in from Ireland, travelling down from Scotland, where Tig was at university, and from even further afield, to be a part of the occasion.

Tig’s wife Ellie and a band of helpers have brought together players from the clubs he has played for down the years, now named ‘Tigs Barbarians’ or ‘Tigs Baba’s’ for short, to play against a select team from his most recent beloved club, Birkenhead Park Rugby Club, where the match will kick off at 2pm. There will also be a curtain raiser game set to kick off at 11am and plenty of fun organised for the whole family with bouncy castles, coffee vans and street food throughout the day.

From his bed, on the inpatients ward here at the hospice in January, Tig, Ellie and other family and friends had started the planning.

Ellie told us more about Tig, their life together, their baby daughter Ailbhe who has just turned one, their hospice journey and family and friends who are rallying around,

“Tighearnán was a keen ‘hurler’ in his teen years, playing for Eoghan Ruadh Hurling Club, Dungannon, and it was here that we met. I played Camogie, the ladies version of hurling.  We didn’t get together straight away, but when we did a few years later, it just felt seamless. From very early on, I think we both knew we had found our person.

In every part of the world that Tighearnán found himself, people would gravitate towards him . Growing up his nickname was ‘Offaly.’ It was an affectionate term because Offaly is the county in Ireland that bordered where he was really from, Westmeath, but he couldn’t be called ‘Westmeathy.’

T loved sport and found himself most at home on any type of pitch, but I also remember sitting with him in the library while he was doing his A levels. He was so effortlessly talented at maths and I always encouraged him to believe in himself and his abilities.

When it came to University, I secured a place at Chester University to study nursing and Tig won a place at Aberdeen to study engineering. We decided that if we were to make it as a couple, distance would not be an obstacle.

It was six+ hours there and six+ hours back in those times, so we were definitely made for each other.

Eventually Tig was studying for his Masters degree and I moved to Aberdeen after securing a nursing position at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Tig was so loved by so many. He loved people and (most importantly) he loved his dogs. Elvis from his childhood who he referred to as his ‘soul dog’ and Lola, our Springador (Spaniel/Labrador).

My mum, Lynda, is from Birkenhead originally and now lived in Wirral, so when she needed an operation for an illness that would need regular monitoring Tig and I made our move to Wirral in 2022 to be a little closer to her.

We were married in 2023 at the Maritime Museum in Liverpool and had our reception at Claremont Farm. (We were actually married TWICE on the day. Tig’s job was to appoint a celebrant and he actually booked two for the one morning. He didn’t have the heart to let either one down, so we went through our vows both times. A story for the ages).

It was only in the last couple of years that Tig had added running into his sporting pursuits, he loved Rugby, but being on the front row was taking a bit of toll on him and he found running could be squeezed in between times we weren’t so busy.

When he became a dad everything changed,  his focus was on being the best role model and support that he could be for his little girl. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Ailbhe after she was born in January 2025 so running fitted more naturally around our mummy and daddy time.

That said, he never did anything half-hearted, so he’d entered the fifty miles Manchester to Liverpool (M2L Ultra) race, which took place on Good Friday, and prior to that was also planning to run the Dublin marathon in 2025.”

There’s a really lovely video made by Tig’s friend, Marcus, who stayed in Ultra M2L training in tribute to Tig, which has an excerpt of Tig talking and the reason he was planning to do it. You can see that here. (link)

Ellie continued,

“Tig was becoming uncharacteristically tired and experiencing abdominal discomfort from early Summer 2025, but we only found out fully about his diagnosis in October.

He had stage 4 bowel cancer. Earthshattering news for all of us who loved him.

Once the news had sunk in a bit, he was, and we, determined that we would do all we could to help him live as well as possible and stay positive whatever came our way, with Ailbhe at the centre of our thoughts.

In January 2025 we met Dr Rachel Parry at the hospice and immediately felt in safe hands. She was so empathetic, kind and really listened to Tig and worked with us as a family to figure out the best approach.

Around this time, we’d managed to secure hospitality tickets for Tig to go and watch Premiership Rugby at Sale Sharks. There’s some lovely pictures of a great day he had at the club. That was Saturday 10th January.

By 16th January, Ailbhe’s first birthday, Tig’s pain was such that he was admitted to the hospice inpatients ward.

Tig then stabilised and after experiencing wonderful hospice care and the support of Dr Emma and all the staff he was determined that we should hold an event to raise funds for Wirral Hospice St John’s.

During Tig’s stay I felt like the hospice team were also holding me up and they became more like our extended family.

This is where the idea of the Rugby match, featuring as many who could make it from Dungannon, Aberdeen University, (where he captained the seconds team) and Aberdeen Grammar RFC, to play against Birkenhead Park.

We also had our marriage re-affirmed by a Catholic priest in the Quiet Space at the hospice. A really beautiful afternoon. There was a serene print of a weathered tree branch laying on Leasowe Shore with a beautiful sunset and it resonated with us as we spent alot of time at that beach paddle boarding, swimming and playing with Ailbhe and Lola

The hospice has kindly let me keep the print as a memento that I will cherish.

He was my first love, and a love like that doesn’t end, it just lives on in Ailbhe.’

Tighearnán died peacefully on February 3rd, and the messages of love and many, many heartfelt wishes have been truly overwhelming for Ellie and all of her and Tig’s wider family and friends.

Literally thousands of pounds have already been donated to the hospice in his memory, and we will be forever grateful.

Now, it’s onto the day of the rugby match, Saturday 25th April, when people will gather at Birkenhead Park Rugby Club from around 10.30am to be part of a really fitting tribute to Tig.

A true celebration of his young, but exceedingly full life.

A magnificent amount of money is being donated to Wirral Hospice St John’s in the run up to, during and after Tig’s memorial match. If you would like to make a donation the link is at www.justgiving.com/team/tigsmatch the hospice is eternally grateful for your kind support