Joe Flynn reflects on 95 years of an Athlone life
by David Flynn
As Joe Flynn celebrated his 95th birthday, on Wednesday last, he looked back on a life that has witnessed extraordinary changes while music and a love of sport have remained important parts of his story.
Affectionately known as ‘The Hawk’, Joe has been a familiar figure in the town for generations, enjoying a long career as a musician and professional singer of some seventy-five years. In those early years, he also made his mark on soccer pitches during the 1950s.
Born in 1931, Joe was the youngest of six children of Martin Flynn, a soldier at Custume Barracks, and his wife Julia (née Browne). He grew up in the 30s and 40s in the town, alongside his sisters May (Cooke), Kathleen (Moriarty), Chrissie and Nancy (McDermott), and his brother Michael.
His uncle, Kevin Flynn, played accordion with his own dance band in Tipperary, while his cousin, tenor Andrew Browne from St Anne’s Terrace, was another musical influence. Joe's own formal musical journey developed through the Marist National school, and he joined the St Anthony's Friary choir during the time of the ‘Big Snow’ of 1947. He remained associated with the choir through much of the following decades, progressing from tenor to baritone and eventually singing bass, up to the friary’s final days in 2024. Football was another passion. Joe played Gaelic football as a schoolboy and was part of the Athlone minors’ team that won the town's first minor championship in 1949. He subsequently moved towards soccer, playing in goal for Athlone Town and the Gentex factory team.
In the early 1950s, he received an offer to join Waterford in the League of Ireland after Athlone defeated the Munster club. However, a job opportunity at Gentex proved the more practical choice at the time.
One of the most memorable occasions of his football days came in June 1957, when Gentex opened its new pitch, and Joe played alongside Manchester United's Liam Whelan and former Irish international Arthur Fitzsimons, when the footballers played with Gentex against Athletic Union League. It was a major attraction for local spectators and Gentex won 11-5. The occasion took on a particularly poignant significance the following February, when Whelan was among the players killed in the Munich air disaster.
Meanwhile, Joe's musical career was gathering momentum. His first gig was in 1952 at Moore Hall in South Roscommon, playing with JJ Carr, which means the 95 years old Athlonian is approaching 75 years in professional music.
He was a popular addition to Syd Shine's big band at the Crescent Ballroom, before the changing musical tastes of the 1950s brought forward the showband era. Joe went on to perform with the Syd and the Saints showband, travelling as far as America in the late 1960s entertaining audiences at dances and events.
One night in the Crescent, Joe met Mary McHale from a traditional music family in Tulsk, Co Roscommon, and their lives became closely intertwined with both music and the events of the day.
Joe and Mary married in January 1967, around the time of the Irish Farmers’ Crisis, when protests over rising prices included the blocking of Athlone town bridge.
Joe saw an opportunity to turn the controversy into a song, and asked Mary to write lyrics about the dispute. He then set them to the air of the traditional ballad Dan O’Hara, creating The Broken-Hearted Farmer.
The song caught the attention of the National Farmers Association, which considered adopting it as their theme song. However, RTÉ Radio banned the record, with one DJ warning the couple that playing it would not be worth his job.
When Joe and the Saints toured America in May 1967, a musicians’ strike kept them in New York State, where the song found an unexpected audience. It was played almost nightly on Dorothy Hayden’s radio show in New York for weeks, and the story of its banning attracted attention from British tabloid newspapers.
Almost 50 years later, Joe and Mary revisited the story for the 2016 RTE Doc on One documentary, The Broken-Hearted Farmer. Mary died in 2024, and her part in this remarkable chapter of Joe’s musical life remains an important part of their shared story. The couple had a daughter, Amanda, and a son, Anthony, and a large extended family.
Joe’s music career later included the successful band Showcase, which he started in 1983, and continues to lead to this day.
His musical achievements also brought him to television. In March 1990, Joe appeared on Gay Byrne’s The Late Late Show on RTÉ singing ‘My Thanks To You’ alongside Syd Shine, Frank Reid and Chuck Daly. Joe also appeared multiple times on RTE’s afternoon programmes, Live at 3 and Open House.
He has continued recording and performing through the years, producing albums that celebrated the songs and melodies he has loved since childhood. When he turned 90 years old, he released A Lifetime of Music, a collection of old favourites.
His new single, a song medley with accordionist, Joe Glynn is awaiting release and a new album is also in the works.
As Joe Flynn reaches the remarkable age of 95, the songs, memories of Athlone and friendships formed through football and music remain part of a life richly connected to his home town. He is an Athlone legend in his own lifetime.