Athlone mourns legendary Joe Flynn

The death has occurred of Joe Flynn, one of Athlone’s most iconic figures.

Joe, Retreat Heights, Athlone, passed away this morning, Thursday, at the age of 95.

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.

Born in 1931, Joe was the youngest of six children of Martin Flynn, a soldier at Custume Barracks, and his wife Julia (née Browne).

Joe's musical journey developed through the Marist National school, and he joined the St Anthony's Friary choir in 1947. He remained associated with the choir through much of the following decades, 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 club's first minor championship in 1949. He subsequently moved towards soccer, playing in goal for Athlone Town and the Gentex factory team, where he worked.

His first professional music gig was in 1952 at Moore Hall in South Roscommon, playing with JJ Carr.

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.

He married Mary (née McHale) from Tulsk in Co. Roscommon in January 1967. The couple had a daughter, Amanda, and a son, Anthony, and a large extended family. Mary passed away in 2024.

Joe’s music career later included the successful band Showcase, which he started in 1983, and continued to lead up to his death.

He continued recording and performing through the years. When he turned 90 years old, he released A Lifetime of Music, a collection of old favourites.

He was working on a new album in recent months.

Funeral arrangements later.

May he rest in peace.