Athlone artist of pen and paint Published in the Westmeath Independent, Wednesday, 1st September, 2010 . Story by David Flynn ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Athlone artist of pen and paint His cartoons and drawings have made local people laugh for decades, and his humorous written memories were sought after by newspapers and radio stations for the past 30 years since he returned to his native Athlone from the UK. The Moore family from St Pauls Terrace has been synonymous with art, drama, literature and music since at least the 1920s, and the talented youngest member of that family, Joe Moore, has crossed many different art and media forms over the past few decades. Joe is a satirist, who laughs at himself with his popular catchphrase, I was born entirely in Athlone in 1939 and I tell yarns, but most of my yarns are true stories based on lies. However there he talks in jest and Joe is the younger brother of songwriter (Carrots from Clonown) and amateur stage producer, Tom Moore, and Athlone Musical Society stalwart painter, Martin Moore, and Patrick, who was a well-known Athlone carpenter. The Moore brothers probably got their talent from their father, Tom Moore Snr. Tom Snr, who was a native of Moate, was a painter who wrote plays and directed amateur productions, including a fundraiser around 1929, to raise money for the building of SS Peters and Pauls Church. Joes mother, Mary was from Dublin, and there were seven siblings in the Moore family, Tom jnr., Patrick, Martin and Joe and three sisters who are now deceased, Anna, Marie and Bridie. I enrolled for my first day at school on the same day that WW2 ended and I remember vividly been taken by my mother to St Peters Infant School, but before we reached the school I stopped off at Brodericks Bakery, to be treated to a scrumptious cake, said Joe. I waited outside with the other first-day school children and watched the tray of bread and buns being loaded into the horse drawn bread cart and stood in amazement as the giant Shire horse relieved himself on the pavement outside the bakery amid clouds of steam. Hygiene was not a priority in those germ-free days. Joe creates a visual picture with every word he utters, and when describing his classroom, he said it was a dismal place, painted a brownish colour similar to an old photo youd see on many a mantelpiece in a country cottage, and the only hint of colour in that drab room came from a huge globe of the world which was perched on a scarred desk alongside a brass bell in the shape of an ample busted lady in a crinoline dress. Joe was a movie buff, and was a twice-weekly visitor to the Ritz cinema mainly, but sometimes the Adelphi and Savoy (Fr. Mathew Hall) cinemas in town from the mid-1940s. I saw all the movies, and they were my real education, from Nyoka the Jungle girl serial to Agatha Christies Ten Little Indians, and Casablanca in between, he said smiling. He tells an interesting anecdote about the only film that SS Peters and Pauls Church advised against seeing. It was Titanic (1953), which starred Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck. Dean Crowe told people not to go to Titanic, well he told my brother Tom, who was sacristan in the church, to announce it from the top of the church on loudspeaker, said Joe laughing. The problem was, Richard Baseharts character was a sacked priest, and the Dean didnt want people going to see that, but needless to say, the movie was a sellout that night! The supposed sighting by three priests of the Lough Ree monster in 1960, played a major part in Joes artistic life. As a young man, Joe sat drinking coffee in a cafe in town, sketching drawings of the monster, based on the priests description. He sold the drawings to fascinated American tourists of the time for approximately sixpence per drawing. Joe has been interested in the monster since that time, and was on a television programme with Derek Davis where they looked over the lake, and pondered over the whereabouts of the mythical monster. Joe wrote a short-story The Lough Ree Monster for this newspaper, almost two decades ago, where he explained the tale of how the monster came to be. All the big dinosaurs died off thousands of years ago, but he survived and a fairy came and told him that he was Ri - King of the Lake, and he is still king of the lake, said Joe. In the early 1990s Joe constructed a monster in the Crescent ballroom, and designed the whole ballroom in the style of an underwater city and caves. He was assisted by his brother, Martin, and the monster was created in Disney style and proved to be a big favourite with children during an Athlone summer festival of the time. Joe emigrated to Birmingham, UK in the early 1960s, and joined his brothers who were working on the buses there. Joe went working in Cadburys chocolate factory, which was the inspiration for many of his short stories, thirty years later. He met his future wife, Maralyn in a catholic youth club, and the couple went on to have two daughters, Siobhan and Grainne. Joe worked nights in the factory, but left a cassette tape with stories hed written, for the children to listen to at night. Joe wrote and produced plays in the local catholic school in Birmingham and painted yuletide figures in the school to celebrate Christmas. Joe brought his family back to live in his native Athlone in 1981, and he re-settled back into the community, and was on the first Tidy Towns team which was run by the late Gerry Dowling. He continued writing, by hand at night, and during his time off. At Halloween 1987, he won his first short-story competition on the Gay Byrne radio show. The story was broadcast on the RTE show, and the following year, during Dublins Millennium Year, Joe won another RTE competition with his Irish Sherlock Holmes spoof, Millennium Holmes, and the lead character was called Turlough Holmes. His stories and reminiscences have also featured many times on RTE radios Sunday Miscellany. In 1989, Joe joined Athlone Writers Group, and became one of the groups most successful members, because his stories and cartoons were published regularly in provincial papers, and he continued to win many national competitions. His work features in the groups three local anthologies: Pennings from the Palace, The Palace Treasury, and The Palace Papers, and for many years he had his own music show Enchanted Evening on Midlands Radio 3, and he later presented his own morning chat show. In more recent years his stories have been available for reading on athlone.ie. Almost five years ago, Joe was brought to the brink of tragedy, when he was involved in a serious road accident. Joe fought his way back to mobility again after time spent in Portiuncula and Dublin hospitals, and over the past few years, he has built himself back to being the old Joe of years ago. Despite the horrific accident he endured, Joe is still able to recall the experiences of his life and times, and also the humorous literary work that he created in those years. He is still working on different writing ideas, with the help of family members who type his thoughts. Joe was a long-time member of the committee of the European Festival, and with Maralyn, he travelled throughout the continent to these festivals. He took time recently to experience the European Festival in Athlone, and was highly impressed, and said it compared more than favourably to other European citys efforts. Joe is one of Athlones greatest ever comedy writers, and had a huge fanbase from his radio days, and he has triumphed over adversity to continue working on his literary pursuits. However he is also experienced enough to criticise the current lack of wheelchair access in Athlone town. The wheelchair access in Athlone is non-existent, because the paths are too narrow, and its very difficult for the person pushing the chair as well, said the writer. But I like to walk a bit when Im in town, and Ive happy memories and more stories in future to tell about days gone by. ====================================== Footnote: The Catholic school and Club in Birmingham mentioned above is St. Annes, in Digbeth, close to the city centre. One Saturday night the band I was with were setting up to play for the night when I noticed a guy over in a corner, He was surrounded by a group of young teenagers.. Then I saw another person walk into the hall and make his way over to the crowd in the corner. .Now, there wasnt a person in Athlone who didnt recognise Tom Moore...and there he was, walking across the floor to his brother Joe, who was amusing the kids with his drawings. =========================================== - See more at: westmeathindependent.ie/news/people/articles/2010/09/01/3999751-athlone-artist-of-pen-and-paint#sthash.aijG8EKk.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:35:52 +0000
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