Garvey’s Bar - The Next Generation
Aerial view of the pub showing the sheds which would later become part of Smokey Joes.
The Garvey association with the pub trade dates back to the start of the last century when Martin Garvey, son of “Patch an Airgead” and Judy Garvey, married Nora Walsh from Dunmore in 1901, and together they ran a shop, travel agency and public house in Glenamaddy, Co. Galway. Their youngest son Jack would later take over the pub in Glenamaddy, which eventually became a Pharmacy shop.
Martin and Nora’s second oldest son Tom, who was born in Glenamaddy in 1907, married Nora Howley from Dunmore in 1938. They moved to Liverpool and then to Belfast where they managed the Star and Garter pub in Hollywood for a year. They left Belfast in 1941, and on 15th August 1941 purchased Castle House, a public house, general merchant store and funeral undertakers, in Ballintubber, Co. Roscommon from the Kelly Family.
Tom and Nora lived and worked in Castle House, and the business was re-named “TF Garvey”, which still remains in carved stone over the door today. They had eight children: Pat, Greta, Norrie, Martin, Tom, Mary, John and Michael, all of whom worked in the business, and as well as helping on the family farm. As with many public houses at the time, Garveys bottled their own stout and bagged their own tea.
They also had a van for doing deliveries from the merchant store. There were a number of sheds at the back of the pub and merchant store, and Pat, who still lives beside the pub in Ballintubber, remembers people arriving on donkeys and carts to have their wheat and barley rolled and ground. Norrie, who lives in Castlerea, recalls how her mother started the “singing pub” on Friday nights and card games on Saturday nights, with prizes of turkeys and geese and even pots and pans. Norrie also recalls their “huge playground” which was the graveyard adjoining the pub.
After 36 years in Ballintubber, Tom died in 1977 and was interred in the graveyard in the shadow of his beloved home and business. Nora continued the business for a couple of years, aided by John Burke, a long-standing employee and friend of the Garvey family.
In 1979, Tom and Nora’s son, Tom took over the family business. As with his father and grandfather before him, Tom had married a girl from Dunmore. Bonnie Connolly was a primary school teacher, and she and Tom lived initially in Knockroe, Castlerea, before moving into Castle House with their family. Tom and Bonnie had four children: Kenneth, Damien, Audrey and Ross, who, like their father and aunts and uncles before them, worked in the busy family business.
In 1997, Tom and Bonnie undertook a major expansion of the business and built “Smokey Joes” Nightclub. According to Tom’s brother Pat, the seed of the idea for a nightclub was sown in Tom’s mind when his nephew Thomas had his 21st birthday party in the former cornstore shed behind the pub. Tom saw the potential of bringing those sheds back to profitable use, and embarked on a project to build a nightclub by putting a roof over all the sheds. And so, 50 years on from Nora’s singing pub nights, Smokey Joes was launched in the summer of 1997. A former bake house, corn store and coffin store became an iconic music venue with live bands and discos. In addition to the nightclub, Tom and Bonnie built commercial kitchens and started a very successful restaurant.
Garvey’s Bar has always been a family affair, with Tom’s brothers Martin “Butch” and Pat, and Pat’s wife Betty working behind the bar for many years. Betty was also heavily involved in running the restaurant. As well as Tom and Bonnie’s children, most of the extensive clan of Garvey cousins have also worked in the bar at some point over the years, including Tom and Bonnie’s grandchildren, who are living in Dublin and Castlerea, “serving their time” during the summer months.
Sadly, in July 2022 Tom passed away after battling a long illness, and was interred alongside his father in his childhood “playground”. Bonnie continued to run the pub until 28th July of this year when her son Damien and his wife Mary became the next generation to take over the reins. Again, in a repeat of history, Damien and Mary will shortly move from Knockroe, Castlerea to Castle House with their children, John, Anna and Thomas, and so begins a new chapter for “TF Garveys”.
After living in Dublin for a number of years, Damien married Mary Treacy from Tipperary (breaking with the tradition of marrying a Dunmore girl!) and returned to Roscommon in 2007. While running his own plumbing and farming businesses, Damien has been working in the pub alongside his parents for many years, and so is no stranger to the pub trade. He is hoping to continue the legacy of his parents and grandparents, ensuring that the pub continues to be a cornerstone of the community in Ballintubber, and a popular venue for parties and functions. In their first new development, Damien and Mary recently started serving breakfasts at weekends in the pub.
On 21st October Damien and Mary will host an official opening of the pub with a party night and invite all their friends, loyal customers, and former staff members of the pub from over the years to join them. The popular White Cakes band will be playing in Smokey Joes and they hope to dance the night away, and mark the end of one era, and the beginning of a new chapter in the history of this iconic business.
