Joseph “Joe” Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995)
Life and career
Born in
Portaferry in 1911, he was the son of James Tomelty, a skilled fiddler who was nicknamed "Rollicking"; and the brother of Peter Tomelty, a
tenor and recording artist.
Tomelty's exposure to music at a young age influenced his work as a playwright, with several of his stage works being named after songs, including
The Singing Bird (1948),
Down the Heather Glen (1953) and
The Drunken Sailor (1954).
Tomelty was a co-founder, in 1940, of the Group Theatre in Belfast, and served as its general manager until 1951.
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They had two daughters together: Frances Tomelty is an actress and the first wife of singer and musician Sting; while Roma Tomelty (d. 22 April 2020) was also an actress.
Works
Plays
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Barnum Was Right (1939)
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Idolatry at Inishargie (1942)
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Poor Errand (1943)
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Right Again Barnum (1943)
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The End House (1944)
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All Souls' Night (1948)
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The Singing Bird (1948)
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Down the Heather Glen (1953)
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April in Assagh (1954)
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The Drunken Sailor (1954)
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Is the Priest at Home? (1954)
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A Year in Marlfield (1965)
Novels
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Red Is the Port Light (1948)
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The Apprentice (1953)
Radio
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Barnum Is Right (1938)
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Elopement (1939)
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The McCooeys (1948)
Complete filmography
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Odd Man Out (1947) - 'Gin' Jimmy, the cabbie
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Shark Island (1951) - Seán
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Treasure Hunt (1952) - Poacher
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The Sound Barrier (1952) - Will Sparks
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You're Only Young Twice (1952) - Dan McEntee
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The Gentle Gunman (1952) - Dr Brannigan
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The Gentle Maiden (1953 TV movie) - John Clarke
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The Oracle (1953) - Terry Roche
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Melba (1953) - Thomas Mitchell
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Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953) - Mr. Pedelty
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Hell Below Zero (1954) - Capt. McPhee
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Front Page Story (1954) - Dan
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Hobson's Choice (1954) - Jim Heeler
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Devil Girl from Mars (1954) - Prof. Arnold Hennessey
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Happy Ever After (1954) - Dooley
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The Young Lovers (1954) - Moffatt
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Simba (1955) - Dr. Hughes
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Bedevilled (1955) - Father Cunningham
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A Kid for Two Farthings (1955) - Vagrant
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John and Julie (1955) - Mr. Davidson
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Timeslip (1955) - Detective Inspector Cleary
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A Prize of Gold (1955) - Uncle Dan
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Moby Dick (1956) - Peter Coffin (voice dubbed by John Huston)
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A Night to Remember (1958) - Dr. William O'Loughlin
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Tread Softly Stranger (1958) - Joe Ryan
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The Captain's Table (1959) - Dalrymple
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Upstairs and Downstairs (1959) - Arthur Farringdon
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Next to No Wife (1959 TV movie) - Canon Fergus Brodie
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Life Is a Circus (1960) - Joe Winter
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Hell Is a City (1960) - Furnisher Steele
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The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960) - Cohoun
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Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) - Sir Kaye
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The Black Torment (1964) - Sir Giles Fordyke
The McCooeys
Tomelty's family-based radio sitcom
The McCooeys was first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in Northern Ireland on 14 May 1949, becoming the region's most listened-to programme over the next six years. Centre Stage Theatre Company, co-founded by his daughter Roma and her husband Colin Carnegie, revived four of the episodes in a stage version, directed by Michael Quinn and performed in the refurbished Grand Opera House Studio Theatre in February 2022.
External links
