A Civil War baby

John Joe Leavy says he has no magic potion for a long life; no brew or concoction that will hold back the years. Instead he feels health and longevity is due to what he terms “the luck of the draw" and yet you can't help thinking, when talking to him, that he has somehow found the route to Tir na nOg.

On 17th April he will celebrate his 98th birthday and there is sure to be a big family gathering – virtually, if not in reality – to mark that very significant occasion.

“I still drive,” he will proudly tell you, a fact that underlines how he seeks to keep busy and active. It has always been his way.

He lives these days on the edge of Oldcastle and he's happy to talk down the phone from there about his interesting life and times.

He's content to chat about how he was brought up in Crossakiel; how tragedy struck the family when his father died while he was still only a youngster; how he raised a family he is clearly very proud of; how he carved out a very successful life in business running a series of well-known public houses in Dublin before buying a hostelry in Clonmellon – a place he ran until easeful retirement beckoned.

But still intrigued by the fact that John Joe is so hail and hearty and ready for a laugh and a bit o’craic. "How is that you’ve had long and healthy life so far?" I ask again. "What is the secret?"

“I served a lot of drink over the years but I never drank much and I don’t know why I never took to it,” he says by way of providing a more comprehensive answer. “I would go out with people and they might say have a gin and tonic. I’d have maybe one and leave it at that. Maybe that helped.

“I had the odd cigarette all right, but I wouldn’t have smoked that much. For years I also smoked a pipe.”

John Joe has seen revolutionary changes in the ways of the world and how people live their lives. It’s certainly all a lot different to when he started out all those years ago.

CROSSAKIEL

On the day John Joe Leavy arrived in the world - 17th April 1923 - the people of Ireland were preoccupied by various burning issues and right up at the top of the agenda was the still unfolding and viciously-bitter Civil War.

It was on that date one of the most famous leaders of the anti-Treaty side, Dan Breen, was finally tracked down and arrested in the Glen of Aherlow. “The troops operating in the neighbourhood discovered the dug-out and surprised the occupants in bed,” reported the Irish Independent as it described how one of the best-known revolutionaries of the time was caught by pro-Treaty forces.

Locally there was also disturbances with the Meath Chronicle reporting under the headline 'The Fiery Trail' how that week Lismullin House and Barronstown House were consumed by flames.

By the time wee John Joe Leavy started to walk and talk the new Irish Free State was emerging and making its way in the world. It was a time of hope too but in the Leavy household tragedy struck when John Joe’s father Michael passed away.

“I was three when my father died. He was only 64 or 65, it was cancer as far as I could gather,” John Joe recalls. “There was a 11 at one stage but two died at birth. I was the youngest of the nine. My mother, Mary was from Cavan and she was a great woman, she ran everything. We had 157 acres, it was a substantial farm for the time.”

John Joe grew up and as one of the boys there was always something to be done around the farm. Working hard was simply a way of life - and that ethos stayed with him, eventually helping him carve out his own niche.

Young John Joe attended Kilskyre NS. Then it was the daily cycle into Kells and the Christian Brothers school in the town. Afterwards he had a spell in Warrenstown learning more about the science of farming.

Yet the land didn’t hold him. Instead other horizons opened up. “I had three uncles who owned pubs in Dublin and I was always anxious when I would be up there with them to go back in behind the counter.”

There was something about the pub trade that intrigued and fascinated young John Joe. There was the chance to meet people, of course, something he enjoyed but there was also the opportunity to create his own business; something he could shape and hone the way he wanted. Something that was HIS.

The year 1949 proved very significant for John Joe Leavy – he married a young Meath woman, Vera Finnegan from Kilskyre. They went on to have six children - Michael, Frank, Noel, Barry, Marian and Patricia. As the family grew John Joe displayed his entrepreneurial flair; his willingness to follow a hunch and breath some life into a project.

GOLDEN ERA

The 1950s,‘60s and ‘70s was something of a golden era for the pub trade in Ireland and there were opportunities for those willing to take a chance and put in the long hours.

Along with his brother Christy, John Joe bought a pub on the corner of Townsend Street and Lombard Street in Dublin. Eventually John Joe was to take over the business himself.

One of the memories he has from that venture was how the pub would be regularly full of smoke. His memory constitutes a glimpse into a world that is now gone – and for the better. “I’m talking about the 1950s. There were no such things as extractor fans or anything like that. The bar was in a working class area, the place would be full of men who worked in the docks and they all smoked.”

Technology improved and one of the new-fangled fans were installed. “You would press a button and the fan would open and you’d see the smoke gushing out. Years afterwards we got one of those little fans that we could install on the windows. They were a great idea. All the smoke down the years didn’t bother me though.”

In time John Joe was to move on to other, bigger ventures. He bought a pub in Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, he called ‘The Avoca.’ "Blackrock was just a country village at the time."

He focused big time on providing food, picking up little ideas wherever he could; something to make his business that little bit more distinctive. Innovative.

“I was away somewhere and I saw how in a restaurant how the chef did his cooking at the back of a counter and people could see him. I introduced that into our business, it was unusual at the time. We also cut our own steaks and people could see them and choose the one they wanted, things like that.”

He moved on to a pub in Leopardstown – he called the Leopardstown Inn. It was a place where the racing set would gravitate towards. John Joe, who rode with the Ballymacad and the Meath hunts later in life, always loved horses. Still does and he enjoyed the chat and intermingling with punters.

Every now and again John Joe and Vera would get in the car and drive back down to their native Royal County; back to the homeland. It was on one of those trips John Joe, who had sold the Leopardstown Inn in 1977 had heard about a pub up for sale in Clonmellon. They decided to have a look. They liked the place and bought it. Another chapter in John Joe Leavy’s life as a publican opened.

“It was the Corner House in Clonmellon. We didn’t do any food but we built up a great bar business.”

Eventually the time came for John Joe to retire. He and Vera bought a house in Oldcastle. It seemed the ideal place to put down roots. In a way it was the completion of a circle. Oldcastle wasn’t too far from John Joe’s starting point in Crossakiel. No life, however, is without its sadness and 17 years ago Vera passed away.

Over the past year John Joe has kept a low profile, but kind people in local retail outlets have ensured he doesn’t want for anything. There are plenty of family members nearby too, keeping and eye out and ensuring he's rarely short of company.

John Joe Leavy has seen a lot over the years, the pesky pandemic just another staging post in the long and winding road he has travelled.