Joseph Tomelty

Joseph Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995)[1] was a Northern Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage.[2] starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge.

Joseph Tomelty
Born(1911-03-05)5 March 1911
Portaferry, County Down, Ireland
Died7 June 1995(1995-06-07) (aged 84)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
OccupationActor, playwright
Years active1947–1964
Spouse(s)
Lena Milligan
​
​
(m. 1942)​
Children2, including Frances Tomelty
FamilyJoe Sumner
(grandson)

Life and career

Born in Portaferry (Ireland at the time, now Northern Ireland) in 1911, he was the son of James Tomelty; a skilled fiddler who was nicknamed "Rollicking".[1] Tomelty's exposure to music at a young age influenced his work as a playwright with several of his stage works were named after songs, including The Singing Bird (1948), Down the Heather Glen (1953) and The Drunken Sailor (1954).[1] His brother, Peter Tomelty, was a tenor and recording artist. He married Lena Milligan in 1942.[3] They had two daughters together; Frances Tomelty is an actress and the first wife of singer and musician Sting, while Roma Tomelty was also an actress.[2]

Works

Plays
  • Barnum Was Right (1939)
  • Idolatry at Inishargie (1942)
  • Poor Errand (1943)
  • Right Again Barnum (1943)
  • The End House (1944)
  • All Souls' Night (1948)
  • The Singing Bird (1948)
  • Down the Heather Glen (1953)
  • April in Assagh (1954)
  • The Drunken Sailor (1954)
  • Is the Priest at Home? (1954)
  • A Year in Marlfield (1965)

Novels
  • Red Is the Port Light (1948)
  • The Apprentice (1953)

Radio
  • Barnum Is Right (1938)
  • Elopement (1939)
  • The McCooeys (1948)

Complete filmography

The McCooeys

Tumelty'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.

References
  1. Damian Smyth (12 June 1995). "OBITUARY:Joseph Tomelty". The Independent.
  2. Smyth, Damian (November 2008). "Tomelty Country". Celebrating Strangford Lough. p. 1.
  3. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaryjoseph-to melty-1586249.html
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