Early Years - 1920 to 1932
John Joe's parents (Joe and Annie) owned about 7 acres of land and ran a small shop,
from their thatched, mud-walled cottage, which was about a quarter of a
mile from a public road and could only be accessed by walking through
the fields.
Joe had held the position as Secretary of the local Land League
.
He was also known as a beautiful singer and composed numerous poems and ballards. Some were published in the Roscommon Messenger. John Joe's mother was formerely Annie Keane, from Kilbegnet.
John Joe Coriam was born on the 1st November 1920, in Keelogues, near the village of Creggs, in County Galway. One week later after his birth, his father, Joe died suddenly and his mother was left to rear a young family - three boys and three girls. An Aunt took the eldest girl Marie (aged 10) to America, to rear her. John Joe went to live with another Aunt for a few years and the rest (Pakie, Willie, Josie and Nora - known as Bobby) remained with their mother, in Keelogues.
The Coriam Family in the mid 1920s
Back Row L-R Josie, Mother Annie, Bobby.
Front Row L-R Pakie, Willie, John Joe
There was no Widow's Pension, or Children's
Allowance
during these times, so Annie had to start working. Six months
after Joe's death she bought a pony and cart and started selling eggs
and groceries, door to door. The eggs were also sold at
Glenamaddy market every Wednesday.
When John Joe was about 9, he was playing with Willie and while running
in a game of chase, fell over and and a rusty old nail that was
embedded in a plank of wood pierced and broken off in his knee.
His sister Marie was returning from America the next day, so
everyone was busy preparing for her visit and not paying much attention
to John Joe's injury. He cried most of that night and the
following day a nurse who lived a few miles up the road came and gave
him something from a bottle. A week later and still in pain,
he
was taken to the doctor, who immediately sent him to Roscommon
hospital. They told him that despite the fact that he was
very
sick that he needed to go to Galway, as he resided in the county of
Galway. A further six weeks lapsed as x-ray machines were out
of
order, or doctors were on holiday, before his knee was x-rayed and the
nail was found and removed. He spent a further two months in
hospital and was out of school for almost a year.
During this time, his sister had bought home from America an accordian and to pass the time of day John Joe began to practice on it. He never learnt to read music, but would listen to tunes played on the gramaphone and replicate them. He remembered that his first two tunes he learnt were "The Ministrel Boy" and "Let Eireann Remember".
A year later, Annie hired two neighbours to build a new house
and
shop beside the public road. Two years later, she bought
Pakie,
who was now seventeen, a truck to replace the pony and cart.
Pakie operated the travelling shop using the truck and also
delivered sand.
Meanwhile John Joe,
aged 12, sold the Connacht Tribunne (1909 -
present), outside the church, after Mass on Sundays. He
remembers
selling about a dozen papers, every Sunday for about 2d. He
felt
shy selling the papers, but believed that the experience
helped
him in later life.