Johnny’s Ode To The 84

Beep! Beep!

t was the bould Ann Redmond over in Kilcoole who unearthed the old newspaper clipping.

There, in black and white – well, black and yellow, given the years – was a love poem to the 84 by one Johnny Hoey.

Best known to the good people of Ireland as Francey Maher in the long-running and much-loved TV soap, The Riordans, that’s our fine poet below, with the big RTE tattoo across his face.

As with its off-shoot, Bracken (starring that promising young hunk, Gabriel Byrne) and its sequel-of-sorts Glenroe, The Riordans was created by Bray resident Wesley Burrowes, with the shoots moving from Dunboyne, Co. Meath to Ireland’s answer to Hollywood, Kilcoole. Which would have been darn handy for John Hoey.

And that’s because Johnny boy had made his home in Greystones. And lying beside him every night was Moira Deady, who just happened to play Mary Riordan, the matriarch of that original of the Burrowes species.

Not that this married couple didn’t have many other strings to their bows, Johnny starring on the big screen in the likes of Home Is The Hero (1959) and Black Beauty (1971), whilst Cork girl Moira popped up in This Is My Father (1998), Angela’s Ashes (1999) and John Boorman’s diabolical 2006 offering, The Tiger’s Tail.

That this intriguing couple passed before GG belched up on the interweb (John passing in 1978 and Moira in 2010) is a shame, as they would have no doubt made for a fine interview or two.

So, until we find out a little more about this dynamic duo from their four kids, here’s John’s poem to the town’s old double-decker head-wrecker…