A tale of old Castlebar: ‘Whiskers Joyce and the Shelbourne Hotel’
by Alan King
When discussing Castlebar of old and its colourful characters, one name that gets mentioned frequently is ‘Whiskers Joyce’ - but who was he and where did he come from?
Born in 1869, John ‘Whiskers’ Joyce lived on Poorhouse Hill (Knockthomas) with his parents Thomas and Bridget until they moved to nearby Thomas Street some time later.
By 1900, the now widowed Joyce married Mary Stewart who came from New Antrim Street.
She was a close relation of Annie Stewart who had the last thatched house in Castlebar (on the junction of Linenhall Street and New Antrim Street).
The last member of the family (Annie’s grandniece), the popular Bridie Maloney, passed away in 2015.
What brought Joyce to public attention was his work as a Bailiff for the Sheriff/Courts in which he became involved in numerous evictions across the county for a long number of years.
One notorious episode was in August 1911 when he evicted a widow, Mrs. Killeen, along with her two sons and three daughters from the cottage in Straide which had sheltered Michael Davitt and his family after their own eviction.
The manner in which the eviction was carried out and Joyce’s role, with over 60 members of the Police (RIC) present was discussed in a subsequent court case in which the Killeen brothers were charged with alleged assault.
It came out in the court that Joyce had flung stones and placed lighted hay at the back door of the house in order to smoke the inhabitants out.
He was severely criticised by the judge and condemned in the local newspapers by the clergy, UDC and other public bodies and the story also made the national news.
He continued in this line of work and, a year later, he attempted to evict 78 tenants (including the writer’s great grandfather) from their holdings around the Ballyheane area belonging to an absentee landlord John H. Peyton (1849-1929) who resided at one time in Creagh Villa (Lough Lannagh Holiday Village).
This time Joyce failed because hundreds of people gathered at the properties and refused to leave and so with much negative publicity, Peyton threw in the towel and stopped the evictions from going ahead.
Joyce also got employment as a chimney sweep and was caretaker for a while of the old Cemetery.
He also set up various stalls and helped at local sports days and when amusements such as Toft’s came to town.
Joyce and his wife lived in the ‘Shruffaun’ part of New Antrim Street in a lodging house known to locals at the time as the ‘Shelbourne Hotel’.
It was a small thatched house with two windows in the front.
It had a kitchen and had one room in which it was claimed that as many as thirty people used to stay for the night.
Even though it was a place where a homeless person could go if the Workhouse was full, it came to the notice of the local Urban District Council who made an order directing the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. J.J. Hopkins, to inspect and shut all unsanitary lodging houses in the town.
In 1935, the local UDC made a number of Clearance Orders in which the owners of 35 condemned buildings in the town had to demolish them or have them seized.
Eight of these buildings were in New Antrim Street area, including the ‘Shelbourne’ premises which was owned by Lord Lucan.
Most tenants from these properties were allocated houses in the newly built McHale Road housing scheme but the Joyces left Castlebar and were never heard of again in the town.
(Alan King is a member of the staff of Mayo County Library).