‘King of the Travellers' features in Channel 4 documentary

Still known as ‘The King of The Travellers’, bare-knuckle boxer Joe Joyce from Moate was one of the major stars in last Friday night’s episode of the Channel 4 documentary series, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings.

It’s not that Joe (60) was planning to wed again, but the documentary makers were present to film the preparations for the Christening of his granddaughter, Alice – and found the legendary Joe worthy of major focus in the show.

In the build-up to the Joyces’ big day out, the documentary makers took the time to find out more about the family, and they filmed them attending the St Patrick’s Day parade in Athlone; shopping locally, and there footage of Moate was shown as well.

The St Patrick’s Day celebrations began with Joe walking out his front door, waving an Irish flag and shouting “Happy Paddy’s Day”.

He told the crew that St Patrick’s Day was important for the Irish all over the world.

“We don’t like fighting on that day,” he said.

“We’ll go in and have a few pints and bring the kids to the parades; we sing a few songs, and have a bit of craic”.

As the camera flashed to a road sign pointing to Moate and Clonmacnois, the commentator remarked that in Ireland, St Patrick’s Day is a day of festivities, “the entire country coming out to celebrate”.

However, she continued, “even here in their country of origin, Irish Travellers are a tiny minority, living on the very fringes of society, outsiders in their own homeland”.

Although the Joyce family was on its way to Athlone for the parade, the commentator remarked that “Joe and the Joyces rarely mix with the rest of society”.

“Many feel that Irish Travellers in Ireland face levels of prejudice far higher than their English counterparts. Given their reputation for fighting, the Joyces have found they aren’t always welcome,” she stated.

Joe confirmed proudly that he was indeed a man well-known in fighting circles.

“I was the greatest fighting man of all times. Joe Joyce, Never have been beat in my life. Sixty years of age. Had drunken fights, sober fights; never been beat.”

At the parade, as he drank from a can, he told the crew he was barred “from every pub in Athlone”, and as a result, has to drink in the street.

A younger relative with him, made a similar complaint: “There’s over 100 pubs now in Athlone, and not one of them will serve me.”

One of the children who was among the party declared to the camera: “Joyce is our name and fighting is our game”.

Nonetheless, despite being regarded as outcasts, the commentator continued, the Joyce family were proud of their Traveller identity.

“We’re proud to be Travellers. We’re the greatest Travellers in England or Ireland. The Joyces,” said big Joe.

In Ireland discrimination against Travellers has become widespread.

Later in the programme, Joe said: “Ireland is our home and if eight or nine Travellers gets together and goes into a pub, they won’t be served.”

Most of the Joyce family now live in England. Joe said that only around 40 Joyces in Ireland are related to him – although he said he had one great-grandson and 33 grandchildren.

It was no great regret to him, apparently, that the family had spread its wings: “We’d probably kill somebody if we all got together,” he joked, adding that for that reason, he was glad they were all split up.

His own childhood, he revealed, had been spent travelling.

“I was reared on the side of the road going from ditch to ditch with an auld tent along with me father and me mother. Me father used to make cans and things, he was a tinsmith. Me mother would go out and beg in the country, swap the tins for maybe potatoes and things like that to keep us going, to feed us. That time they had no money.”

But Joe, it emerged was disapproving of some of the carry-on of Travellers in the UK, as portrayed on previous episodes of the show, particularly the practice of “grabbing”.

 “Grabbing girls and doing this and doing that, that’s only a load of s..t,” he said.

“They must be very bad little skivers of girls when they can get grabbed like that and get kissed. Do you know what I mean? They must get a very bad rearing.

“You let your little girl go to a disco and go where she wants to go, but you don’t let her get dragged and grabbed apart by the boy. You don’t do that. Do you know what I mean? It’s very embarrassing. Do you know what I mean? The Irish Traveller does not do that.

“If a man did that to my daughters, my daughters would break their neck with a thump. When I see that I do get disgusted a bit. You just can’t grab every girl you see.”

For the Christening of baby Alice, daughter of Joe’s son, Joe Junior, and his wife Ellen, there were great preparations made, including the commissioning of a special bespoke christening dress from a bridal fashion shop.

There was a tinge of poignancy about the day: the couple had previously lost a daughter, Rosie, who died aged just two, from a heart condition.

In Athlone, initially, the party was refused entry to the establishment with which they had made the booking for the christening celebrations. Ultimately, however, they were admitted, and the family partied happily, with the celebrations culminating in a sing-song in which Joe sang some of his favourite country and western airs.

The programme should be available to watch online – more info here.