Background
Cooley was born in Peterswell, County Galway in 1924.
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Joe Cooley
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As a teen, Joe played in the Midlands area and eventually found himself in Dublin in 1945, where he joined the Galway Rovers Band. There in Dublin, he met musicians Sonny Brogan and Johnny Doan, both of whom were to influence Cooley"s musical style. He played with the Tulla on their first broadcast for Radio Éireann in 1948.
At the end of that year he left the band to work in London.
He rejoined the band when he returned from England towards the end of 1950. He also often played with Galway fiddler Joe Leary.
In 1954 Joe Cooley left for the United States. Joe"s brother, Seamus, who played banjo with the Tulla, went on a United States trip and made a recording with them. He left the band in 1958 while on tour and stayed in the United States. While in New York Joe was involved in the Joe Cooley Ceili Band and the Joe Cooley Instrumental Group.
He moved from New York to Chicago and finally to San Francisco.
While in San Francisco, Cooley formed the Gráinneog Céilidh band which included accordionist Kevin Keegan, fiddlers Sue Draheim and Will Spires, Eric Thompson, and others On one occasion, in Miltown Malbay, Company Clare, Joe was presented with a beautiful Paolo Soprani C#/Doctorate accordion he dubbed "The Box" which would accompany him on his tour of America in the 1970s.
Joe returned to Ireland in the spring of 1973 after becoming ill with cancer.
His only commercial recordings were not released in Ireland until 1975. His accordion is now believed to be in the hands of the great Irish accordionist Tony MacMahon of Clare, Individual Education. One of Cooley"s enduring legacies is a reel named "Joe Cooley"s".
Originally named "The Tulla Reel," the tune has since become associated with Cooley and is now a standard in the Irish traditional music repertoire.
