Joe Crowley: benign patriarch and genial gent with a mind as sharp as a razor

Joe Crowley was an old-fashioned gent who didn’t possess a ubiquitous public profile but his subtle and pervasive impact on the Irish racing scene will endure for years to come.

Given his quietly spoken and genial demeanour, there is a temptation to paint a portrait of him merely as a benign, endearing patriarch and horseman.

He was all that, for sure, but he was bolstered by a stubborn steel resolve that ultimately fostered his early success as an entrepreneur and then sustained him in later years as his body ailed. To paraphrase his son-in-law Kevin O’Ryan, at his core he was a tough man who lacked any airs or graces.