Some unspecified error has occurred.

Joe Flaherty

March 19, 1946 - October 9, 2021

Joe, born in Edinburgh / Scotland, slept away in Epsom / Surrey. A man bigger than life - in his profession, his sports and with his friends, family, children and partner. Joe liked to present and enjoy good stories, pictures and jokes - feel free to add here what you want to share, as Joe wants us to celebrate his life.

More... Less...

  • Memories Memories
    One moment please, your post is being saved...
  • Image Image
    To attach an image drag & drop it here or
    One moment please, your post is being saved...
  • Video Video
    Upload a video on YouTube and paste the code here:
    One moment please, your post is being saved...
  • Condolences Condolences
  • Condolences Condolences
    One moment please, your post is being saved...
  • 2022-01-01 11:35:43 View / Comment (0)
    anne friedrich

    anne friedrich

    anne friedrich

    Letter from Royal Marsden Hospital, Liam Welsh

  • 2021-11-18 11:16:09 View / Comment (0)
    Cyril Rumble

    Cyril Rumble

    Cyril Rumble

    pp Johnny Barry ---------------------------------------------- Johnny's fond memories of JJPF **********###### Scotus Academy opened up for business so to speak in September 1953. Joe was 7 at the time and was one of the first pupil intake. I arrived at Scotus the following year and, as a result, was always in the year behind Joe. As usual, at any school, the older boys did not take much notice of the younger fraternity so Joe and I did not really mix together very often until rugby started to loom large in our lives as we got a little older. We all played rugby at school which was basically mandatory with cricket and/or tennis in the summer months plus some athletics. As I got older, I was beginning to take notice of who was performing well at any sport but particularly rugby. Joe was always selected in the back row because he was aggressive, quick, and fearless. I was quite quick but aggressive and fearless I was not. For some strange reason, Joe and I began to acknowledge each other and form a genuine friendship but not at this stage socially outside of school. I very rarely played in the same school team as Joe because I was considered to be too small and not aggressive enough. However, I do remember on one occasion when Scotus held the annual inter house rugby match. Joe and I were on opposite sides. I was playing full back on that occasion and Joe was, as usual, in the opposition back row. The weather was lovely that afternoon. The opposing team kicked the ball ahead and I was set to gather the bouncing ball which I did eventually only to look up to see Joe bearing down on me with a big smile all over his face. I froze and was expecting to be carted into kingdom come by Joe but all he did was make sure I was unable to play the ball. I have always felt that the inter house rugby match that day was the beginning of our life long friendship. Joe being slightly older than me started to take notice of music, fashion, and the opposite sex in his early teens. I also believe that he also discovered beer in his early teenage years. He began to wear winkle picker shoes and comb his hair in an Elvis Presley lookalike fashion. His hair was always jet black and I believe a fair amount of Brylcreme kept his Elvis hair style in place. On another occasion, I remember one of the masters decided to organise a boxing match between class mates. Joe, as you can imagine, decided to volunteer to be one of the boxers. His opponent that day was a guy called Charlie who was more or less the same age and came from the same town just outside Edinburgh called Broxburn. Well, the boxing match did not last 3 rounds because both Charlie and Joe began hitting each other with great enthusiasm and after 3 mins they both became too exhausted to continue. Joe was declared the winner but only just. As you will all appreciate, Joe loved the competition whether it was in sport or his working life. Competition was in Joe’s DNA. After school Joe and I ended up playing rugby at EWRFC which was a fabulous rugby club to be a member of. The strange fact is that during a couple of seasons 1965/66 and 1966/67 there were, on occasion, 6/8 ex Scotus pupils in the Junior XV on a regular basis. I was captain of the Juniors in season 1966/67 and was only too pleased to have Joe in my team where I was telling him what to do and how to play on the odd occasion. I loved playing rugby with Joe and as a result our friendship grew stronger and stronger while we both began to mature at EWRFC. Joe was born on 19/03/46 and for the last 40yrs I contacted him every year on his birthday. Joe attended my wedding 1972 and I was at his wedding in 1971. I last spoke to Joe earlier this year when he in fact phoned me via FaceTime and he was in great form. I will always remember Joe with great love and respect. I will miss him enormously even though we did not see each other on a regular basis but when we did meet up in Epsom or Edinburgh it was always great fun. He was a unique character and will be missed by a huge number of folk. Johnny B.

  • 2021-11-09 18:42:10 View / Comment (0)
    nick

    nick

    nick

    I met Joe a few times at LSFC and he was great fun and terrific company. He also played with my father-in-law, Ian Boyd, at Edinburgh Wanderers in the 60's. RIP Joe.

  • 2021-11-06 09:42:56 View / Comment (0)
    Cyril Rumble

    Cyril Rumble

    Cyril Rumble

    JJP Flaherty - a rugby memory I first met Joe at Edinburgh Wanderers in the pre-season training in the summer of 1966 when we both played at wing-forward. We got on well, Joe, as always, was very welcoming. In 1973 I moved to London and met up with Joe again at London Scottish. He took me under his wing and introduced me to a flat on the river in Richmond, which I shared with two Scots, Alasdair Kerr and David (Fairy) Fairbairn. Fairy and Joe proceeded to lead me astray including into Pub Rugby. One such memorable story, for me, concerned our exploits at the Harpenden 7s in 1973 or 1974. The Harpenden 7s was a fairly popular competition for Pubs, which was held on a Sunday in September each year. The pub teams travelled from far and wide and in the first round we met The Inn on the River from Cardiff, the eventual winners, who only narrowly beat us. Joe organised the team from our local, the Angel and Crown in Richmond and surprisingly appointed me Captain, rather than himself. We were 6 London Scots and a capable centre from Wasps (Scottish of course) whose name escapes me, but we had Joe on the wing, Mike Risk at flyhalf, Peter Hay at prop, Ken ? (a wing forward or winger) hooking, myself at scrum-half an A.N.Other at prop (names ?*?#?). I know it wasn't Fairy, who I remember came along as the drinking member, not being keen on playing sevens. Our second match, in the Plate competition, was against weak opposition, however Joe managed to sprain his ankle and was restricted in his running, however not wishing to miss the fun, he went to hooker for subsequent rounds and Ken went out on the wing. We had another couple of ties beating a London Irish pub in the Semi-Final. So to the Plate Final where waiting for us were the team from the Britannia pub in Richmond maybe located as much as one hundred yards from the Angel and Crown. We, the Angel, were obviously favourites as we had six London Scots to the Britannia's four who were aided by three others, possibly also Wasps. From the whistle the game roared into life and we quickly found ourselves a score down with Peter Hay sprinting all over the field trying to tackle anything and everything. So after Joe calmed Peter down we clawed our way back into the game and were going quite well, when the ball went to Joe who was galloping down the right touchline until just short of the 22 he was tackled heavily by both opposition props, spilling the ball forward. The tackle was accompanied by an anguished yell from our gallant winger/hooker, whose shoulder was damaged. After a bit of treatment from the magic sponge it was established that Joe could not raise his arm and therefore not able to scrum. So he wandered gingerly back out to the wing with Ken returning to hooker. From the Scrum we stole the ball and I recall running along the 22 looking for a pass, with Risky doing a decoy scissors, (on reflection maybe he actually expected a pass). I then heard the sound like a screaming Dervish - it was Joe Flaherty, of the broken ankle and the dislocated shoulder - shouting for the ball. The pass went straight into his gut. He gathered gleefully, probably laughing, as he scampered over from 22 metres for the winning score. To top it off, his score was greeted by boos from the watching crowd. Were they thinking it was a con job. Maybe with Joe it was, but he did have trouble lifting his pints celebrating in the pub after. He was a warrior and a good pal, thanks Joe for all the fun. Cyril Rumble

  • 2021-10-20 17:36:50 View / Comment (0)
    Brian Watt

    Brian Watt

    Brian Watt

    This is Joe in Rome with some LSFC mates in the Piazza Del Popolo on the way to the Scotland match then Joe headed off to an Irish bar to watch the Ireland match and then met us for dinner in the Fortunato. A quiet day in Rome !

  • 2021-11-01 11:26:07 wrote:

    Larger than life I will miss seeing Joe around the Royal Automobile Club, each time I saw him I reminded myself not to "gloat" or it might of cost me a fine ! Rest in peace Joe.

    2021-11-01 11:26:07 wrote: Larger than life I will miss seeing Joe around the Royal Automobile Club, each time I saw him I reminded myself not to "gloat" or it might of cost me a fine ! Rest in peace Joe.

    Comments (0)

    • No comments.