Tributes paid to visionary business man who changed the face of Tullamore and Mullingar

TRIBUTES have been paid to the visionary and enterprising businessman, the late Christy Maye, who passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning following a short illness.

The deceased was a stalwart member of the business community in Tullamore and Mullingar for many years and developed the Bridge House Hotel into one of the leading establishments in the Midlands.

He was also the developer behind the Bridge shopping centre which was officially opened by the late RTE television and radio personality, Gay Byrne in 1995.

A keen farmer, the Ballymahon native was also proprietor of the famous Greville Arms Hotel and Danny Byrne's pub in Mullinagr.

From a farming background, he was one of the founder members of the Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock Show in the early 1990s and played a key role in the event up to his retirement in recent years.

"My first job was milking cows," he told the Tullamore Tribune in 1989. Then he started training as a psychiatric nurse in St. Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar. Simultaneously he began developing his musical interests by going into the disco business.

Christy was also a founding member of Tullamore Lions Cub and was recently honoured for his contribution when the club hosted their prestigious national convention in the Offaly county town.

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He was also deeply involved with Tullamore and District Chamber of Commerce and spent a term as President.

A great supporter of charitable and worthy causes, Christy contributed privately to many causes without any publicity.

He was also a founder member of Radio 3 – now Midlands 103 – and sat on its board for many years.

Christy was a very loyal employer in all his ventures and this loyalty was reciprocated by his staff, many of whom had worked with him for decades.

It can be said that disco music in Ireland all began with his own brainchild, ‘Disc A Go Go’ in 1965.

Disc A Go Go started in Mullingar Parochial Hall, when Christy came up with the idea of holding a "discoteque" during the interval of showband acts.

Before he launched his Disc A Go Go – which gave rise to ‘disco’ music and disc jockeys all over the country within a few years – putting together equipment capable of producing the right sounds and creating the atmosphere he wanted, was Christy’s biggest problem.

“There were record hops in those days, but you could only use two small speakers, and there was no atmosphere. I had to find a way of cushioning the turntables, and used a spring from a car seat, and foam, and other padding, so that we could get the volume. We managed to separate the bass sounds and got the hi-fi effect, and we improvised in various ways to get the lighting effects,” said Christy.

By modern standards the twin turntables, and all the equipment Christy used were primitive, but all the time it was something completely new, creating an atmosphere for dancing – and the crowds loved it!

Proprietor of the Lake County, Mullingar, Paddy Fagan, asked Christy to hold Disc A Go Go in his hotel. Christy recalled, “On the first night, 70 or 80 people were there, after that the crowds just got bigger and bigger. He built a bigger ballroom and after a while built an even bigger one!”

Disc A Go Go went from strength to strength, spreading throughout the Midlands at a very fast rate, gathering hundreds to the local parish halls.

“A lot of the success at Disc A Go Go at Greville Arms Hotel Mullingar and Bridge House Tullamore has been due to loyal and supportive people and staff who have contributed a great deal to our success. We try to offer as much variety as possible and I am always looking at new ideas and thinking of new approaches,” commented Christy in an interview in the Tribune in the 1980s.

Paying tribute to the deceased, the proprietor of the Butterfield Estate which hosts the Tullamore Show, former councillor and talented musician, Johnny Butterfield said he first met Christy when he hosted "Disc a Go Go" in St Mary's Hall in Tullamore in the 1960s.

"I never thought at that stage the impact he would make in the future on Tullamore and Mullingar. He was a man of great vision and enterprise. I spoke to him about the development of the old P & H Egan complex in Tullamore and he had a vision of developing a top class restaurant and night club and so the Bridge House and Stringfellows was born."

"He couldn't understand why towns such as Ballymahon and Mullingar could have such thriving agricultural shows and a big town like Tullamore couldn't. He approached some people 'who told him he was mad' but persevered with the idea and the show is now the biggest in the country."

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Local historian and solicitor, Michael Byrne said: "It is rare that it can be said of a businessman that he was loved by all. In the case of Christy Maye it is true he held the loyalty, respect and love of all who came to know him, whether as an employee, customer, supplier or competitor. He was a successful businessman, builder, hotelier but above all an entertainer. And more than that he was a great leader in the Tullamore community without ever wanting thanks or recognition. This was best exhibited in his championing and leading the Tullamore Show since he largely founded it in 1991, inspired at the time by the Mullingar Show.

"Christy Maye was a great supporter of local events and charities. From the time he opened the Bridge House in 1971 to his selling it in 2008 community groups could be sure of a free room for meetings. He went much further with groups such as Junior Chamber, Tullamore Lions the Tullamore Musical Society, the Gramophone Society and many more. The old conference room in Bridge House was famous for launches and meetings. He was a great advocate of the Midlands Heritage and loved to call to Offaly History Centre where he was a donor to many of our projects.

"And yes, to quote the Tullamore Tribune he was a man of many parts. For almost forty years he was owner of the Bridge House, Tullamore, and also of the Greville Arms Hotel, in Mullingar, race-horse owner, disc jockey, builder and gadget lover.

"Christopher Maye was a successful businessman who was able to combine that career with being a gentleman and a scholar. His contribution to the community in Tullamore and Mullingar will long be remembered. We salute his memory and regret his passing."

Christy is sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his family, his wife Ellen, his son Jason, his daughters Jillian (Cleary) and Lee-Anne and son in law David Cleary, his adored grandchildren , Anna and James, Holly and Heidi, his brother Johnny, sisters Kathleen (Hoare) , Mary (Freak) (Australia) Carmel (Cashel) and Madeline (O Scolai) (Canada), sisters in law and brothers in law. the Norris Family (Curragh, Rosemount), his nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbours his many friends, staff members from the Greville Arms Hotel, Danny Byrnes, The Bridge Centre and the farm, to whom the deepest sympathy is extended..

His Funeral Mass took place on Tuesday afternoon in the Church of the Immaculate Conception Forgney (N91 AE 35) followed by burial in adjoining cemetery.

Ar dheis De go raigh a anam.