An exhibition is set to delve into the lives of the three Hollywood brothers who Ireland forgot.
The display will focus on silent movie stars Owen, Matt and Tom Moore who each have their own stars on the Walk Of Fame but have yet to be formally recognised here.
Meath historian Stephen Ball, of St Ultan’s Historical Society, will stage the event in the Moore family home of Fordstown, outside Kells, from where they emigrated in 1896 to star in around 500 movies.
Coinciding with Heritage Week, the display is the first step of a book on the remarkable story of the siblings which is being researched by Mr Ball.
He said: “Thanks to two private collections on loan, this exhibition will contain many personal photographs signed by the late actors, a 1922 ‘Calendar of California’ inscribed by their mother Rosanna and other memorabilia.
“During their careers, Owen, Matt and Tom performed alongside the great Greta Garbo and Mae West and Owen went on to marry Mary Pickford before she divorced him nine years later and married Douglas Fairbanks.
“Even their younger brother Joe was known in Hollywood and married Grace Cunard who was a pioneering star of directing and screen writing.
“There are many unanswered questions about the family, like why their father John returned to Ireland on his own, where he died in 1912, and why their sister Mary quit her acting career in 1918 to join the American Red Cross and work in Europe during World War I before she died of the Spanish Flu at the age of 29.”
The Moore brothers were household names across the US in the 1920s. Owen’s last role was as a director in the 1937 classic A Star Is Born before he died two years later.
With 221 pictures under his belt, Matt appeared in the 1916 classic 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
And Joe also starred in more than 40 films while their sister Mary appeared in 13 productions in her acting career. Apart from a small plaque in Fordstown erected over a decade ago, few remember the rags to riches story of the Moores.
Local bar owner Stephanie Bray said: “Nowhere else would three brothers who were Hollywood stars go unrecognised.
“If three Irish brothers were on Irish TV nowadays, they’d be huge here and on the international stage.
“All the older generations who knew about the Moore brothers have all but died and most people nowadays have never heard of them.”
The Moores were previously heralded by author Turtle Bunbury who said: “They were right up there with the Hollywood elite in the Golden Age, and as famous as any of the Kardashians today.”
The exhibition will take place in Fordstown, this Saturday from 1-4pm.
