Only a year or two younger than Will Starr, Joe McBride is the only former parishioner with a claim to having been a professional opera singer. A former coalminer, Joe sang with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in London for a number of years before making his career on the more widely popular radio, television and theatre circuits.
 
Joe was well known nationally in the 1960s for his radio requests show with Sandy McPherson at the organ. On that long-running programme he pleased millions of listeners with his renderings of many fine old songs, songs such as Ave Maria, I'll Walk With God, Song of Songs, I'll Walk Beside You and Macushla. His television appearances included B.B.C., S.T.V. and Granada Television. He made frequent television appearances with singers of the calibre of Moira Anderson with whom he sang duets. Joe also made many appearances on TV with the Adams Singers and, like Will Starr, had an ongoing show business relationship with The Royal Clansmen. Again like Will Starr, he released recordings on the Thistle of Scotland Recording Company label.
 
Many Croy people will remember Joe McBride particularly for his excellent and touching rendition of César Franck's Latin hymn Panis Angelicus. In another similarity with Will Starr, death cut Joe's career short at a comparatively young age.