Joseph Howley was a member of the local Irish Volunteers at Oranmore, County Galway. Howley mobilized and led a combined contingent of 106 Volunteers from Oranmore Including Tommy Furey and neighboring Maree on Easter Tuesday morning of the 1916 Easter Rising. Their plan was to attack the Oranmore barracks. The company failed to capture the barracks, and his men to join those of Liam Mellows.