Blowick, Joseph (1903–70), farmer and politician, was born in Belcarra, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, on 13 March 1903, one of the four sons and two daughters of John Blowick, farmer, and his wife, Honoria (née Madden), originally of Donamona, Belcarra. Educated at the local national school, he worked on his father's extensive farm, which he later inherited.
Reputed to have been a member of the Blueshirts in the 1930s, Blowick sat on Mayo county council (1945–8), the Mayo county committee of agriculture, and the mental hospital visiting committee. He was first elected to the dáil in 1943 as a member of the Farmers’ Party for Mayo South. He was a founding member of Clann na Talmhan, a coalition of western agricultural interests, which was originally established as a non-political organisation to overcome the divisiveness of national politics. Subscribing to the idea of vocationalism, it initially avoided mainstream politics for fear of being subsumed into the existing political parties. However, the movement was largely divided between small and large landowners, and the need for internal stability led the organisation to contest a number of dáil seats.
In 1944 Blowick was successfully re-elected to the dáil on the Clann na Talmhan ticket, a seat he retained until 1965; in the same year he was elected leader of Clann na Talmhan. Serving as minister for lands in both inter-party governments (1948–51, 1954–7), he is best remembered by farmers for the 1949 land act. He also took a keen interest in the reafforestation programme, during which time planting was increased from 12,449 acres in 1953–4 to 18,026 acres by 1955–6. Although his party was a member of both inter-party governments, it fared badly in elections during the 1950s, and Blowick was replaced as leader in 1958. Michael Donnellan (qv) died in September 1964, leaving Blowick as Clann na Talmhan's only TD, and when the latter did not contest the 1965 general election the organisation effectively ceased to exist.
Over 6 feet in height and weighing more than 22 stone, Blowick was, according to the Connaught Telegraph, the ‘first man to effectively impress the problems of the West on the national conscience’. According to Brian Inglis (qv), the voice of an irate Blowick ‘soared into ever higher registers until under stress of extreme excitement he sounded like a tape recorder played backwards’. A steward at Knock shrine and a member of the Knights of Columbanus, he enjoyed handball and was a dab hand with all sorts of machinery. He died 12 August 1970 in a Dublin hospital, leaving an estate valued at £9,771.
In January 1956 Blowick married the nineteen-year-old Teresa O'Malley, the third daughter of Captain James O'Malley of Castleburke, Co. Mayo. They had four sons and three daughters. One of his brothers was Fr John Blowick (qv), co-founder of the Maynooth mission to China.