Willie Joe Padden is a former Gaelic footballer who received two All Stars awards, and represented Mayo in an 1989 All-Ireland SFC Final but lost to Cork. His son Billy Joe also played for Mayo. Willie Joe was born in Belmullet on 6 February 1959. He attended his local primary school in Aughalsheen just outside Belmullet. He went to the Convent of Mercy secondary school in Belmullet.