Listowel Connection

This blog is a personal take on Listowel, Co. Kerry. I am writing for anyone anywhere with a Listowel connection but especially for sons and daughters of Listowel who find themselves far from home. Contact me at listowelconnection@gmail.com

Last One before my Easter Break

By

On April 18, 2025

In Just a Thought, Listowel

A mix of mature and growing trees in Listowel Pitch and Putt course

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Tralee link to The Titanic

(pic and story from the internet)

Today April 15  we remember Dr William O’ Loughlin from Ashe street  Tralee .who was the doctor aboard the ill-fated Titanic  .which sank 113 years ago today  For a man who was heralded for his actions on the night of the sinking of the worlds greatest known ship as yet does not even have a plack at his place of birth .. yet we have a street named after Neil Armstrong.. because he visited once to open an exhibition for a day in the museum….   .He is glorified in Dublin .and New York . When will he finaly be remembered officially in his home town by the powers that be?

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Link to my latest Thoughts as broadcast on Radio Kerry last week

Just a Thought

Some of these reflections are inclused in my latest book

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One Hundred most Common Irish Surnames

Some of these will surprise you. They certainly surprised me…apart altogether from the fact that neither my birth name, my married name, my mother’s maiden name nor my grandmother’s maiden name make the list. The nearest I came was a Connor relative a few generations back but she must have taken the soup as Connor is only there with an O.

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Summer Entertainment

From this week’s Kerry’s Eye

No programme yet but there are a few goodies promised.

Today’s Fact

The Boomtown Rats are coming to Revival. That’s a promise and the fact is that I have a family connection to the Rats. My sister-in-law, Liz Cogan, is a sister to Pete Briquette and a first cousin to Johnny Fingers.

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It’s a Dog’s Life

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On April 17, 2025

In Listowel, Personal

Happiness is a bed in the shade

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Presentation Update

Yesterday, because of the upheaval at AIHS, I speculated that Mark Holan’s presenation might not go ahead.

Mark has been in touch to say that the Michael J. O’Brien presentation is indeed going ahead. Learn more at the below link.

.https://irish-us.org/events/virtual-lecture-michael-j-obrien-defending-irelands-record-america

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Handball and Pitch and Putt

Bobby Cogan stops to read his old friend, Junior’s poem about great days in this very handball alley.

Memories of the ball alley in Listowel

When school was o’re, our hearts would soar,

At meals we would not dally,

With homework done, to seek our fun,

We’d wander to the alley.

To toss that ball against the wall,

And combat every rally,

With pouring sweat we’d play‘til death

Those games within our alley.

With left hand or right we’d try our might,

Until the grand finale,

But win or lose, how we’d enthuse

On those games played down the alley

Each game was fought, the prize was sought,

The marker counts his tally,

The match was won at twenty one,

‘Twas victory in the alley.

But time moves on, the youth now gone,

No more do young men sally

To toss that ball against the wall

Of my beloved alley

Yet, memories hold of comrades old

Until the last reveille,

Of times gone by which brought such joy

Those days spent down the alley

Junior Griffin

Junior, in his prime, accepting a handball trophy.

It was handball that led to the establishment of the Pitch and Putt Club. Junior and others of the handball fraternity campaigned for the setting up of the Pitch and Putt Club. Sadly now hand ball is not played anymore. The sport is still alive and is played elsewhere but it has died out in Listowel. Meanwhile pitch and putt has gone from strength to strength

Sunday, April 13 2025. Who needs Augusta when we have this gem on our doorstep?

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Reggie visits Listowel Landmarks

People have asked me if Reggie is a greyhound. No, he is not. He is a lurcher, i.e. half greyhound. He is a rescue dog who was abused in a previous life. He was maltreated and left on the side of a road where a kind person found him, cold malnourished and covered in cuts and bruises. After his rehabilitation at the sanctuary he found his forever home where he is loved like one of the family. His sweet nature means he is easy to love.

He posed beside a few iconic Listowel landmarks as souvenirs of his recent visit.

at Listowel Castle

at the Tidy Town seat

at the statue of John B. Keane

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Not only a Green Jacket and millions of dollars

Look what Rory got.

He will be the host a next year’s champions dinner. Wonder will he have an Ulster fry?

Maybe not.

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A Fact

The world’s largest colony of bats lives in the Bracken Cave in Texas. There are about 20 million of them.

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American Irish Historical Society

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On April 16, 2025

In Listowel, Poem

Listowel Pitch and Putt Course Sunday April 13 2025

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Reggie in Ballybunion

Reggie made several trips to Ballybunion while he was on his Kerry holidays. He loved playing with MaCushla

On Saturday morning he befriended a few Dippers. He loves attention.

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Hassle in the Castle

Damien and Joan Stack with Mark Holan

I met Mark in Listowel on Saturday, April 12 2025. Mark is an American Irish journalist and historian. He is a frequent visitor to Ireland. He writes in his Irish American blog about Irish history, politics and current issues. He is a frequent visitor to these parts, visiting both here and Northern Ireland and catching up with relatives in North Kerry.

We had arranged to meet for a quick chat on Saturday. Talk fell to the American Irish Historical Society where Mark was scheduled to give a presentation…

COMING APRIL 21, 2025, “Michael J. O’Brien: Defending Ireland’s Record in America”: US Sen. John Sharp Williams attacked the Irish character in a widely reported October 1919 speech. Michael J. O’Brien of the American Irish Historical Society was drafted to make the reply on behalf of Irish immigrants. Register here for this AIHS online presentation.

This presentation now seens highly unlikely to go ahead as a result of the bitter upheavel taking place at the AIHS.

Listowel’s own Elizabeth Stack was doing an excellent job as CEO at turning around the fortunes of this extremely important but troubled organisation. The board has treated her appallingly badly.

You can read the story in the link below

Irish Echo

https://www.irishecho.com/2025/4/stack-formally-fired-and-locked-out-of-aihs

Mark Holan had interviewed Elizabeth Stack and was aware of her passion for Irish American history and her vision for the society whose significance she recognised and was anxious to restore to its rightful place in the history of our Irish emigrants in the U.S. He was shocked to learn of her dismissal. AIHS holds invaluable archival materials.

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Another Popular Old Poem

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Annual Walk

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A Fact

Iceland’s parliament is the oldest active parliament in the world. It is active since AD930.

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Reggie’s Visit

By

On April 15, 2025

In Listowel

Teeing off at the Kerry matchplay championships in Listowel on Sunday April 13 2025

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Pitch and Putt

Organiser and competitor: There was plenty of local interest in the competition.

The course was looking superb, a credit to all involved. We are so lucky in Listowel to have this top class amenity in the heart of town. We owe so much to the foresight of the club’s founders who planted the seeds and landscaped the field and laid the foundations of the great club it is today.

My visitors, Bobby and Carine were happy to meet a pitch and putt supporter and dog lover.

Monday’s message on the club website:

Yesterday we hosted the Kerry Matchplay Championship. Our own players did us proud on the day. Richard Bunyan and Paul Hayes were beaten finalists, while Ger Guerin, Albert Barrett, Bobby McCarron, Jake Shine, and John Heffernan had excellent runs to the semi finals. Congratulations to all the winners, and to the County Board for succesfully running the competition on the day.

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A Walk by the River

We took Reggie for a walk along the riverside. Getting on to the walk from the ball alley side was a bit problematic as Reggie was afraid to venture on the metal walkway under the bridge. He had to be carried. He’s not light and he doesn’t like being carried.

The river was very dry. At places you could walk across. I don’t recommend it.

Wild garlic at a tree stump. If you like this for flavour there is plenty of it freely available in Listowel.

Reggie takes a look at Kerry plant and a fallen tree.

Reggie and Bobby posed for me near the picturesque town end of the walk

The brisge to the racecourse with the river water almost completely dried up.

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In Thyme Out Café

Sometime a sparrow flies in to check out the diners.

It was lovely to meet Marie MacCarthy on my recent visit. Marie ran into Eleanor Belcher on her travels last year. They found themselves in the same little café in a remote little town in Greece. Listowel connections everywhere.

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Something New at Kerry Writers’ Museum

I copied this information from KWM social media page

📚 James McGrath’s Poetry & Irish Lending Library in Kerry Writers’ Museum in Listowel

James McGrath, a distinguished poet and artist from Santa Fe, New Mexico, has roots tracing back to Ballyvaughan, County Clare.

At 97, James continues to make remarkable contributions to the literary world, recently relocating his Poetry and Irish Collection to Kerry Writers’ Museum in Listowel.

A regular visitor to Ireland and a cherished friend of the Ballydonoghue Bardic Festival, James has generously sponsored an annual €200 prize for writers aged 75+ since 2018.

Visit the museum to explore this unique collection and support the ongoing legacy of James’s work. Kerry Writers’ Museum is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm.

I called to see how it worked and you can borrow any book from the collection. All that is asked is a small donation.

They didn’t have a list of the books available and I couldn’t find a list on line. Maybe a job for a quiet day in the museum.

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A Fact

A giant panda in the wild can live for 20 years.

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Sunshine and Visitors

By

On April 14, 2025

In Listowel

Beautiful Listowel Pitch and Putt course on Sunday April 13 2025

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Glorious Weather

I’ve been outdoors a lot in the past week so not so much research for my blog being done. I also had a lovely family visit, so this week you may not see the best of me on here.

Water level very low in the Feale in April 2025

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I do not like thee, Dr. Fell

Fourth Wall Theatre Group take a curtain call in St. John’s on Saturday, April 12 2025.

Maeve Heneghan and me after the play. Maeve was delighted to be returning to her Kerry roots and playing in a town where her famous ancestor, John J. Foley performed many a comic turn. Maeve played Rita in the show, a very funny character whose (imaginary) husband was “savaged by dogs”.

Bobby Cogan, Maeve Heneghan, Mary Cogan, Bridget O’Connor and Carine Schweitzer in St. John’s

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Meanwhile in the horse racing world…


2025 Randox Grand National Winner Nick Rockett Homecoming, Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow 9/4/2025
Ruby Walsh, Ted Walsh Winning jockey of the 2025 Randox Grand National on Nick Rockett, Patrick Mullins and winning trainer Willie Mullins
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

The two father son combinations which won the Aintree Grand National twenty years apart.

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Sign of Summer

The shops are putting out the sunglasses.

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A Fact

In 1923 Firestone put the first inflatable tyres into production.

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