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

Month: May 2013

Parents and Friends Garden Fete, the horrors of war and a quiet night in St. John’s

Finally some photos from last Sunday’s Garden Fete

The children did a great job on the scarecrows. There was a Suarez complete with an impressive set of gnashers and a  Paul Galvin holding a football in one hand and a duster in the other. There was even a real living scarecrow mingling among us.

There were great prizes for the Grand raffle. I got no phonecall so I’m presuming I did not win.

My friend and blog collaborator was browsing among the books.

There was money to be won in a variety of ways at this stall.

T

Some people just came to dance.

(More photos next week)

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NKRO posted this picture to set the scene for our wartime commemoration to take place on Saturday. This is a British position which has been captured by the Germans in 1917. The two German soldiers, probably cold and wet, are wearing British issue great coats and it looks like they took the boots off the feet of the dead soldier in the forefront of the picture.

Isn’t war obscene?

Belgium 1917, the Menin Road, Passendale. The walking wounded straggle back to base past the prone bodies of injured survivors who are waiting to be taken to a field hospital.

Cherrytree in bloom in Cherrytree Drive, Listowel this week.

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This is a great article by Sean Carlson. He is writing about the global reach of an Irish village and the village he knows best is Moyvane;

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/generationemigration/2013/04/25/the-reach-of-a-single-village/

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Interesting snippet I learned from The Kerryman.

Well known Listowel natives, Maurice (Monty) and Patricia Reagan are in the news again.

One of their horses, Falling Sky has been selected to compete in The Kentucky Derby tomorrow night. Having a runner in the race is a huge honour  as over 2,000 horses were originally entered to compete.

You can read all about it here :

http://www.kentuckyderby.com

And you can even watch the race live. We will all be cheering if the Newton Anner Stud Farm pair pull off a massive coup.

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One thing that never ceases to amaze me about Listowel
people is this. While we have one of the loveliest little theatres in the world
and we have one of the best literary festivals in Europe, why don’t Listowel people
support theatre in town.

Joe Murphy brings shows to St. Johns that pack theatres
elsewhere, but play to very poor houses in Listowel. It’s nothing short of a
disgrace to us all.

 Are we so parochial
that we will only support theatre if it’s a local play with local actors?

Are There More of You? was the very ironically titled show I
attended on Wednesday evening.  It was a
massively entertaining thought- provoking show, a tour de force by a brilliant playwright and actress, Alison Skilbeck…and she played in Listowel to 4 people.

Let me tell North Kerry people what you missed.

Alison played all the parts and she became a different
person each time she changed costume.

The themes of the play were betrayal and redemption and
there was a lot in it that referenced Macbeth:   an ambitious woman, a kind of witch, some bloody hands and a sleep that “knits up the ravelled sleeve of care.”

Are there More of You? is a play about one  woman who is betrayed by her
husband and redeemed by Art; another Italian -English woman who betrays her Italian
Mama but finds redemption in her Italian roots, cooking and opera; a therapist
betrayed by her client and finally an ambitious ball breaker of a woman who is
redeemed through friendship.

This one woman show is continuing its tour so you can see it
in Dingle tonight Friday May 3 2013;  in Birr on Saturday; in the Millbank in
Rush, Co. Dublin on Sunday and all next week from May 6  to Saturday May 11  2013 in the Viking Theatre over The Sheds pub
in Clontarf.

I strongly recommend you try to catch it.

The lovely Alison joined her audience for a chat after the St. John’s show. That is she with the pink hankie. The audience is Noel Keenan, Helen Moylan, Jim Cogan and me behind the camera. 


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We have a new bishop of Kerry. We will be getting to know Raymond Browne in the near future.

FCA, Horizons and Connect 4 in Berlin

Canon Declan shared some of his old FCA photos with us.

The quality of the pictures is not great but the memories are priceless.

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This is Fr. Pat Moore P.P. Duagh and Mary Fagan, presenter of Horizons.

What are they doing on today’s blogpost?

On Friday last, Mary recorded a Horizons’ programme with me as the subject. Since chattering away is a forté of mine, it all felt very easy and enjoyable. Maybe it was down to Mary’s skill as an interviewer, but the time flew and I felt that we had just had a friendly chat.

 I’ll alert you to the broadcast date when Mary gives it to me and you can hear for yourselves.

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Above is Listowel Town Square last week and below the same place in the 1940s. I have no idea who the people are but if you know, do let me know. They look to me like visitors posing with a local lady.

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My daughter, Clíona, went to Berlin recently for a  holiday and she found this marvellous bar in which the customers were encouraged to play board games.

Here she is channelling her inner child with her friend, Philip, and a good old game of  Connect 4.

Seán takes on the winner. Notice behind them the shelves lined with every boardgame you could imagine. Would it catch on in Listowel I wonder?

May Day, Writers’ Week and Cycle Against Suicide

Lá Bealtaine traditionally marks the beginning of summer.  Herds are driven out to summer pasture. Summer, the season of growth and abundance is here. Our ancestors lit bonfires on hills to greet the season of energy and fulfillment. This year has been a dreadful one for farmers. There is no growth, and the land is bare and sodden.

Lets hope that from today we see an improvement and the beginning of a better season for us all.

My friend in Ballybunion Sea Angling took this on Saturday morning last.

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Another pic to remind you of the calibre of people coming to this year’s Writers’ Week. This time it is poets Rita Anne Higgins and John Montague.

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The Writers’ Week Childrens’ programme is out and it’s a cracker. Listowel is set to greet its very own answer to Thomas the Tank Engine in the form of Larry Lartigue. There is a Teddy Bears’ picnic, Baby Boogie, A Big Fat Bug Wedding, a rapper and a bookmaking workshop with The Happy Artist. These are just some of the events planned for the June Bank holiday weekend. Read the brochure here

http://writersweek.ie/2011/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Children-Festival-2013.pdf

And if you have a small person who wishes to participate, book your place fast.

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On Friday last I chanced to be in Listowel Town Square around 2.30 where I met this lady.

Anne Marie was waiting patiently for her husband to come through town with 

Cycle Against Suicide

I waited and took a few snaps of the happy cyclists.

And would you believe it…..I got Bressie! He is on the far left in the 3rd photo down.

These are just a small fraction of the photos I took.  There were so many cyslists, I’m afraid I could not identify the local lads. Well done, everyone!

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The Germans are coming!

Guten tag!

Dont forget to look out for these guys at the Military Tattoo next weekend.

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Sinead Gleeson and Anne Enright with Console CEO, Paul Kelly pictured at the launch of Silver Threads of Hope, a fundraising book of short stories by established Irish writers. The book is available in book shops

Console’s  new centre in Tralee

National suicide prevention and bereavement charity Console has opened Ireland’s first suicide resource centre in Tralee.
The Console
Centre will provide a broad range of community-based supports, services and
resources for those affected by, or at risk of suicide.
The facility is based
at the McAuley Centre, Balloonagh, which was acquired by the charity from the
Sisters of Mercy and refurbished and redeveloped with the help of Kerry
Group.
Launching the new Console Centre, Kerry Group CEO Stan McCarthy says
Console plays a crucial role in supporting family members, friends and
colleagues who suffer the bereavement of a loved one through suicide.  (from Radio Kerry website)

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