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: September 2018 Page 3 of 5

UCC, Cork, Finesse RaceWeek Window, Paul and Gary O’Donovan’s win and Jack McKenna’s autobiography

Fuchia in my garden in Autumn 2018

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Town and Gown


Recently I took a trip down memory lane to UCC. It’s a very different place nowadays to when I was a student many moons ago. It is a place very aware of its history.


This hovel which has been erected at the Gaol entrance to the college gives us an idea of the great divide that existed between students at the then Queen’s College and the ordinary folk of the surrounding city in 1845 when the college was founded.

The V under a crown on this finial stands for Queen Victoria and this angel greets you on your arrival at the arch into the Quad.

Irish harp, English Lion and Welsh dragon. I think they thought that the Irish and Scottish people were all the one and so covered by the harp.

 There were certainly no cranes on campus in my day but the college is continually expanding nowadays.

 The statue of Queen Victoria has been replaced with St. Finbarr, in line with the motto of the college; “Where Finbarr taught, let Munster learn.”


These photos were taken in the president’s garden. This was walled in and off limits to students in the 1970s  when I was there.

There is still a rift between town and gown in Cork. While in town I also saw the other side of life there.

I snapped this homeless man sleeping in daytime outside the city library.

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Finesse Window at Race Week 2018


The ladies at Finesse devoted their entire window display in tribute to their friend, Mike Lawlee R.I.P.



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World Champions

The charming self deprecating O’Donovan brothers, world champion rowers…no specific Listowel connection that I know of but all Ireland loves them. They represent the best of us.

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Races week 2018



I took lots of photos but it will take me a while to recover the energy to process them all. Here’ a taster.

It was Ladies’ Day and there was a party going on a bus stop .

Throw me down something. No humans, just ducks in The Feale

Security was tight. Anyone underage and to show that they had no alcohol on them.

This is Cliona McKenna who used to sell race cards here in the good old days when you could get a card and a biro for €1.50

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An Invitation to a Book Launch



One for everyone in the audience

You are all invited to The Seanchaí on Wednesday next at 7.30 p.m. for the launch of an important book, telling the story of an extraordinary Listowel man. The man is Jack McKenna who has reached his 100th year and has led a varied and interesting life.


Doodle Dinner, Milano Fashion, a Rugplan rug and a Star ballad

One of the two in the bush photographed by Chris Grayson.

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Listowel Men at a Doodle Rally



Paul Murphy, formerly of Church St., sent us this. We need help with the names.

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Facelift for Chute’s Stores



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Do You Remember Rug plan?



Kathleen McCarthy is brilliant at all crafts. She has the patience of a saint and she loves to learn a new skill. Recently she made this pure wool rug. Only those of you who have ever made a rug plan rug will appreciate the skill involved here.

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Ballad for Star








Kieran Donaghy has retired from Kerry Football. I found this ballad online. Aplologies to the poet whose name wasn’t with the poem online.

He hailed from the kingdom of Kerry,

A Rocky who played for the Stacks,.

He lined out up front for his county,

And tormented the very best backs.

They pulled, they dragged and they tripped him,

But the ball it was already there,

For the star had very good vision,

To get the ball to the man with red hair.

Manys the day he did save us,

And pulled the win out of the fire,

But time has come for the big man,

To hang up his boots and retire,.

He speaks of O’Connors and Fitzgeralds,

And all of the Donaghy clan,

Well proud they are of this young boy,

Who grew into one talented man.

On behalf of the fans of the Kingdom,

Who came out with the green and the gold,

So sorry to bid you farewell,

But for years your stories be told.

Good luck in the chapter that awaits you,

You owe nothing to the jersey you wore,

But we all wish once more we could see it,

That pass to young Clifford’s score.

What do you think of that Joe Brolly?

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John R.’s Race week window



Many local shopkeepers put in a great effort with their window display for Race week 2018. Here is Pierse Walsh’s Church Street window.



Raceweek Crowds, Trees in Listowel Pitch and Putt Course and Black 47

Photo; Chris Grayson

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Do you recognise anyone in these old photographs taken by Seamus Buckley during a bygone race week.

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Trees on the Pitch and Putt course



I often include here some photographs of the magnificent trees on Listowel’s Pitch and Putt course and I have mentioned here before the unselfishness of men who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.

One of these old stock was the late Tom O’Halloran.  Colm O’Halloran has sent us some of the receipts for those same trees in 1974.

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Race Crowds



The weather has kept me at home but here are 2 more from Sunday.

these are just a small few of the crowded stands on Sunday Sept. 9 2018

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Black 47…The Listowel Connection




This is an official promotional pic. of Stephen Rea who plays the cute hoor who runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds in this film that is currently breaking all box office records.

Listowel’s P.J. Dillon is the writer and director of this story set against the backdrop of The Famine. Black 47 is a story of revenge and desperation in an Ireland where taking the soup or the king’s shilling were regarded with equal hatred.

I saw the film in Listowel’s great Classic cinema. (We are so lucky to have this superb amenity on our doorstep.) I was blown away by the stark devastated barren landscape. The backdrop to the action was breathtakingly awesome. The acting from a truly stellar cast was superb. The story packed lots of action and maybe a bit too much violence for my liking but those were very violent times and cruelty was an everyday currency. This film is a testament to man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. Brutality, cruelty and barbarism are never far below the surface in this thought provoking film.

I loved the way the native characters spoke in Irish and the authenticity of the starving people in a cruel and hostile environment brought those hungry desperate times before our eyes in chilling reality.

Try to see it if you can. It’s one you won’t forget too easily. Well done, P.J.

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Remember where you read it first



In my post of April 18 2018 I told you that the next U.S. ambassador to Ireland would be Ed. Crawford. It took a bit longer than I expected but yesterday it was revealed that indeed Edward J. Crawford is to take up residence in Phoenix Park.

Edward J Crawford’s roots are in North Cork. He is an ardent Republican and is hugely involved in the Irish community in Cleveland.

Raceweek, milk churns and memories of Races past

Chris Grayson

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Revellers in Listowel during a bygone Race Week



Daly’s was where The Risin’ Sun is now.

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Sentimental attachment to milk churns


Dear Mary, 

To add to your milk tank stories, I am attaching a few pictures of milk tanks I brought back from Listowel years ago, painted green to match my front door, and they have travelled with me ever since to my homes in Virginia, Maryland, Arizona, North Carolina, and currently, South Carolina. Jack Scannall delivered milk to us at Skehenerin and always added a “supp” for the cat. As always, thanks for the Listowel Connection. 


MAEVE MOLONEY KOCH, Columbia, South Carolina 




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Memories, Memories



Whether it’s milk churns or pictures, so many things remind us of home.

Here is a letter I got from Bernie Bardsley

 I would like to share a painting I did in 2004 of my mother, Hannah Theresa Bardsley (Grand daughter of Thade Gowran )and my son James Bardsley when he was a baby
He is a strapping 33 year old now
I haven’t painted in a while, but when I do I always sign it Barnaby, ( Another Story some other time, I hope your readers enjoy my painting, maybe inspiring me to paint again.
Bernadette Bardsley



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Ballyduff and Ballincollig Friends at the Races on Sunday




The weather was a bit cold and blustery but it’s great to be outdoors and in good company.

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Article in Image



In case you missed this great essay about Listowel Races in

 Image.ie

The essay was written by one of our own with insider knowledge, Eadaein O’Connell.

Galway may have the hype, but the Listowel Races has the heart


Don’t be surprised if you hear a Listowel expat say they would rather come home for the week of the races than for Christmas. As a child, my parents would take me to the marketotherwise known as the amusementsduring the festival, and on the drive home I would turn to look at the outline of the town behind me as we drove away. All I could see was the sparkle of the funfair rides and I’d think to myself “wow, it can’t get any better than this”.  Side note: years later I discovered alcohol and the races became a whole different level of awe-inspiring.

For one solemn week in September, the town of Listowel illuminates. The land of John B. Keane becomes flooded with the racing elite, and Gypsy Kathleen parks up in The Square to tell fortunes to the unfortunate as punters try to grapple with lost money and dreams. A week on the racecourse, or ‘The Island’ as the locals call it, can ruin a person in the best possible way. They travel in spades from far-flung places like Tarbert to get a taste of the equestrian dream.  In its 160thyear, the Listowel Races is a pure horse racing adrenaline rush. It was my childhood, my teenage years and now my adult chapters. There is a magic in the town that you won’t find anywhere else. Galway may have the hype, but Listowel has the heart.

As a native, I know the tips and tricks to survive the week. You’ll need feeding because the days are long and treacherous and the walk to the Island is a marathon in itself. Be sure to eat your first meal before midday. The Grape and Grain on Church street is like being wrapped up in a warm hug. You’re always sure to be welcomed with a smile and banter from its patrons Martina and Pauchie. Martina makes all her food with a dash of tender love and care and Pauchie is the man to go to for a tip for a horse. The Horseshoe Bar and Restaurant and Eabha Jones are two delicious and warm choices post races and if you are feeling Italian inclined, make your way to Casa Mia’s and order the Chicken Milanese. This is so much of a Listowel delicacy you’d swear we invented it.

Before you descend onto ‘The Island’, saying a prayer for the sins you may commit during the week is a respectable choice. The Church is placed alongside the castle entrance so you are in particular luck. The racecourse is the holy land. No negativity will touch you there. Even though you may be considerably poorer by the end of the day, you will quickly find yourself in the middle of a bad episode of Strictly Come Dancing in Captain Christy’s stand and all will be forgotten. The McElligots Honda Ladies Day is always a winner and this year the best-dressed lady will walk away with a new Honda Civic and €3000. The festivities on the course last into the early hours, so stay for as long as your liver allows.

And on your way out, never forget to buy two Toblerones for a fiver.

Navigate the pubs of Listowel with absolute precision. Start the day in Mike the Pies at the top of the town. A Joe Dolan impersonator makes an appearance each year, and is so good he could transport you back to Mullingar. Then make your way to John B. Keane’s for the history and a chat with his son Billy. My family and I have forced a singing session here many times, so if you feel a sudden urge to warble your way through ‘Caledonia’ or ‘Lovely Listowel’ do not fight it. I’m sure Billy won’t mind.

Then to Jet Carroll’s which is the pub equivalent of Cheltenham. Here you will be offered one of three things; a horse, marriage or a farm in Ballylongford. Finally, Christy’s pub in the square is a place where many romances have started and subsequently failed. There are guaranteed laughs, live music and a barbeque. If you happen to lose a loved companion on your travels, check the back of Christy’s. It’s common to overhear, “You’ve lost your friend? Have you checked Christy’s?” The friend is usually exhumed from the smoking area after trying to romance a lovely girl from Limerick. At the end of the night, you have two choices; The Listowel Arms Hotel to witness the population of the town in action, or Mermaids Nightclub if you’re feeling brave.

Listowel chippers are like an apparition at the end of the night. Mama Mia’s has the best chips in Munster and the chicken and coleslaw in Jumbo’s are Michelin star worthy. My advice is to choose both. You will make friends for life, find romance or an afterparty in both restaurants. And as they say, you only live once.

You see, Listowel is the town that raised us and the races will forever run through the veins of its locals. We will always return. And I promise if you make the trip, you will never want it to end. Because you will find yourself sitting in the town square, missing your shoes, with a fistful of Mama Mia’s chips in one hand and a Jumbos’s chicken breast in the other, and you’ll think to yourself, “wow, it can’t get any better than this”.

Group Cert English, Listowel people at Raceweek and Peggy Rorke’s cure

Robin on bramble Photographed by Chris Grayson

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Group Cert English paper 1963

The Group Cert was an exam that was taken by pupils in Vocational schools. There used to be a segregation of pupils into academic schools which taught subjects like Latin and Greek as well as the core subjects, and vocational schools which prepared pupils for the world of work. These vocational schools alone had an exam after two years called Group Cert. Many pupils then left to take up apprenticeships or to go into jobs.


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…And Lion




This iconic piece of stucco is being refurbished.

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Raceweek Back in the Day


Seamus Buckley’s photos show spectators watching the barmen’s race during race week sometime in the 1950s or 60s

Yesterday’s Raceweek photos brought this response from Gerard Leahy;

Great memories Mary, and you are correct, all of us emigrants cast our minds back to Listowel during Race Week. I loved seeing the old Race Cards. Stuart Stack ( Damian Stack ‘s father) used to distribute bundles of cards to us kids on Race morning and we would sell them up and down the street, the square and the pubs for a shilling, making 100% profit. So many memories of Race Week but Jimmy Hennessy, King of the Wrenboys will always stand out!!!


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Did Her Sister make a Miraculous Recovery?



I photographed this headstone in the nuns’ graveyard at the Nano Nagle Centre in Cork. The Nano Nagle Centre, which is well worth a visit, holds the graves of both  Presentation and the Ursuline sisters. It is on the site of the old South Pres. I’ll be coming back to it here because I made a second visit there recently and was fascinated by the marvellous work of preservation and information that The Presentation Sisters have done at this site which is a museum, a peaceful garden and a visitor centre. I’ll have to go back a third time because, by bad timing, I missed the guided tour by Sr. Bride Given, formerly of Listowel whom I am told is an excellent guide.

Back to this child, Anne Rorke of County Dublin who was buried with the nuns.

Dave O’Sullivan did a bit of research for us and the story he found refers to Anne’s sister but sheds enough light for us to  surmise about Anne and her fate.

The Andrew Rorke referred to in this cutting is obviously Anne’s father. In 1840 he belonged to the ‘Friends of Civil and Religious Liberty”,  was a follower of O’Connell’s and obviously wealthy enough to be able to send his daughters to the Ursuline Boarding School  in Cork to be educated.

The next newspaper story is the fascinating one.

For those of you who have difficulty reading the newspaper cutting, here is the gist of it;

Margaret (Peggy) Rorke of Tyrrellstown in Co. Dublin contracted measles while a boarder in the Ursuline Convent School in Cork. This is 1823 when an outbreak of measles could result in deaths in a crowded community. Anyway Margaret was in a bad way, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat,  could only sit in a chair because to lie prone would have resulted in her lungs filling up with fluid.

In this state she is attended by the nuns and is preparing for death, when they send for a famous priest and miracle worker to give her the Last Rites, then called Extreme Unction or Holy Viaticum (Bread for the journey to heaven). 

This priest is Prince Alexander Leopold Franz Emmerich of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst


He performs the last rites on the dying girl, she spends some time in prayer and, lo and behold, she throws off the covers and walks for the first time in three months. She is completely and undeniably cured.

The newspaper comments


“Peggy Rorke’s cure will ne’er be forgot

By those who were there and those who were not”

From this story we can surmise that her sister Anne died of some complication of measles in 1815.  Because they had suffered the loss of one daughter, the family would have done anything to save the life of Margaret, including bringing a miracle priest from Germany. Daniel O’Connell may even have had something to do with it.

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Sunday at the Races


Sean and Killian were with me in Kerry for the weekend. We went to The Island on Sunday and we had a great time. Not too much luck with the horses but a good time nonetheless.

There was a great crowd in attendance.

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