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
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Mary Cogan, retired from teaching in Presentation Secondary School, Listowel, Co. Kerry. I am a native of Kanturk, Co. Cork.
I have published two books; Listowel Through a Lens and A minute of your Time
At the great exhibition of old photos from the 1950s and 60s in Kanturk library, people had a great time, seeing themselves, their parents and friends and so many people no longer with us.
I am beside the picture of my Uncle and his friends and their famous combine harvester.
Marguerite and Derry O’Mahoney are looking at photographs of their father, Miah who was always one of the highlights of the Fancy Dress Parade.
Local people putting names to faces.
James Twohig is the chair of Duhallow Heritage Society, who presented the exhibtion to us. The two girls on my right are Caroline and Mary O’Sullivan, relatives of Danny O’Sullivan, the photographer.
Mary, Marguerite and I were in school together many moons ago.
One of the many school groups on display.
If only every town had a Danny O’Sullivan and a generous family to share all the images with us.
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Quality before Quantity Every time
Help Needed
Hi im trying to contact Deidre Finucane to do with my family tree. Was her father James Finucane born 1924 Cappamore and mother Bridie. Regards Guy.
If you can help, email me. I have an email address for Guy.
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A Fact
Thw last public execution in Britain took place outside Newgate Prison in 1868.
I was fascinated by the Jew’s Retreat line in Gina Wheeler’s postcard .
She sent us this explanation.
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A New Fire Engine
Danny O’Sullivan ‘s archive of old photos of Kanturk has this sequence from 1958.
God help the poor volunteer firemen in that firefighting gear.
In those days everything had to be blessed. Canon O’Leary and unnamed altar boy carrying the holy water blessed the new fire engine and the firemen.
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St. Mary’s
Text from Listowel and its Vicinity by Fr. Antony Gaughan
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Did you have one of these?
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Cows
Last week I included Kate Slevin’s photograph of cows sunbathing on Rosbeg beach .
Julie Evans responded;
Dear Mary
In today’s Listowel Connection there is a great photo of cows on a beach. I saw this at much the same time I saw the attached photo on Facebook. The cow in my photo was caught up in the catastrophic floods on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. It comes from a property in Wallanbah and was found 50 kms away, on the NSW coast, washed down the river to the ocean. Poor creature looks exhausted. An amazing story of survival. Its owner was identified by the ear tag and was on his way to collect it.
So many cattle, and other animals, lost in these floods and over 400 homes left completely uninhabitable. The recent flood is being called a one-in-500-years event.
Lovely to keep in touch through your ‘Connection’!
Love
Julie
Julie sent us some more links if you would like to read more about the flooding catastrophe.
It is unimaginable to us who slept in our warm beds last night. The government promises assistance and the Prime Minister is visiting to see for himself. Meanwhile, in South Australia there is drought and terrible winds creating dust storms. The red dust has even blown across to Sydney and the city is shrouded in a dirty haze.
The love of field and coppice, of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance, brown streams and soft, dim skies-
I know but cannot share it, my love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror- the wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests, all tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains, the hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops, and ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country! Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us we see the cattle die –
But then the grey clouds gather, and we can bless again
The drumming of an army, the steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country! Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine she pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks, watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness that thickens as we gaze.
An opal-hearted country, a wilful, lavish land –
All you who have not loved her, you will not understand –
Though earth holds many splendours, wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country my homing thoughts will fly.
………………………………
“My Country” is an iconic patriotic poem about
Australia, written by Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968)
at the age of 19 while homesick in England. After
travelling through Europe extensively with her father
during her teenage years she started writing the
poem in London in 1904[1] and re-wrote it several
times before her return to Sydney. The poem was
first published in the London Spectator in 1908 under
the title “Core of My Heart“. It was reprinted in many
Australian newspapers, quickly becoming well known
and establishing Mackellar as a poet.
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A Fact
Mummy Pig, mother of Peppa and George, gave birth to her third piglet, Evie Pig, in the very maternity hospital in London where Kate Middleton had her three royal children.
Séamus Ennis (1919–1982) was a master uilleann piper, singer, and one of Ireland’s most important collectors of traditional music. Born in Finglas, Dublin, and taught by his father, he began playing the pipes at 13 and later worked for the Irish Folklore Commission, where he collected nearly 2,000 songs, tunes, and stories from across Ireland, often traveling by bicycle with only pen and paper. His meticulous fieldwork preserved a vast repertoire that might otherwise have been lost.
Ennis was also a pioneering broadcaster, recording and promoting traditional musicians for Radio Éireann and the BBC, and he played a key role in legitimizing Irish music on radio and television. In 1968, he co-founded Na Píobairí Uilleann, the society dedicated to the promotion of the uilleann pipes, and was renowned for his generosity in sharing his knowledge with younger musicians His playing style, noted for its elegance and mastery of slow airs, set a benchmark for future generations.
His legacy endures in the thousands of tunes he preserved, the standards he set for piping, and the influence he had on Irish music’s revival and transmission. Ennis is commemorated by the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre in Naul lrish cultural life.
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St. John’s
St. John’s in May 2025
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An Emigrant’s Descendants Return
Email from Gina;
I was excited to find your Listowell blog as I have a connection to this beautiful town. My mother’s grandfather migrated to Australia in 1863 from Listowell, Kerry. His name was Martin Collins. I found your blog through a postcard that was sent to my Gx3 Grandfather from Mount Rivers, dated 1906.tI was from Nell? C MacElligott. I have attached photos.
I am hoping to find some more information about my Great x3 Grandfather’s background. I know his parent’s names were Thomas Collins and Mary Lynch.
Hope you are able to help or lead me in the right direction.
Kind regards,
Gina Wheeler
If anyone reading this knows anything of Martin Collins or Mary Lynch, Gina would love to hear from you.
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Carmody’s of Sráid an Phiarsaigh
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American Wealth in Kanturk in the 1960s
This is the late Danny O’Sullivan of Kanturk. He returned from the USA just before the Great Depression. His father, also called Dan, had emigrated like so many Duhallow people to Oregon.
Dan Sr. amassed a huge fortune. It is said that he owned a Street in Boston by the time he liquidated his assetts and returned with his family to live in Kanturk. He opened a bar in The Square. As his sons matured and married they each opened a business in town. The businesses names acknowledged the source of their wealth. They were the USA Café, the USA Bar and the USA Stores. Dan also bought a farm.
As well as running the café, Danny, who was an excellent photographer, had a part time business photographing first Communions and other occasions. He had his own dark room.
This is just one of several cameras he owned.
Danny was out with his camera on every big occasion in town. This is the Corpus Christi procession. This was a huge event in the Kanturk of my childhood and Danny’s archive of pictures has many processions over the years.
This is years later when Danny added colour film to his offering.
Fancy Dress parades were also a favourite subject. In those days adults took part in these parades and they were a great source of fun and entertainment.
Danny left us a huge archive of precious mementos of a different era in Kanturk.
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A Fact
The phrase ‘to turn a blind eye” comes from Admiral Nelson’s time. A message was sent to Nelson to cease fighting. He put his telescope up to his blind eye, claimed he never saw the message and continued to fight.
Roses at Listowel’s Civic Plaza in early summer 2025
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Listowel Literary Festival 2025
The Kerry Irish Novel of the Year 2025; Time of the Child by Niall Williams
I’m delighted that my favourite book won.
Rhona Tarrant did a great job as MC on Opening Night of Writers’ Week. She is here with her parents, Gerard and Jenny
Sally O’Neill is a regular supporter of all things literary in Listowel.
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Street Name Confusion
This is the Convent Street Clinic.
This is the sign on the wall of the Convent Street Clinic.
This house is located directly across the road from the Convent Street Clinic.
This sign is on the house directly opposite the Convent Street Clinic
So for this street it’s a case of Market Street, Convent Street, Sráid an Mhargaidh or Gleann an Phúca, take your pick. They are all correct according to the street signs.
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Essay Writing Success
Picture and text from Facebook
A transition year student from Co Kerry has been named as winner of the Law Society of Ireland’s national Gráinne O’Neill Memorial Legal Essay Competition 2025.
Hazel Barrett, a student at Presentation Secondary School in Listowel, raised the trophy at a special awards ceremony held at Blackhall Place last Wednesday.
Now in its third year, the annual competition invites TY students from across the country to submit a 1,500-word legal essay on a specific topic.
This year, over 350 essays were submitted by students from 52 schools across 16 counties, each exploring “the role the law can play in addressing hate crime”.
The competition aims to inspire young peoples’ legal learning by encouraging students from a wide range of backgrounds to consider contemporary justice issues.
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Listowel Arms Hotel
Photograph: May 2025; text: Listowel and its Vicinity by Fr. Antony Gaughan
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Kanturk, My Hometown
Here I am in my old home with my only brother, Pat. I love going home. It is the most welcoming, most hospitable house you can imagine, thanks to my lovely sister in law, Breeda.
This was the reason for my visit.
Duhallow Heritage Society allowed me to read a reflection as part of the great night of reminiscing and reconnecting. I’ll tell you more tomorrow.
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A Fact
The phrase ” That will cost you an arm and a leg,” comes from the Victorian era. The Victorians loved to have their portraits painted. The more of the body you included in the image, the dearer the commission. So they were often painted with just head and shoulders. An arm and a leg cost extra..
Áras an Phiarsaigh in glorious sunshine in May 2025
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Patrick Street/ William Street Upper or Pearse Street
One of the most famous premises on this street, references Patrick Street
Further along, on the same side of the street is another well known premises.
I rest my case.
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The Horse Chestnut in May
(Mick O’Callaghan teaches us a thing or two about the beloved horse chestnut)
It was Tuesday May 20th, 2025. We were after a sustained period of dry weather and the ground was very dry. Some plants were somewhat stunted in their growth.
I cut all the lawns at home and at our daughter’s house because rain was forecast for the afternoon.
Now that domestic chores were attended to, I betook myself to Courtown Woods for a forest walk and to follow up on the progress of the Aesculus Hippocastanum or, in everyday parlance, The Horse Chestnut Tree.
When I walk in Courtown woods I invariably walk along The Horse Chestnut Walk and take lots of photos of the tree lined avenue. I watched the huge gaunt skeletal trees in winter and longed for some new life to appear on their naked branches. In late February I observed little green buds appearing which morphed into red centred green leaves and then during April and May the large soft green palmate shaped glossy leaves appeared. I photographed each stage of the trees’ development. It is truly a captivating transformation to behold in perfect woodland peace at close quarters in Spring and early summer. Another major benefit is that this colourful nature show is totally free to view.
Now as I feast on nature reawakening from its winter hibernation in the peace and solitude of the Courtown woods I recall our school botany classes. I remember teachers and later college lecturers describing the palmate structure of leaves with five or seven leaflets emanating from a single stem and fanning out like fingers. In my own teaching life, I remember collecting leaves from various trees and drying them out between sheets of blotting paper to make scrapbooks. I still have some of them after all the years.
In Kerry we were living in an area where a lot of deer thrived on the higher ground and in Killarney National Park. Teachers described their antlers as being of a palmate structure in our zoology classes.
After that little stroll down memory lane, it is time to return to Courtown forest and my beloved horse chestnut trees, The huge leaves were providing a canopy for the beautiful flowers which are unique. Today I was so lucky because it was so calm, and I got some great photos of the leaves and of the pink and white horse chestnut flowers.
They bloom in upright clusters of flowers called panicles and the bees and other pollinators just love them for their colour and pollen.
Last week when I visited all the clusters were a nice shade of pink but today, I noted a change as an appreciable number were white. This change of colour indicates to the pollinators that the white ones had been pollinated, and the pink ones now needed to be pollinated.
It was the difference in the colour and texture of the leaves that fascinated me most.
When I came home, I examined my photos, and I noted some remarkable colour and texture transformation in the leaves since last week, I also noted that some of the petals of the pollinated flowers were falling to the ground.
The leaves had changed from the soft tender light green leaf to a darker green. They were an entirely different tougher textured version. As the leaves change the next phase in the lifecycle is about to begin. They will start forming the spiky green fruits which will develop into lovely shiny conkers and so another cycle draws to a close and the leaves will fade away and die.
Sadly, today I saw a parent pulling down a full panicle because his child wanted it. As I was passing by the child showed me the lovely flower. I had to tell the parent how much nicer it would have been if it was left there to mature into a conker. He turned to his wife and told her about the conker. She was not interested she said because she was dying for a cup of coffee.
I was on the home straight when a granny with her grandchild and dog were approaching. Granny was oblivious to my presence as she was texting away on her phone when the 3-year-old child shouted, “Granny put away your phone.” Granny continued texting. As they were passing the child shouted again “granny, put away your phone and talk to me” Granny continued walking and texting while the little dog barked and pawed the ground with boredom. I continued walking home
Adults please put away those phones for a while and set the good example. There should be a competence test and a written exam before people could purchase a phone. Their ill use causes a lot of problems.
Anyway, the welcome rain has returned for a brief visit this evening and our arid plants and lawns are relishing it. You’re welcome rain but please don’t hang around too long
As they said in my school days
“A wet and windy May fills the barn with corn and hay.”
Our dry May this year seems to be filling them with top class silage.
