In Listowel Town Square
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A Story from my trip to Ballincollig
Who are these people? you ask
Answer; They are Jerry and Marie Holland and Jimmy Crowley.
Here’s’ the story;
Cork libraries are doing a lovely thing. They are bringing musicians into the libraries for free daytime.concerts.
We got two singer songwriters and song collectors in Ballincollig on Wednesday April 2 2025. Jimmy Crowley is a living legend in folk music circles. He has just launched his 15th album. He is a superb writer of songs and an incomparable interpreter of songs. He is very knowledgeable about Cork’s history as recorded in old songs and he has written a marvellous book detailing the history and stories behind many of the old songs. He wrote a column in The Echo full of snippets of history and lore for over 20 years. I was so smitten I bought all the merch so I’ll be telling you in future about the book.
This is Eve Telford, a great singer and interpreter of a folk song. She has collected songs from all over and she has an especial interest in old anti war songs and Traveller songs.
I was fascinated to hear her sing in English a song I learned in Irish college many moons ago;
“A mhic mo chroí, ars’ an sairsint ghroí.
Ar mhaith leat bheith in airm is in éide an rí?
I do Royal Dragoon thar farraige anall
is gan aon ró mhoill bheith id’ oifigeach mór….
In the song the Cork mother is horrified to have her soldier son returned to her minus his two legs. The song explores the son’s good intentions, defending small nations and all the clap trap the recruiting sargeant sold him. The mother is more practical and realises that there was no glamour, just pain and foolishness.
Now who is this up there with Jimmy Crowley? Marie Kelliher, now Holland knew Jimmy years ago when she was only a little girl.
Jimmy wasn’t always a professional singer. He had many jobs that he told us about. His first job was on Marie’s family farm in Castletreasure. Marie says her father, Con Kelliher, was ‘mad about ‘ Jimmy. Marie came with her husband from their home in Bandon to listen to Jimmy in the library.
Reminiscing
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A Miller’s Tale
While I was waiting for the concert to begin, I picked up a nearby took. This tome lists all the mills in Ireland.
If you thought mills only milled wool and grain crops you’d be wrong. Take a look at this list of stuff that was milled once upon a time.
Do you know what a tucking mill did?
Tucking Mills, also known as fulling or walking mills. How a tucking mill worked. In the middle ages woollen cloth was woven with an open weave much like modern sack cloth.. This was ‘tucked’ or ‘fulled’ by pounding the cloth with large wooden mallets or sometimes by treading it.
The oldest tucking mill in Ireland was in Avoca.
This is a picture from the book of a mill in Knocknagoshel. The best known Kerry mill is Kerry Woolen Mills.
“Kerry Woollen Mills are one of the last remaining traditional wool mills still manufacturing in County Kerry. The company was founded over 300 years ago. The mill’s machinery was originally driven by the River Gweestin, and its water was also used for washing and dying the wool. The mill was run by the Sealy family for many generations since its inception in 1760, and brought into the capable hands of the Eadie family in 1904, who had gained experience in the wool manufacturing business for many years in Fermanagh and Scotland and are now successfully managing the mill in the fourth generation.[1] Wool is spun, dyed and woven on the premises at the back of a well-stocked showroom, where yarns and the finished products are displayed.” (Wikipedia)
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Where They stand
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News from Kerry Writers’ Museum
I read in KWM’s Facebook page that there are plans afoot to celebrate Kerry women writers. This has to be good news.
The first writer to be featured is Sonja Broderick.
sonja broderick was born in listowel, county kerry, in ireland. she has been involved with the creative arts for much of her life . she trained as an actor with the gaiety school of acting in dublin. she is also a graduate of psychology at trinity college, dublin and a master of international relations at dublin city university.
sonja began writing poetry and prose more than twenty years ago. she has won acclaim for her work at the samhlaiocht chiarrai festival. her first book of poetry, The Things You Left Me With was published by Lapwing, 2004.
I found the above on the internet. Sonja sadly passed away before she had achieved full maturity as a writer. The poetry book referred to was her only published anthology. I located it in the library where it is available to read in the reference section.
I’m going to bring you some of Sonja’s poems so that when you visit the exhibition in KWM in June you will be acquainted with her work.
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A Fact
A jackrabbit is a hare
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