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
Ballybunion’s MOYA festival on the May bank holiday weekend was a resounding success. I was at the craft and food fair on Sunday…the best ever.
This Ballylongford crafter and her daughter had a wide range of unusual crafts for sale.
Delia was there with her beautiful unique ceramics.
These were just two of the myriad of stall holders
Drumdance Ireland were entertaining the younger ones. Bouncy Castles, treats, animals, food, a great festival going from strength to strength.
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Call Cards
Remember the call card?
Once upon a time these were the nearest we had to mobile phones. I always carried one of these in case of any necessity to make a call from a phonebook.
There were thousands of these issued and they featured all sorts of things, like famous people, festivals, advertising products etc. I used to collect them. Mine have absolutely no value as only ones in mint condition are valuable and even only very few of those. If you have a few still in their cellophane wrapper, you’ll have to hold on for a few hundred years before your descendants cash in
Here are a few to jog your memory;
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Bed warmers
I mentioned a hot water jar I spotted in Tankers’ window, and lo and behold, Eddie Moylan, an antiquarian, literally on my doorstep, has a collection of them.
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A Poem
Poetry Ireland published some poems on convenient little cards for World Poetry Day. They are all lovely, touching and accessible.
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At Punchestown
Beautiful Mary O’Halloran and her daughter Louise at the recent Punchestown meet.
Mary is living with Motor Neurone Disease, In true best dressed style, Mary gets up, dresses up and shows up. All her Listowel friends are hugely proud of her.
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A Fact
Botanically a strawberry is not a berry but a banana is.
If, like me, you like an old fashioned paper calendar with spaces to write in birthdays, bin day, holidays or whatever, Pixie’s Kingdom calendar is the one for you.
It’s also a great last minute present, perfect for gifting at home or abroad. It’s full of beautiful images of lovely Listowel. I love it.
I was just returning from town having bought my calendar (a snip at €15 and there are great bulk discounts available) when I ran into Billy and Mairead.
The calendars are available at Horan’s Health Store (on the corner of Market and William Streets.)
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The Irish Civil War
The civil war was a period in our history that I always felt I knew little enough about. I knew that it was fought particularly viciously hereabouts and it has left a sad legacy that persists today.
I had never heard of The Munster Republic until I watched RTE’s recent centenary programmes. Here is a link to the series on the Rte Player
The Munster Republic was an informal and colloquial term used by Irish republicans to refer to the territory they held in the province of Munster at the start of the Irish Civil War.[1]The “republic” never claimed to be a state as such, but was a base for the republican civil war aim of creating an all-IrelandIrish Republic.
The main stronghold of Anti-Treaty forces (the Irish Republicans) became the self-styled Munster Republic, consisting of the counties south of a line between Limerick and Waterford. Liam Lynch, the republican commander-in-chief, hoped to use the “Republic” as a means of re-negotiating the Treaty, and ideally reconstituting the Irish Republic of 1919–21. For this defensive attitude, Lynch was bitterly criticised by some other republicans, who felt that he should be acting offensively to bring the war to a quick end.
However, the Anti-Treaty side (who were supported by a large group of rebels from the Irish Republican Army), lacked artillery and armoured cars, both of which the Free State had to borrow from the British. The Free State launched an offensive against the Munster Republic in July 1922.[2] Limerick and Waterford were taken easily, and Cork became the last county independent of the Free State. Michael Collins sent the Free State Army by sea to Union Hall in County Cork and to Fenit in County Kerry. Cork was retaken on 11 August.[3]His opponents then moved into the countryside and continued small-scale guerrilla warfare until April 1923. (Wikipedia)
Then I read this in Northkerry blog
Kerry Officers elected by the Gort na Glanna Martyrs’ Cumann, Co. Kerry are as follows: Chairman, John Buckley; Secretary, Bill Horan; Treasurer, Hugh Goulding, P.R.O., Paddy Kennelly; Tom Manaher and Hugh Goulding were appointed delegates to the Comhairle cheantair. Dozens of homes in the Ballybunion area have been raided by members of the Special Branch and uniformed gardai in yet another act of collaboration with the British occupation forces. For over two weeks the raiding parties concentrated on the area, homes were ransacked, bedrooms were torn apart and women and children were terrified. In some cases homes were continuously watched for up to two days. Following the raids one man was jailed.
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Poetry is sometimes described as “What oft was said but ne’er so well expressed”
I recently bought a book of poetry by a talented local writer
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In Ballylongford
On Sunday December 18 2022, they unveiled a sculpture in memory of Con Dee and events one hundred years ago.
Photo; Ballylongford Snaps
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An email from Chicago
I am an occasional reader of your blog, and am living in Chicago. My Bedford great-grandmother, Mary Josephine Bambury, and her Ballyeagh husband, James Dore, settled here about 130 years ago.
While my Bambury cousins are scattered all over the globe, many are still living in Kerry and Cork, and I try to keep up with them when I can. One of them, the late Bart Bambury, of Cork City and Kenmare, was a bit of a Renaissance man, and although I did not connect with him until a few years ago, I enjoyed our correspondence immensely. Recently, his friends and family published a book of his poems, and there was a launch party in Cork City.
I thought that with Bart being a “local boy” to Listowel (in a manner of speaking), you might be interested.
A ceremony of remembrance was held at the remembrance tree on Sunday December 18 2022.
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A Poem for Christmas
Christmas
by John Betjeman
The bells of waiting Advent ring, The Tortoise stove is lit again And lamp-oil light across the night Has caught the streaks of winter rain In many a stained-glass window sheen From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.
The holly in the windy hedge And round the Manor House the yew Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge, The altar, font and arch and pew, So that the villagers can say “The church looks nice” on Christmas Day.
Provincial Public Houses blaze And Corporation tramcars clang, On lighted tenements I gaze Where paper decorations hang, And bunting in the red Town Hall Says “Merry Christmas to you all.”
And London shops on Christmas Eve Are strung with silver bells and flowers As hurrying clerks the City leave To pigeon-haunted classic towers, And marbled clouds go scudding by The many-steepled London sky.
And girls in slacks remember Dad, And oafish louts remember Mum, And sleepless children’s hearts are glad. And Christmas-morning bells say “Come!'” Even to shining ones who dwell Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.
And is it true? And is it true, This most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window’s hue, A Baby in an ox’s stall? The Maker of the stars and sea Become a Child on earth for me ?
And is it true? For if it is, No loving fingers tying strings Around those tissued fripperies, The sweet and silly Christmas things, Bath salts and inexpensive scent And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells, No carolling in frosty air, Nor all the steeple-shaking bells Can with this single Truth compare – That God was man in Palestine And lives today in Bread and Wine.
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Duagh Live Crib
Remember all the hoo ha in Dublin earlier this December about a live crib. Well, we, in North Kerry, are so lucky to have a live crib to rival anything the capital has to offer.
You have until January 7 to visit the Duagh Live Crib. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is a treasure. Do remember though that these are farm animals and pets, not zoo animals so respect their space.
Fr. Pat is looking down on this project and he is delighted.
The animals are housed in this beautiful old stable at the back of the church.
Even though the stable is kept at a temperature suitable for the animals some of whom have fur coats, the atmosphere is warm, cosy and welcoming.
The animals have names given to them by the children. The walls all around are decorated with local children’s artwork.
This is a marvellous parish effort. Well done to everyone involved. It’s a triumph. My photographs don’t do it justice. You must go there.
I love to see enterprising young people practicing old crafts. Ballylongford was the place to be on Sunday November 20 2022. The Community Centre was jammed with beautiful things and lovely crafters.
My daughter in law, Carine, was delighted with her purchases from the Mulvihill family stall. She is holding the unique willow wreath which she plans to put on her door. She also loves the flower picture she got for her kitchen.
This engaging young lady was rocking an equine theme with lightweight horseshoe ornaments for every occasion.
I remember a time when every bride carried a horseshoe as well as her bouquet.
This is what the internet says about the horseshoe as a symbol of luck;
Although the origins are not exactly known, it is believed that the horseshoe became the symbol of luck when the eighth century Chaldeans thought its crescent shape represented various moon goddesses thus protecting against the curse of the evil eye.
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Remembering Childhood Christmases in Listowel
Margaret Dillon kindly answered my call. Here is her account of childhood Christmases in pre digital days.
These days Christmas is heralded by a marathon of Festive adverts which start earlier each year. Back in the 40’s and 50’s we didn’t have Television so we weren’t subjected to that constant bombardment. Nevertheless we had full and plenty of all the Christmas essentials. Listowel was a busy bustling town back then, the shops were full of all sorts of goodies. Of couse as children we were only interested in the Toy shops particulary Fitzgibbon’s and Walsh’s corner shop. Walsh’s window had a nodding Santa which was a great attraction. We couldn’t contain ourselves on Christmas morning as we opened our presents. Santa was a wonder then and he still is to all children.
On the home front , the decorations were put up across the ceiling from corner to corner. The Holly was put behind the pictures and most important of all the crib was put on the sideboard or windowsill. The cake and plum pudding were already made. While Mam was making the cake we made our wishes as we stirred the mixture. A few days beforehand a goose ( for the New Year celebrations) and a flitch of hairy bacon to go wth the turkey arrived from our Clare relations. My mother and the neighbours Mrs Hickey and Mrs Brennan bought the live turkeys in the market, Mrs Brennan did the killing and we plucked our own, making sure to keep the wings. They served as dusters around the range and grate for the rest of the year.
The big shop was done shortly before the big day in John Joe’s and the reward for our business during the year was the Christmas box. This was like a mini hamper containing tea, a pot of jam and maybe an Oxford Lunch cake. The drinks order of minerals, bottles of Guinness and a bottle of Sherry arrived from John R’s in a large timber box.
Of course Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Christmas hymns “Away in a Manger” or “Angels we have heard on High” Or the Christmas songs “Jingle Bells” , “Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer” and Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” Adeste Fidelis was sung at Mass on Christmas Day After Mass we stayed back to visit and welcome Baby Jesus in the crib. During the holidays we paid regular visit to the cribs in the parish church and the convent chapel.
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Boyeens to Men
My lovely boyeens spent a lot of time in Listowel as children. They always surprise me with their recall of things we did together on their Kerry holidays.
Killian on the Greenway in Nov 2022
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Folklore in The Library
Tom Dillon was his usual entertaining and informative self in Listowel Library last week when he filled us in on the origins of place names.
Placenames are in danger of being lost as we move to Eircodes.
Tom told us that the fishermen had names for various parts of the Feale. Now that fishing is no more these names are in danger of being lost.
I did not know this until Tom told us but wags in Tralee have invented a new place name. They call the Corrib Oil station the Mini Barack Obama.
This area will be beautiful when the flowers and climbers grow a bit.
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Meeting a Former Pupil in Ballylongford
On my visit to the traditional crafts farina Ballylongford I ran into my friend, Bridget O’Connor and then together we ran into a former pupil, Dora Mulvihill. Dora and I are in a framed picture in Presentation Secondary School Listowel, celebrating Dora’s gold medal for achieving the highest marks in Irish at her Leaving Cert.
Dora’s lovely son took the picture for me.
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From 2015
When browsing through Boards recently I came across a link to these old photos.
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Bet you Didn’t know this
Fourteen years before the Titanic sank, a novelist Morgan Robertson published a novel called Futility. The story was about an ocean liner that struck an iceberg on an April night.
The residents of Cluain Doire have the loveliest entrance to any estate.
They are showing their support for Kerry Rose, Edaein.
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Ballylongford Traditional Craft Fair
The fair promised more that it delivered. I was disappointed not to get a tour of the old mill and a few of the promised crafters that I had been looking forward to weren’t there when I went on the Sunday.
I missed the Black Irish Band as well.
However the crafters that were there gave us a great insight into how things were done long ago. My great grandfather was a weaver. There weren’t any weavers at the fair but there were spinners and felters.
The felters were from Cork. They had some lovely colourful stuff and they were teaching the children how felting is done.
This crafter was making jugs and vases out of leather.
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Seán MacCarthy Remembers
I was looking through an old book, Streets of Listowel when I came across this great essay from the late great Seán MacCarthy.
