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
More local drama in St. John’s this week. The old ones are the best!
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Family reunion at Easter
Lovely to be back in the bosom of my family. Molly Madra makes herself at home on my gilet.
I took on the Rummikub champion again. My 3 last tiles are hopeless, all over the place and I am heading for defeat. Cora, because she is a lovely child, shows me how to win. So a victory of sorts, at last.
This is us on a night out. Remember the two boys at the front in the photo? Our days in Listowel in the Lilac Studio, Kennedy’s Pet Farm, The Donkey Sanctuary and Athea or Tarbert Fairy Trails seem very long ago now.
This is Lisa Egan’s photograph. Lisa is a member of Mallow Camera Club and this lovely capture is one of the photos the club donated to Kanturk Community Hospital.
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Easter 2022, God and Mammon
St. Mary’s church window
Some Listowel shop windows
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Look who’s Coming to Writers’ Week
Two Irish journalists making names for themselves in the U.S. are coming to town. They will tell us about what they know best, disinformation, fake news and the role of the media.
Both men are to the forefront of reporting on the 2020 U.S. presidential election and the assault on the Capitol which followed.
Donie works for CNN and Malachy for The New York Times.
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Olivia Buckley’s Reminiscence of a Big Event in her Life
Fom an article in Pres. Secondary School Yearbook 2003
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Valais Blacknose Sheep
These are the sweetest, most photogenic sheep. They are very rare. These two boys are Jimmy and Joey and they have just arrived to Kennedy’s Pet Farm. They may be the only two in The Kingdom. I can’t wait to see them.
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Shirley Valentine
On my recent birthday celebration trip to Dublin, I was taken to The Gaiety to see Shirley Valentine.
Look where I joined the queue. I felt at home.
This Shirley Valentine was from Cork but she was just as entertaining as her Liverpudlian counterpart.
There is a touch of old world luxury about The Gaiety. It was lovely to be back there again.
This is the last part of the interview with Sr. Consolata Bracken, published in the Pres. Secondary School Yearbook 2009. Listowel is very lucky to have this extraordinary lady. I wish her many more years of ministry among us.
Photographs for this article were taken by John Stack.
With SVP volunteer, Eileen O’Sullivan in the SVP shop.
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Gone
I noticed that on William Street all sign that the EBS was ever there is already gone.
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Grandaughters
In Cork I beat Cora, the champion of Rummikub,
It wasn’t all fun and games. We did homework too, with a little help from Molly Madra.
My youngest grandchild, Aoife enjoying an outing with her grandmother and godmother.
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Looking for a Book Recommendation?
Here is the short list for the big prize. I loved, loved, loved Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.
Sr. Consolate with some of the parish choir. R.I. P Anne Marie
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Faces in the Parade on March 17 2022
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First News of Reimagining Listowel Town Square
We have some very exciting news to share here at Brendan Mahony ButchersWe will be selling soft serve Angilito ice cream cones, all minerals and chocolate and more for Summer months from our specially designed window hatch at the front of the shop. Any customers for ice cream won’t need to enter our shop just come to the hatch outside. I think it will be a fantastic addition to the square, plenty of seating right outside the door. Our new venture is called the Square Cone. And 1 last thing on opening day which hopefully will be the start of May, free cones to everyone on the day.
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A Photo and Caption from WLR Fm
What a sight this is Séamus Power, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry all on course before a 4-ball session at Augusta.
Áilleacht na radharcanna – the beauty of the scenery. ‘An Searrach’ is a sea stack located off the West Kerry coast and it is obvious why it is also known as ‘The Foal’. Kinard (Cinn Aird) West Kerry.
Caption and photo by Eva Ní Shuilleabháin
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Sr. Consolata’s Memories continued
(From 2009 Pres. Secondary School Yearbook)
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A Fact
Maybe you knew this. I didn’t. Ivana Bacik, the new leader of the Labour Party is the granddaughter of a Czech refugee. Her grandad, a factory owner, moved his family to Waterford in 1946. He was involved in the setting up of one of Ireland’s most iconic industries, Waterford Crystal.
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Look Up
In many towns, the shopfronts are beautiful but the upper stories of the buildings on the street often look plain and a bit neglected. Not so Listowel. Look at some of these upper storey adornments in Church Street, Listowel.
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We had Musicians and Dancers on St. Patrick’s Day2022
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Climb with Charlie
Image from the internet
This weekend all the talk was of Charlie Bird and the massive amount of money he had raised for his two chosen charities.
Celebrities came out in force to be part of the action. One of our biggest chain stores blared Charlie’s new old digitised message to us to the point of annoyance.
Songs were composed and sung. Mountains were nearly laid flat such were the throngs who scaled them.
Through it all I saw only one hero, the loving, patient, supportive Claire. I know what it’s like to watch someone you love deteriorate before your eyes. I know what it’s like to watch someone eat, fearing that any bite could choke him. I know what it’s like to love someone whose days are numbered. If only love could save him….
My heart goes out to Claire and all the unknown Claires, heroines in my eyes.
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Dromclough and Ukraine
The very talented pupils and teachers in Dromclough National School have learned and performed a lovely Ukranian folksong. It’s well worth a listen.
