Listowel Connection

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

January Horse Fair 2019, Badminton in its Heyday and a bit about Candles




An entrance to town which some older people call the Canon’s Height or The Custom Gap.





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January Fair


Jan 3 2019 was the first horsefair of the year in town. I forgot all about it so my photos for you are stolen from Moss Joe Browne’s Facebook page. If you like them, there are lots more where they came from

    Jason Rogers with Tom “Bawn”McCarthy and his granddaughter Saoirse and Pat Fitzgerald at Listowel horse fair.

The O Connor family from Listowel with Seán Hartigan at the Listowel horse fair.

Bernie O Connell with Pat Sweeney and his grandchildren at the Listowel horse fair.

The following account of fairs long ago is from Dúchas, the National folklore collection.

“Fairs are not held in this district nor does anyone remember fairs being held here. They are held in Listowel which is the nearest town to us. Very often before a big fair buyers or jobbers went around to the farmers’ houses to buy calves and sometimes cattle. This is still carried on. There are no accounts of former fairs being discontinued or of fairs being held on hills, near churchyards, near castles, or near forts. In Listowel the fairs are held in the streets, in the square, and in the market place. No toll was collected in the streets but for every cow you’d carry into the square you’d have to pay seven pence and for every pig you’d carry into the market place you’ have to pay a penny. This money was given to Lord Listowel. Luck money is always given. It is called luck money. For every pig or bonham a schilling is given and for a cow half a crown. If prices are high a pound is given as luck money for a horse but if prices are low five schillings is given. When a bargain is made the seller holds out his hand and the buyer strikes it with his clenched fist. A piece of hair is cut out of the cows side to show she is sold. A dab of paint is then stamped on it. This is done sometimes on the cows back.”

Baile an Bhunánaigh (B.) (roll number 16851)
Location: Ballybunnion, Co. Kerry; Teacher: P. Ó Hailin

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Ballyheigue Races



December 30 2019  Photo: Moss Joe Browne

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Listowel Badminton

I don’t have a date but maybe it’s just as well……


Photo and names from John Junior Griffin

(Many of the ladies would have married in later times but I list the names as I knew them then)

Front row, left to right; 

Katsy Kennelly, Noelle O’Donovan, Evelyn Breen, Marie O’Connor, Marina Behan, Pamela Behan, Mary O’Donoghue, Mary McCarthy, Sharon McAuliffe

Middle row;

Ian Nugent, Martin Stack, Michael Quelly, Mickey Kelliher, Derek Dillon, Liam Dillon, Sean Comerford

Back Row; 

Jnr. Griffin, Jimmy Dore. Brendan Behan, Tom Heaphy, John Dore

( Sadly, as you know, Martin Stack has since passed away. Many of the others are scattered worldwide)

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Candles

Candles were once a regular item on everyone’s shopping list.

The following was recorded by a child in the Dúchas folklore collection;

My grandmother used make candles out of the fat of cows. She used buy the fat from the butcher and after they killed a cow for their own use. First of all she used put it into a mould and put a cord in the hole at the end of it and knot it. Then she used pull the cord through the mould and pour in the fat and leave it so for a day or two. The candles are about as wide as Christmas candles now.

Collector- Nora Shine, Address, Derreen, Co. Limerick (Kilbaha School)
Informant, Patrick W. Shine. Relation parent, Address, Derreen, Co. Limerick.

Candles were always part of Christmas fare in every house.

Junior Griffin told me this;

Just to follow up on your mention on the one pound Christmas  candles in recent times.

I would have sold a lot of those in my years in McKenna’s and before the age  of the modern electric candles these were very popular.

I used to do both the white and red one pound candle. The red was a bit more expensive than the white. On querying why so from the representive on  one occasion I was told that the white was looked upon as a “household necessity” whilst the red was in what was looked upon as being in the fancy goods department . You would be wondering where our civil servants get the brain storms to make decisions like these.

A fairy Trail, Rural Electrification and the 1916 Memorial Garden

11th Fairway, Ballybunion on New Year’s Eve 2018

Photo: Catherine Moylan

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A Fairy Trail in Ballincollig


So many towns nowadays have their own Fairy Trail. The Ballincollig one looked a bit the worse for wear when I visited after Christmas.



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Rural Electrification in Ireland in the 1940s



The ESB was established in 1927 but until The Rural Electrification Scheme of 1946, electricity was a luxury only available to a rich few.

When electricity came to rural Ireland it was like a revolution. Tasks which had been so difficult up to now were rendered doable. A whole slew of “instructors” were dispatched around the country to teach people how to use electricity. Many people were afraid of electrocution or of a fire caused by switches and plugs. It is hard to imagine how “backward” we were then. It’s only one generation ago!

This is a photo from my friends in Bord na Mona Living History and this is what Tony wrote to accompany the photo.

This photo dates from 1956 and shows how life was changing with the coming of electricity. The woman in the photo had only recently had electricity laid on and after the electric light her next thought was to get a radio which would work off the power. No more bringing batteries to town to be charged. There’s a  Sacred Heart picture on the wall, a flash lamp on the mantlepiece along with various tins for storage. The dog and the cat are warming themselves beside the turf fire, they had no interest in the electricity. 

The photo was taken in Connemara and appeared in a 1956 English magazine article on Irish Peat and electricity.

One of the ads in the magazine was for a 12 day all-in holiday in Switzerland for £25, although that was the fare from London. Definitely different times.

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1916 Memorial Garden on January 6 2019


Early January 2019 and we were experiencing an extraordinary spell of crisp mild weather. I was walking in the park on Friday, January 4 when I spotted David Twomey and the outdoor workers busy at work in the memorial garden. I knew that when I returned on Sunday January 6th it would be looking its best. It was.


Listowel people, be sure to go and see it soon. It’s beautiful

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Won’t be Long Now




This is a photo of a queue waiting for admittance to an event at a previous Listowel Writers Week. This year Writers Week will run from May 29th 2019.

Keep an eye on the website to see what great things are in store;

Listowel Writers’ Week 2019

St. Mary’s at Christmas 2018, Cork Mural and Bord na Mona and Listowel Pantomine



Butler Centre, formerly National Bank, in January 2019



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St. Mary’s Listowel at Christmas

Our parish crib looked particularly lovely this year with its new backdrop.

I was in Cork for Christmas.  I was in the city centre on Sunday December 23rd, two days before Christmas. While my hosts were doing some last minute shopping I decided to pop into a church to say a prayer.  BUT “all the doors were closed and shuttered”.

St. Augustine’s was locked as well.

While I was wandering the streets at a loose end, I came across this fascinating mural.

Fascinated, I took a closer look and here are some of the quirky details for you.

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The End of an Era



This is a train carrying milled peat through a Bord na Mona bog in the midlands. In 2018 we saw the beginning of the end of Bord na Mona as we know it.

Many Irish men and a few women earned a good living on the peat bogs in an Ireland when times were hard.

Before the Bord na Mona workers’ villages were built, workers lived in Nissen huts and hostels in fairly primitive conditions. These men often didn’t go home even for `Christmas Day so  they celebrated the big day together in the hostel.

From 1942 to 1944 any men who stayed on for the winter were brought into Edenderry and Newbridge Hostels for special Christmas events. They usually arrived on the 24th and stayed until December 27th. St Stephen’s Day activities were usually football games and other sporting events. In 1945, due to falling numbers the event was confined to Newbridge. This photo comes from Newbridge Hostel in 1944.

Source: Bord na Mona Living History

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Goodie Two Shoes



This year’s Pantomine was great gas.  It was an excellent night’s entertainment. Well done everyone!

 Just a few photos I took on opening night.

Christmas in Ballincollig, St. Mick’s Classs of 78 reunion, A memory of Santa and a photo of Nelson’s Pillar




Listowel Town Square in January 2019


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Yesterday was Little Christmas or Nollaig na mBan. Here is a hair raising story from the folklore collection;

The Big Wind, 1839

The Big Wind fell on Little Christmas night. A man by the name of Paddy Cronin who lived in Beal was in the house with his mother. The storm lifted the roof off the house. He took out his mother and tied her on to an ash tree, lest she would get hurt. While he was going back for some blankets to put around her from the cold, the tree was uprooted and there was not a trace of the tree or the woman to be found.

https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4666575/4663329/4687769


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A Quick Look Back

My family plus dogs walking in Ballincollig Regional Park at Christmas 2018. It was that kind of Christmas. We had lovely mild dry weather so we were outdoors as much as possible.

 Santa came to those who were expecting him.

2018 was the year of slime.  I don’t get the attraction myself.

Santa brought Cora a massive gorilla. He is now part of the family.

At Christmas 2019 we had Listowel births, marriages and way too many deaths. 

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Billy McSweeney relives a 1940s Christmas in Listowel


I remember one Christmas eve in the days of Ration Books and deprivation of the 1940’s. Darkness had fallen and the Santa tension was building in our house.

My mother was out shopping for some last-minute necessities, when she 

suddenly burst in the front door screaming “Santey, Santey. Come quick, 

come quick !”

My young sisters and I rushed out the door at the top of Church Street 

to clearly hear harness bells jingling and trotting hooves clattering 

off the road just past McAuliffe’s corner, barely 100 yards away but 

already out of sight.

“Aw, you just missed him!”

When a chasing charge was obviously forming in our minds we were told:  

“Get your coats on or you will get your death of cold!”

A riotous melee formed around the coat stand and a number of 

half-attired children took off down the street. Alas, by the time we 

reached McAuliffe’s Corner the sleigh with it bells and reindeer had 

vanished and we trudged home elated that we had nearly seen him but also disappointed that we had missed him.

My mother had a joyous smile on her face that her timing was impeccable.

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Reunion at Christmas time 2018

Photo: Denis Carroll ; Names: Seán Healy

Front row LtR: Don O’Sullivan, Gerard Buckley, John Dowling, John Moynihan, Seán Healy, Johnny Mulvihill, Michael Mulcare, Dan Sheahan, John O’Sullivan, Patsy Ryan, Bernard O’Keeffe, John Lenihan, John Horgan.


Middle Row: LtR: John Beary, Eddie Relihan, David Dillon, Nick Roberts, John Lyons, Thomas Mulvihill, Richard Cantillon, Michael Curtin, John Kennelly, Patrick Flavin, Jim Furlong, John Purcell, Eoin Rochford. 

Back Row LtR: Seán O’Sullivan, Michael Casey, Séamus Given, PJ Kelliher, George O’Connell, Conor Keane, Pat Flavin, Tony O’Carroll, Denis O’Carroll, Declan O’Connor, Dan Mulvihill, Pat O’Brien, Brendan Nolan, Billy Stack

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The View from Nelson’s Pillar in the 1960’s




Photos of Dublin



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A Call to Action for 2019



(from our own John Keane in The Kilkenny People)

As 2019 begins, we have a request for the readers of The Kilkenny People newspaper.

As a new year’s resolution, would you commit to saying hello to everyone you meet?

A little nod, a quiet word, a smile, a touch on the arm, some kind of inter-action – as Bruce Springsteen asked: ‘Share a little of that human touch’.

December has been a bad month in the city and county with a number of tragedies.

We cannot fathom the depth of the pain for the families and communities involved.

Do Something Positive

What we can do is stop giving out about the glaring gaps in the State’s mental health service and do something positive.

So instead of cursing successive governments’ continual lackadaisical approach to mental health in this country and instead of getting upset over the huge waiting lists to access mental health services (particularly for children) do something positive yourself.

Walk down the street and engage, show empathy, give people that little bit of comfort by saying ‘hello’, ‘well’ or whatever cool salutation you can think of.

Little Kindness

It just might make a difference to the recipient; the little kindness they need to get them through the day; to know that there is light, there is hope in the depths of their depression or whatever demons they are fighting.

So as we look in horror as this government, like all the rest, turn a blind eye to the biggest killer in the State by refusing to adequately resource the services needed to address the issue, let’s do something ourselves.

And ask yourself, why is it that voluntary agencies like The Samaritans, Pieta House (Darkness Into Light) and Teac Tom are having to do so much of the work that should be shouldered by the State.

Christmas 2018

A Few Images from Listowel at Christmas 2018







I will be taking a break from blogging for my Christmas holidays. I wish every one who reads the blog a very happy Christmas and a big festive thank you to everyone who has contributed, helped and encouraged me in 2018.

I haven’t quite gone away, you know. You can hear my “Thoughts” at 7.30 a.m and at 12.00 ish on Radio Kerry during Christmas Week.

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