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

Tag: Anthony Maher

The Seanchaí, Weather, Listowel Courthouse and a U.S Tarbert connection


Staff at The Seanchaí, Listowel get ready for Christmas



November 2014

<<<<<<<<



Sam in Duagh



Duagh people are justifiably proud of their local football star, Anthony Maher, and they turned out in force in their new Sports Comples to see him bring the Sam Maguire trophy to The Mall.


<<<<<<<<

Sad to hear of Carrauntoohil’s Cross vandalized


( Photo Breaking News )

Piaras Kelly of KerryClimbing.ie said: “No matter what anyone’s personal views on having crosses on peaks are, this goes beyond that. It’s an iconic cross on an iconic peak.”

<<<<<<<<<

The Weather


(photo: Irish Times)

A horrendous amount of rain has fallen lately. This photograph from the Irish Times shows horses being herded to safety from submerged fields in Eniscorthy two weeks ago. Thankfully, we are currently enjoying a dry spell.

<<<<<


Eccentric obituary from the Times of London ….no Listowel connection




<<<<<<

Listowel Courthouse

This very old image of Listowel courthouse is on a postcard which Jimmy Moloney unearthed in his attic.

This is a later picture of the courthouse from the 1950s. The road is improved and building has been erected to the right of the courthouse.

<<<<<

An old homestead

This house is situated outside Tarbert beside the old Kirby’s Lanterns


It is the ancestral home of one Brian C. Smith who is Mayor of the Village of Irvington and Head Trader at Blue Ridge Capital LLC. Didn’t he do well?


This is what he posted on his Facebook page after his Irish visit when he showed his children their great grandmother’s home in Ireland.

“What a great day in Ireland! Stopped by my great-grandmother’s house in Limerick (right on the Kerry border). It is still there but not in the best shape. Was great to be able to show it to my children – gotta remember your roots! The best part was my tour guide, Philip Kiely, my cousin in Ireland. Loads of laughs and lots of fun.”


<<<<<<<

Busy weekend in store for Listowel and Duagh and more from my grandmother’s purse

This weekend, November 22 and 23, Listowel will swing into Christmas mood. 

The Food Fair continues. Itis one of the best ever. Full timetable of events HERE.

On Saturday Nov. 22 Craftshop na Méar is following a pendant making workshop with a celebration to mark the shop’s first anniversary. There will be live music, readings, mulled wine and nibbles in the shop after 4.00p.m.

Many of Listowel’s shops will have special offers on the day and many shops will be open on Sunday afternoon.

Paul Galvin will be signing his book in Woulfe’s on Saturday afternoon.

The highlight of the weekend will be the switching on of the Christmas lights by Kerry Footballer, Shane Enright. It promises to be an umissable event. Details HERE

Duagh has planned a big night for Nov 22 2014 as well. Duagh’s own Anthony Maher will bring the Sam Maguire to the new Sports complex. Another big night in The Mall promised.

<<<<<<<

Last Saturday I snapped this training session in the Cow’s Lawn. The future of sport in Listowel is safe while we have great volunteers who are willing to give their time to training our young people.

Well done!

<<<<<<

Knitwits

These two lovely ladies, friends Maureen Connolly and Una Hayes are two stalwarts of Listowel’s knitting group, Knitwits. The group meets to knit in Scribes on Church St. On Tuesday and Saturday mornings at 11.00. and on Thursday in the Family Centre at 7.00p.m. 

New members are always welcome.

<<<<<<

Believe it or Not!

Yesterday, I told you about unearthing my late grandmother’s purse. I showed you her three sets of prayer beads. The  purse also contained a surprise newspaper clip.

I’m flabbergasted by this piece of synchronicity. The newspaper photo shows Michael Kennelly of Listowel talking to 2 Mulcahy brothers at the scout reunion in Killarney in 1951.

Why did my Kanturk grandmother cut and keep this photo? Who were these Mulcahys and what was the connection with Michael Kennelly?

Here is the amazing answer to these questions.

These Mulcahy brothers grew up next door to my mother in Ballintubber, Kanturk. And they have a Listowel connection. Tom Mulcahy was a Garda superintendent in Listowel until his retirement in the seventies. He was a leader with the Listowel Scout Troop.

 Sad to say, his brother, Daniel, who is with him in the photo, passed away on the voyage back to the U.S. after this 1952 visit. This is possibly the last photograph of him.

I knew none of this until I found the newspaper cutting, contacted my brother in Kanturk and he made contact with his friend, Tom Mulcahy,nephew of the superintendent,  who still lives near the family home in Ballintubber.

Oh! the magic and interconnectivity of social history!

<<<<<<

Stampaí


Also in  my grandmother’s purse was this Victorian hand stitched case for stamps. It is in very poor state of repair but you can still read the tapestry wording. Ironically it contained the stamps pictured below. They each cost dhá phingin go leith; two and a half old pence.

She obviously had the stamp case for a long time.



<<<<<<<

Poem from an exile


Missing You

The lights of Dublin
seem so far away,

Glowing dimmer day by
day.

I left home to see far
off lands,

beautiful
islands and golden sands.




Eight years now since
my departure,

And the lights of
Dublin seem even further.

We travel this country
following the boom,

worlds
away from Ireland’s gloom.




“No work today'” Christy
said,

As the youth of Ireland
lay in their beds.

The pubs are empty, the
shops are shut,

People are broke and
stuck in a rut.




Those people in the
banks and in the Dáil,

you raped the country
and watched it fall.

 Driven by money,
corruption and greed,

 You took the life from
the country and watched it bleed.

There’s nothing left,
there’s nothing there,

only drugs and suicide,
gloom and despair.




 The lights of Dublin
seem so far away

Getting further day by
day.

As the sun burns my
skin and the sweat stings my eyes,

Covered in dust and
tormented with flies,

I think of my family a
life time away,

Maybe
one day I’ll return to stay.

This poignant poem was penned by a young Irish emigrant in Australia on the Irish in Australia website. 

Flood and wind , Duagh and Queen Elizabeth’s Irish book

We had some really bad weather at the weekend. Here is John Curtin’s photo of The River Feale.

Mike Enright took this atmospheric photo of storm clouds gathering over the Cashen.

<<<<<<<

UL posted this photo on their Facebook page. It is Dr. Anthony Maher of Duagh receiving his Ph. D.

<<<<<<<<

The Queen’s Irish



Here is one of the many treasures in Marsh’s Library. It is the 16th century Irish primer of Elizabeth 1.

<<<<<<

Paddy Drury epitaph

Liam Enright sent me this one.

“Here lie the bones

of Paddy Drury

owing their size

to Guinness’ brewery.”

<<<<<<

This man is a frequent visitor to Listowel. He is Dick Cotter, grandson of Timothy (Tasty) Cotter who was a local rate collector and carpenter and once ran a shop at Scully’s Corner. Dick retains many happy memories of summers spent in Bridge Road with his grandmother and his aunt Cecilia. Dick is a keen family historian and is on a search for his Shanahan connections or for some clue as to why the Cotters came to Kerry and particularly to Listowel in the first place.

<<<<<<<

John Kelliher was in St. John’s at the Johnny Carroll Dessie O’Halloran concert

Joe Murphy and Dessie O’Halloran

Johnny Carroll 

<<<<<<

Apropos our discussion about various kinds of oil lamp, Junior Griffin pointed me to an article in The Kerry Badminton Association’s 75 Years centenary book. In an article by the late Paddy Sugrue,  President of Kerry Badminton association in 1982/83, Paddy gives an account of the setting up of his local club, Drangan in Co. Tipperary.

“We didn’t have electricity in the village then and four Tilly lamps gave us sufficient light to play. Later we added two more lamps. Such was the foundation of Drangan badminton club in Co. Tipperary. What loyal and enthusiastic members we had in those days. After a few months we decided to enter for The Brady Cup in Clonmel. We were drawn against Collins’ Hall A team. They were minus 8 and we were plus 8. Innocents abroad…we didn’t win a game.

<<<<<<<<<

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén