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

Tag: Asdee Page 2 of 4

River Feale Works, Asdee and a (very) Short Poem

By

On August 17, 2021

In Listowel, Poem

Loughfouder School, Knocknagoshel: mural by Mike O’Donnell

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Combatting Erosion on the Banks of The Feale

A huge job of work is underway on the riverbank.

This is the right hand side where a previous shoring up with boulders was done.

There were seven lorries full of boulders queued up on the day I visited.

A road is being laid and the big boulders will be placed on it as an emergency measure to save the houses at Convent Cross from being undermined and falling into the river.

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Jesse James of Asdee from Shannonside Annual 1956

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A Sad Ditty

Do you love me

Or do you not

You told me once

But I forgot.

Anon

Cherrytree Drive, Listowel’s First Cinema, Asdee, John B. Keane’s and O’Sullivan’s Mill

By

On September 9, 2020

In Uncategorized

Cherrytree Drive is to get a Flower Bed

Work is underway in preparing for a new flower border at the entrance to Cherrytree Drive.

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John B. Keane’s is getting a repaint

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Listowel’s First Cinema


Liam Dillon, who is one of the longest continuous residents of Church Street has confirmed for us that the first cinema in town was in the building that now houses North County Guesthouse.

Liam’s mother saw her first film there. It was a cowboy film. She ran home in terror when the shooting started.

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Asdee is being Revived by its Young People

“John Kennedy is tracing a finger through the map of his childhood during the 1960s in Asdee. 

He says: “We had a shop in the village and below that was the community centre along with the national school and the church. Further down the road was the Jesse James bar, then you had Kissane’s which doubled as a shop and a bar. Christy Walsh had a shop and then you had the post office which was run by the Doyle family. Every house in the village was occupied and there was so much life.” 

The hinterland was well catered for also with Tom Pius Walsh’s shop situated on the approach road from Ballylongford while the Ballybunion side of the parish had a booming hub of businesses. 

John says: “You had The Store bar and shop, the creamery, and O’Sullivan’s. All were busy. The centre of life then was the local creamery, it was the meeting place every day for local farmers. 

“From early morning you’d have a stream of farmers stopping at different places, collecting messages, and talking football and farming.”

From Colm O’Connor in The Irish Examiner, August 31 2020

John is describing the Asdee of the days of the two drama groups, a vibrant thriving village before emigration and unemployment combined with the urbanisation of rural Ireland brought it to its knees.

According to articles in The Kerryman and The Irish Examiner, Asdee has formulated a five year plan to transform the area. A committee has been formed and 30 targets across five categories have been identified for development. The LED lights are up. the funding is secured and the people are more than willing.

Wouldn’t Fr. Pat be proud?

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O’Sullivan’s Mill, Ballylongford

(Photos: Breda Ferris)

This lovely old building is soon to be refurbished. 

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Iroquois Nations and Lacrosse


Irish Lacrosse team….photo from the internet

“The International World Games is due to take place in Alabama in the summer of 2022, but Ireland’s lacrosse team, despite having qualified, won’t be there. ” Michael Glennon.

Now my understanding of the situation and the Irish team’s part in it is this. Ireland is kinda handy at this minority sport. The Iroquois Nationals are more than handy at lacrosse. They are brilliant at it. They invented the game.

In the qualifiers for the World Games Ireland came in eighth and the Iroquois Nationals came third.

But Iroquois Nationals is not a sovereign nation and they dont have an Olympic Committee so they were deemed to be ineligible to qualify.

This decision upset the lacrosse community and their protests led to the ruling body reversing their decision. By now all the qualifying spots had been filled. The Irish team took the sporting decision to bow out to make room for the Iroquois Nationals.


So who are the Iroquois Nationals?


I found the answer in Michael Glennon’s article.

“Well, the sport itself originated among the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida and Tuscarora Nations, collectively known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in the northeastern United States.

They compete in international lacrosse as the Iroquois Nationals. “

Castle Hotel Ballybunion, Asdee Relatives, Roly Chute and some Old bits of folklore

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On February 13, 2020

In Uncategorized



Holocaust Memorial in Listowel’s Garden of Europe in February 2020


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The Castle Hotel Ballybunion

Photo Credit: Eamon Kelly


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A North Kerry Connection


Ken Duckett heard my plea for help with items for the blog and he enquired if memories that were not exactly Listowel related were welcomed. They are, of course.

Here is what Ken writes of his North Kerry connection.

Hi Mary, 

Here’s a couple of pictures, one haystacking on my uncle’s farm when I was around 14/15. My uncle was Edward Hanlon the farm that he and my mum Kathleen Hanlon plus 9 other brothers and sister were raised.

This was my grandfather Patrick Hanlon and Grandmother Margaret (Stack) Hanlon’s farm, the first one they bought after a number of their Hanlon ancestors leased. In the background you can see the Shannon flowing by. 

My mother trained as a nurse and left Ireland, met my dad in England and married. We used to have several trips to Kerry as we enjoyed their company in Shannon View lodge, Asdee. My cousin presently lives there and 

we’ve been over a few time. The second picture is me standing next to a Japanese Banana plant.

The Stacks were from Moyvane and lived in Gortdromasillahy and Gortdromagouna townlands over a number of generations.

It would be interested if anyone has heard or has connections with the Hanlons or Stacks. I have a recently seen picture of two of my mum’s brothers either on the way or at the Listowel races. 

Ken

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A Legend of Listowel Badminton Honoured


Roly Chute’s family and friends gathered at Listowel Badminton Club’s tribute night for a great servant of the club. Roly has coached generations of Listowel youngsters. I have experienced in my own family his skill and dedication. We owe him a lot.

Roly is that rare breed…a selfless volunteer. Will we ever again see one person give 50 years volunteering his skills to one sport? And he’s not finished yet!

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Tidbits from Listowel in the Dúchas Folklore collection


7. If you bought bonhams and put them all together throw two buckets of sour milk on top of them to keep them from fighting. I saw Dan Shea of Clievragh doing it.

It isn’t sour milk at all sir, it’s porter you should throw in their eyes. I saw Mick Stokes of Makel St. doing it.

( This one reminded me that when my mother bought in day old chickens to be reared by a hen who had just hatched out her own eggs, she would sprinkle talcum power on them so that the hen would not reject the new ones)


8. If you kill a goose, or a cock, or a cow and put your fist on the back of his neck and press he’ll make the noise he made when alive.


(9). If you want to make a starling talk split his tongue and put his beak up to a rack (i. e. a comb) – and he’ll speak.


(10). My mother (Mrs Doyle Slievecahel) told me that a man was coming home from Castleisland one night and he saw a lovely city inside in a Glen. He went in and there was nothing there only rocks. It was the reflection of a town in Australia.


(11). My mother said they used use pointy sticks before as forks. They used have a pointy stick as a Knife and a gabhlóg as a fork.


(12) People long go used go to no Mass but they used put a pot on another man’s head and hit it with something and that’d be by-the-way the bell. One night the pot fell down and they couldn’t pull it off and they had to break it to knock it off.


13. When I received my first Holy Communion in Ballyduff, after the priest made the sign of the cross with the Holy Communion I saw a little baby in the priest’s arms.


14. Jack Joy told me that Paddy Ferris of the Gaire made a cake a’ Christmas time with 5 stone of flour and it took him 5 hrs to make it.


15. St. Synan’s Well is in “Souper” Connors land (Protestants) and they got water out of the well to boil the Kettle and it wouldn’t boil at all so they had to throw it out and get other water.


16. Daniel O’Connell was at a feast one time and poison was put in his glass. One of the serving girls was by the way singing a song  in Irish and thus she warned him and she blew out the candles and he changed glasses with some other one. She sang

“A Dhomhnall Ó Conaill, an dtuigeann tú Gaedhilg?

Tuigim a’ coda (a chodladh, a chiota) agus a’ chuid eile Gaedhilg,

Tá an iomad den salainn á chuirfead sa dtae dhuit,

Múcfad-sa an solas agus cuir cúchú féin é”.

(T. Kennelly from mother who is from Glenbeigh)

( the gist of the song is that that there is too much salt in your soup. I’ll turn out the light so you can give it back to them)

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Bittling



Mattie Lennon found a reference to bittling in literature.

Hi Mary,

It would appear that bittling was washing clothes on a flat flag in a river. Apparently Kickham used it in Knocknagow.

Mattie

Farm tasks in the 1940s, O’Connell’s Ave. grotto and More from Storied Kerry Meitheal in Killarney

By

On October 30, 2018

In Uncategorized

Evening in the Small Square

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Out of the Blue


This is the beautifully repainted Catch of the Day. Blue seems to be the favourite colour of shop owners for 2018.

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Tough Tasks on the Farm

The following extract is taken from Jim Costelloe’s great rural memoir of Asdee in the 1940’s and ’50s


Anyone who has spread fertilizer by hand from a bucket will surely agree it was a horrible task. One’s face, eyes and clothes were covered with the basic slag when finished. The worst part was the taste in the mouth as a lot of it went down our throats. Face masks were never used and our lungs must have been congested judging by the amount that went up our nostrils and into our mouths.

Another unpleasant and tough task in my youth was trying to light the kitchen fire with bad turf and wet sticks on a cold frosty morning. Without the fire there was no heat whatsoever in the house and no way of boiling the kettle for a sup of tea.

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The Grotto


I love it when this happens. I take a picture and I post it on here. It evokes a memory for someone or someone goes and looks up the history and they share it with us here in Listowel Connection. It’s a bit like how Facebook used to work.

Marie Nelligan Shaw wrote; “Remember well when the grotto at the junction of O’Connells Avenue was blessed and dedicated. The yellow house on the right of the photo was occupied by a lovely lady named Mrs Collins. She took very good care of it while she lived.”


And Jer Kennelly found this;  

Kerry Champion 14 August 1954

Consecration of Listowel Shrine erected at O’Connell’s Avenue, Listowel. Erected by voluntary labour. Statue and railings were donated. Subscriptions were mainly from the residents, all the organising committee are from the Avenue. (See paper for full report, blessing on Sunday next)

Kerry Champion 21 August 1954

Beautiful Grotto at O’Connell’s Avenue was blessed by P J Canon Brennan, P.P. V.F accompanied by two curates Frs Dillon and Moore. Windows in the avenue were also decorated. 

Kerry Champion 1928-1958, Saturday, September 04, 1954; Section: Front page, Page: 1

Bishop’s Visit to Listowel

Most Rev. Doctor Moynihan, Bishop of Kerry visited Listowel on Friday evening last and went to O’Connell’s Avenue to see the Marian Year shrine which has been erected there. His Lordship was accompanied by Canon Brennan who blessed the shrine on August 16th last.

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Storied Kerry


Storied Kerry is the brainchild of Frank Lewis. He gathered together a meitheal of Kerry people to start this new story in the life of Kerry on Saturday, October 27 2018.

The stories told  on Saturday were all excellent. They were told in the old style with a one person storyteller and an attentive audience. Above is master story teller, Seán Lyons, who regaled us with a Halloween appropriate tale, set in a graveyard. It was a story about motivation. If you fall into a newly dug grave at Halloween there is no better motivator  to get you out again than meeting up with the previous occupant.



Storytellers, Batt Burns and Frances Kennedy were there.

Part of the North Kerry contingent, Frances, Joe Murphy and Mary Kennelly

Frances told us a tale of smelly feet and smelly breath in her unique and always entertaining style.



Frank and Joe share a funny moment.

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Ireland’s Fittest Families




For people reading this who don’t live in Ireland, Ireland’s Fittest Family is a reality tv show on RTE, in which families of four adults compete against each other in gruelling army boot camp like tasks. Each week one family is eliminated until we are left with Ireland’s fittest family. The families are mentored by well known retired sports personalities.

The Listowel connection is the involvement of Roibeard Pierse and his three children in this year’s contest.

The programme started airing on TV on Sunday October 28 2018 and the Pierse family which the programme calls The Pierses did very well.

The photo above is from the programme’s Facebook page and below is what they say about The Pierses;

From Kerry, the Pierses are making a bid for a win for the Kingdom. Father Riobard (50) works as a solicitor and is a keen runner, focusing on 5ks. He also co-founded the Listowel park run and is the manager of Cliona’s Listowel Emmets u16 ladies team.

His son Oran (20) became the U18 Munster Cycling Champion in 2016. Has also won the Senior Kerry Road Race League and raced internationally for the Munster Team.

His brother Ciarán (18) Plays Gaelic football with UL freshers team and Listowel Emmets seniors. A good leader himself, he captained Listowel to victory in the minor county league in 2017 and has played in two All-Ireland finals in the community games. Cliona (15) does one better, having taken part in the All-Ireland community games finals five years in a row in athletics, Gaelic football, soccer and futsal twice. She also plays soccer with the Listowel Celtic team. 

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A Tender Moment






This has to be one of the nicest photographs from the recent presidential election. I dont know who took it.

In the horrible bruising campaign for the Presidency of Ireland in 2018, when even the candidate’s dogs were dragged into the carnage, Sabina Higgins was the loyal, dignified and loving presence by her husband’s side. She is everything I would want in a first lady.

Central Hotel, the next Sonny Bill, Looking after the potatoes in Asdee and a Meitheal to launch Storied Kerry

By

On October 29, 2018

In Uncategorized




William Street Upper


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Maid of Erin, Main Street





This building in Listowel’s Main Street has one of Pat MacAulliffe’s best known works on its shopfront. Hardly a day goes by without some tourist stopping to photograph this symbol of Listowel.

Below are some of the details on this intrinsically Irish stucco.

Irish wolfhound

Shamrocks and celtic knot work surround the slogan which translates as Ireland forever.

A round tower

Under the rising sun the bare chested maid is resting on an Irish harp, the official symbol of Ireland. The rising sun at “Fáinne Geal an Lae” is an often used republican symbol of the dawn of a new day for Ireland. A warrior woman as in Dark Rosaleen or Caitlín Ní Houlicháin is also a frequently employed symbol for a free Ireland.

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Do You Remember Sonny Bill?


If your answer to the above question is no, move right along, please. Nothing to see here.

If the answer is yes, Sonny Bill was that beautiful horse that they had at my home place in Kanturk and who was eventually sold on to an English buyer. He is now enjoying a stellar career across the Irish Sea.

This beautiful foal, seen above running with his mother, is Sonny Bill’s last full brother. Sadly, their dad has passed away so there is a great weight of expectation on these young shoulders. 

He is still with his birth family but will be coming to his new home soon at the EPA stable . It’s not really possible to tell if he will be as good as his brother but watch this space and I’ll update you if he begins to realise his potential.

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 Looking after the Potato Pit

The following extract is taken from Jim Costelloe’s great rural memoir of Asdee in the 1940’s and ’50s

The potatoes were stored in long pits in the kitchen garden beside the house when I was young. There were Kerrs Pinks and Golden Wonders for human consumption in a small pit, but the long pit was of Aran Banners for the farm animals and the domestic fowl. These pits were covered with straw and rushes to protect the potatoes from the winter frost. With the coming of Spring growth, the potatoes began to sprout and if left untouched they would grow long stalks, get soft and lose their nutrition. To prevent this from happening they would have to be turned. The work was done by hand and it entailed stripping the cover off the pit and rubbing the sprouts off each potato individually before repitting the whole lot.

The job is always done on a day following a night of grey frost. That was always a sunny day with a bit of drying and also, there was generally no threat of rain. Down on one knee handling thousands of potatoes on a frosty date is not the most exciting of jobs. The cold east wind and the damp semi hard ground added to the discomfort. The only exciting thing about it was the stripping of the rushes and straw where we suspected rats were hiding. The scurrying of the rats and our attempts to kill them with pikes  are memories now. How those same rats would destroy a pit of spuds if left unhindered is amazing. Rodine was a rat poison in those days and was very effective.

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Storied Kerry



Storied Kerry is a movement you will be hearing lots more about from now on. It is a drive to preserve and celebrate our stories, all our stories and all forms of story telling to all kinds of audiences.

On Saturday last, October 27 2018 Frank Lewis, the founder of Storied Kerry gathered together a Meitheal in Killarney to get this show on the road.

This man is Rory Darcy, a school principal, a philosopher, a story teller and, as we discovered later, a marathon runner.  Rory welcomed us to his school, St. Oliver’s national School, Ballycasheen, Killarney.  St. Oliver’s has pupils from many different countries on its rolls. It welcomes and celebrates them all. There were flags of all the countries behind Rory as he spoke to us and he told us of an initiative started in St. Oliver’s and now practiced in many Killarney schools were the parents of the children, some of them from refugee centres help out with meals in the school and the children get to talk to and interact with a diverse group of parents as well as fellow pupils.

Behind Rory also there was a fish tank. This tank is a kind of symbol of what St. Oliver’s stands for. There are fish of all shapes, colours and sizes in the tank. There are big bubbles helping to keep them alive. These are big acts of kindness but there are also lots of tiny bubbles, standing for small little acts we do to help each other out. The story of St. Oliver’s was a lovely way to start the day.

The next treat for us was a performance from Siamsa Tíre’s seminal show, Fadó, Fadó. It was pure magic. I’m definitely going to see the full show the next time it’s on in Siamsa.

The dancing and singing told the story of the meitheal oibre who came together to reap the harvest as it was done by our ancestors long ago.

This multitalented performer edged his scythe with a whet stone. He also played the fiddle and sang the most moving rendition of “Ar Bhruach na Carraige Báine” I’ve heard in a long time.

This man brought the corn to thresh.

This implement is called a flail and it was used to beat the corn from the ears.

Every action was accompanied by dancing and the rhythmic music of the farm work as well as more traditional music played on the fiddle, the accordion and Uileann pipes.

A familiar face in the front row.

( more from Storied Kerry tomorrow)

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