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: Athea Page 2 of 11

Wartime Rationing, Bishop in Moyvane and Patricia Lynch’s Grey Goose of Kilnevin and Athea in Stripes

Rutting Season 2019

Chris Grayson took this fellow’s photo as he took a rest from the exertions of The Rut.


<<<<<<<<<<<


A Listowel Memory of Rationing


The following story about a childhood memory of rationing, the tea chest, and a kindly adult comes to us from Billy McSweeney


The blog today reminded me of the fear of losing the ration book on my way to Mrs Twomey’s shop in the 1940’s. The ration book was kept in a cupboard in the kitchen and was entrusted to one on pain of death, to go to the shops. I still have visions and fear of hunger and starvation attached to that infernal book and the awful responsibility that went with it. I still remember the smile on Mrs Twomey’s face one day when I ordered ½ stone of Tea and  ¼ lb Sugar. Only those of your readers who are of that age or have an appreciation of the old weights and measures will realise that those order  weights were back to front; hence Mrs. Twomey’s smile. The correct order was dispensed naturally and the debit added to the ‘Order Book’ which accompanied the ration book. My mother paid the ‘Order Book’ on a weekly basis. This was really serious business. 

Twomey’s shop was an old-style establishment. The front half was the grocery and the back half was a pub. Today it is the Kingdom Bar, at the top of Church Street. For her part I can still see Mrs Twomey, with Kitty, her assistant, weighing out tea from a tea-chest and sugar from sacks into paper bags which when full were tied with cord, to be ready for sale; tea in ¼ lb bags and sugar in ½ stone paper bags . The empty tea-chest was usually donated to a family with a young child to have the four edges of the top covered with horsehair under a wax cloth for protection; and used as a ‘cot’ to mind a very young child. The cord from the retail bags was saved for future use by the familys. You learned to save everything because it could be of future use. My own earliest childhood memory is being in such a tea-chest at our front door on Upper Church Street and being spoken to very kindly by Joe Galvin, a schoolboy about five years older than myself,  on his way to the  old National school which was no more than 100 metres further up the street probably at 9.00am. One should be very careful of the way you speak to a young child. It could leave a lifelong memory. Joe stopped and spoke kindly to me, a child of no more than 1½ years old taking the morning air in a tea-chest, whereas all the other scholars just passed me by.

These times are returning according to our young Swedish friend that spoke bravely to the United Nations last week. She is a reminder to all of us of how arrogant and wasteful we have become.

Billy McSweeney

<<<<<<<<

FCA Guard of Honour



I borrowed this photo from the Moyvane website and I posted it with the caption that was attached, i.e. soldiers on Main Street.

Kay Caball recognised her uncle Micheál O’Connor, father of our own Canon Declan, as the soldier escorting the bishop.

Now maybe someone will remember the year and the occasion. Seems to be a big crowd in town for it anyway.



<<<<<<



An Old Favourite



Do you know that in the library they have lots of free books for you to take away? You can also donate books you have read and no longer need.

In this marvellous box of books that the library have taken out of stock I found this treasure. I remember reading it as a child. I loved The Turfcutter’s Donkey and all his adventures. I lived about 2 miles outside of town but I very often cycled in to the library two and three times a day. The library is surely one of the best public services we have.

 In case you have never heard of Patricia Lynch I photographed the flyleaf for you.

These are two of the marvellous Sean Keating illustrations from the book.

<<<<<<<<


Athea in the News


Bridie Murphy took this super duper photograph of Athea’s very successful fundraising run for the Ronald MacDonald House. David Twomey in the centre of the picture was the winner of the race but the big winner on the day was the Ronald MacDonald House. Well done Athea.

All caught up in ‘er oh-la-la

Clap ‘ands, stamp yer feet, Ye-e-a-y

Bangin’ on the big bass drum

What a picture, what a picture

Um-tiddly-um-pum-um-pum-pum

Stick it in your fam’ly album

Stick it in your fam’ly

Stick it in your fam’ly

In your fam’ly album

Turf cutting, Street lighting, Listowel.ie and an Interview with Brenda Woulfe

Mine, All Mine






Chris Grayson took this marvellous photo in the National Park, Killarney. This is a family group. The huge stag is lording it over his harem of hinds and babies.



<<<<<<



Bord na Móna in the 1930s


 The first All Ireland Turf Cutting Championship was held on 21st April 1934 at Allenwood, Co. Kildare. 

From the late 1600s to the end of the 19th century around 6 to 8,000,000 tons of turf were cut each year for home heating and sale. 

The industry in the 1800s mainly produced moss peat for animal litter and some briquettes. However by the early 1900s the amount of turf cut each year had fallen to around 3,000,000 tons. 

The turf cutting championships were organised as part of a campaign to increase the amount of turf cut and reduce the imports of coal. Eamon De Valera and other Ministers attended each year. The competitions ran from 1934 until 1939. When the war started everybody went back to the bog so the competitions were no longer needed. This photo shows the wing slean competition in 1934.

<<<<<<<


Listowel’s Street Lighting


As I was taking a stroll around town with my camera last Sunday, I noticed how we have lots od different forms of street lighting.

These two at The Horseshoe and the Garda Station are a throwback to another era.

These lights are at Allos.

Colbert Street and Upper Church Street

<<<<<<


Listowel.ie


We have a brand new website and it’s shaping up nicely.

Listowel.ie

<<<<<<<<


Don’t Miss This


Athea will feature on RTE 1 Nationwide on Friday October 11 2019 at 7.00 p.m.


<<<<<<<

In Case You Missed this in Yesterday’s Examiner




This piece about Brenda Woulfe of Woulfe’s Bookshop was written by Marjorie Brennan and published in yesterday’s Examiner

It was something I always wanted to do — I’ve been a book-lover all my life, since I was a small child, encouraged by my mother. I’m sure she thought I’d never go to such extremes. I made three attempts to open the shop and on the third one, I said to myself ‘Brenda, you’re getting to an age now, if you don’t do it, you never will’. 

That was it, I just did it. 

What did you do before you bought the bookshop? My family had a pub and restaurant, The Horseshoe, in Listowel, and my brother had it. 

He sold it in 2005 and when he came down to tell me, I said do you have something to tell me because I have something to tell you.

He thought I would be devastated but I told him ‘I’m opening a bookshop’. So it all worked out, nobody was upset.

My other brother Jimmy was the mid-west correspondent for the Irish Examiner, he’s retired now.

I always loved books . Both my parents were book people. 

My dad had a hotel, the Marine Hotel in Ballybunion, and I remember always during the summer, if he had to go to Limerick or Tralee, he would go to Hurley’s [Tralee] or O’Mahony’s [Limerick], and he would have a big pile of books stacked up on the floor to be read during the winter. 

He would sit down on a stool in the bar at night, just the one light on over his head, with his Black and White whisky and soda. He had his book and his pipe, and he was in heaven.

Yes, there is a real love and understanding of books in Listowel.

I remember in the pub as a child,listening to two men talking, this is back in the 1960s, one of them had come home from England, and all he had brought back was a suitcase of books, there was a kind of reverence in the way he said it.

He had no money but he had books. I can’t remember what my first book was but we were always reading something, whether it was the deaths in the papers or whatever.

We were always a newspaper house, we’d get a daily paper, an evening paper and several papers on Sunday, then the local paper on a Thursday or Friday. Bryan MacMahon was my brother Jimmy’s teacher and he gave Jimmy the job of reading the leading article and summarising it for the class.

 I would love to read most of the books I order but I don’t have the time. I was reading an interview with the author Ann Patchett recently, she opened a bookshop in Tennessee. 

She said there were so many books coming in that she was just reading quarter-books. And that’s me exactly, so I don’t feel as bad now, if it’s good enough for Ann Patchett…

But you get a good feel for a book after reading a quarter of it, although you might miss a fantastic ending. But you can’t have everything.

The recession was a struggle but it picked up. I’m just hoping there won’t be too many taxes in the budget but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Everybody struggles so why should bookshops be any different?

And there’s only myself so I don’t worry about dependants or anything like that, which is a big plus. I just keep going.

The book clubs are great to support me, and I give them a 10% discount. All those little things help.

I have quiet days. It’s a challenge, but it’s one that I love. And if it wasn’t a challenge, sure what would we do, we’d get lazy.

Writers’ Week, I wouldn’t be here only for it. That and Christmas. It’s so busy that I don’t get the chance to soak it all up and enjoy the fantastic people who come into me.

I’m out and about, organising books to be sold at the different events. Colm Tóibín is great, he always makes for the antiquarian section.

People like that, they are great supporters and they appreciate that the independent bookshop is a struggling entity. But there is still a good few of us around the country, fighting the good fight.

 I am a people person, absolutely, being reared in a pub. I get a great buzz if I’m walking down the street and someone comes up to me and says, ‘that book you recommended was great’. That to me is worth a million pounds.

My niche is people who come in and they don’t know what they want, I kind of suss out what other books they’ve read, what they watch on television or whatever, and I get a kind of a feeling. 

I pick out a few books and I have two nice comfortable chairs, I say, ‘Sit down there and have a look’. I rarely get it wrong. Mind you, they’re probably too nice to tell me when I get it wrong!

Carmody’s Corner, Listowel, Athea, Patrick O’Mahony and Entente Florale in Listowel

The tennis clubhouse looking flowery for the Entente Florale judges.

<<<<<<<<<<


Carmody’s Corner


These wooden wall plaques are on the Charles Street gable of Carmody’s

<<<<<<<


Summer Visitors



Bikers at John R.’s

<<<<<<<<


Athea’s Heritage Trail



I enjoyed a lovely sunny afternoon in Athea, discovering its new attractions. These are soon to be shared with the world on Nationwide.

The Fairy Trail has been completely upgraded and decorated with cute little painted stone installations.

The bug hotel even has a few bugs at the door to welcome guests.

I met some lovely local people.

I met these lovely folk at the garden centre pet farm. They had brought food for the donkeys.

Mrs. Duck was there too.

<<<<<<<



Patrick O’Mahony   Dancer


From the INEC facebook page, Meet the dancers

Meet the Riverdance dancers! PATRICK O’MAHONY

Patrick is a native of Rusheen, Ballylongford, Co Kerry. He began his dance training at age two with Rinceoiri Na Riochta. His first of many titles came in 1993, and he became All-Ireland champion in 1995. Moving to the U.S state of Virginia in 2004, he spent eight years dancing with Irish Thunder in Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. Back in Europe, he toured extensively with Gaelforce and performed in the Breandan De Gallai productions Noctu and the Rite of Spring. Patrick joined Riverdance in 2012, and was a principal dancer in Heartbeat of Home in 2015. Riverdance returns to the INEC Killarney for a limited run from Sept 12-16th. Tickets https://goo.gl/AHnRfx


<<<<<<<<


Archaelogical site Open Day Today, Tuesday July 30 2019



( Source; Tralee Today)


ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on behalf of Kerry County Council have uncovered a number of archaeological sites on the route of the N69 Listowel Bypass, including burnt mounds (prehistoric cooking sites) and charcoal-production pits at Coolnaleen Lower and the remains of a 19th-Century dwelling at Curraghatoosane.

A team of archaeologists from Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS) employed a variety of techniques to determine the presence of previously unknown archaeological remains along the bypass route.

These included a geophysical survey followed by the excavation of exploratory test trenches and then open-area excavations.

The site at Curraghatoosane is located just off the R553 Ballybunion Road to the west of Listowel Town. Here, the remains of a 19th-century building are clearly visible and comprise wall foundations, cobbled surfaces and the remains of a fireplace.

On Tuesday, 30 July, there will be an open day during which the public are invited to visit this site. Archaeologists from AMS will be on hand to discuss the findings and answer questions. The site will be open to the public between 3pm and 6pm.

Access to the site will be signposted from the Sive Walk. Access will be via the R553 Ballybunion Road. There is no parking available at the site so visitors are encouraged to visit by foot. Appropriate footwear is recommended.

Funding for the project is provided by Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the excavation is carried out in accordance with National Monuments Act Directions issued by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.


<<<<<<<<



Another Jostle Stone




At Church Street






A Fascinating Fact, Athea, Entente Florale and another guided walk to look forward to

The Square, Listowel, July 2019

<<<<<<<<,

Molly in Ballybunion

She loves the seaside.

<<<<<<<<



Water level was very low last week. That is not the case this week.

The back of the castle by Carroll’s Yard

<<<<<<<<<

Fascinating Fact

The animal that has saved most lives is not your faithful dog, your trustworthy steed or even your brave carrier pigeon. No, that honour goes to the horseshoe crab.

An extract of the blood of the horseshoe crab is used by th pharma industry to test that drugs, vaccines and medical devices are free from dangerous microbes.

The blood of the horseshoe crab has no haemoglobin, which uses iron to carry oxygen. Instead it has haemacyamin, which uses copper. Their blood is blue. They are not killed for their blood.  The crabs are gathered by hand and brought to the lab alive. 30% of their blood is harvested. They quickly recover and are returned to the water. The blood is freeze dried and shipped around the world.

 Horseshoe crabs can endure extremes of heat and cold and can go for a year without eating.

<<<<<<<<


Athea


Athea is a beautiful little village. In summer 2019 it is more beautiful than ever. Its history is laid out in a well told story in blue plaques around town. Here are a few.




<<<<<<<<



Entente Florale in Listowel



The judges are in town today. Listowel is looking beautiful. Seven European countries are taking part in the Entente and local Listowel shopkeepers have decorated their windows in the theme of these countries.

Perfect Pairs Irish theme

Utopia’s Netherlands window

Olive Stack’s Gallery is so so beautiful, full of flowers and mosaics and lovely things.

<<<<<<<<<<<

Come and Join a Guided Walk of Listowel


On Saturday next, July 27 2019, I will be leading my second (and last) guided walk. Why not come along and tell me a Listowel tale or two.

The guided walks continue for the summer starting from Kerry Writers’ Museum at 11.00 on Saturdays.

Commemorative Benches, Woody Estates, Rats and The River Walk

A practically deserted Church Street, early morning on a July Sunday in 2019

<<<<<<<<


There was an old woman who lived in the woods….


Have you noticed that so many Listowel housing estates take their names from trees or woods? It might look to an outsider that Listowel is one big forest.

Below are just a small few examples.

<<<<<<<<<


Commemorative Seats by the River Feale


Three new seats have recently been installed by the river. I would really appreciate if someone would tell me a bit about the men who are commemorated on the benches. Wouldn’t it be a lovely little project and a service to us all in town if someone would put together a little booklet with the locations of the seats and a little bit about the people they commemorate.

 <<<<<<<<


Monday Washday in Kerry



Bridie O’sullivan posted this photo of her washing line last Monday, July 15 2019

<<<<<<<


Today’s Fun Fact



You are never more than six feet away from a rat!

Wrong, wrong and utterly wrong, by a factor of about ten.

Rentokil, and they should know, estimates that most city dwellers are about 70 feet from the nearest long tailed one.

Here are a few rat facts;

  • In the UK rats outnumber people by about 10%.
  • Rats carry about 70 infectious diseases.
  • They eat a fifth of the world’s food supply each year.
  •  Rats’ teeth never stop growing.
  • A quarter of all electric cable breaks are down to rats gnawing through the cable.
  • ” Ratty”in Wind in the Willows is not a rat. He is a water vole.

<<<<<



A River Walk


I took Molly for a walk along by Gurtinard Wood and on to the River Walk on one of last week’s lovely summer mornings.

The level of the water was very low.



<<<<<<<



Poignant Sight Yesterday on the John B. Keane Rd.



The flag at the Lartigue was flying at half mast as a mark of respect to Jack McKenna who passed away on July 20 2019.

Jack volunteered at the visitor attraction until he was in his nineties and he was a huge supported of the project from day one.

I took this photo of Jack and his late wife, Sue with Jimmy Deenihan and the German ambassador at the official opening of the project in 2013.

<<<<<<<<

It Doesn’t Get any More Irish



Saturday night mass next weekend moved to the earlier time of 5pm to give mass goers a chance to watch Limerick beat Kilkenny in the All Ireland Semi – Final ( please god)  From Athea Tidy Towns.

Page 2 of 11

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén