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: Bord na Mona Page 4 of 5

Bord na Mona

By

On January 24, 2014

In Uncategorized

Here are some photos from Fr. Browne. They come from Bord na Mona Heartland

“A crew feeding the collector at Clonsast in the early 1940s. This was a much despised job as the collector kept coming and it was hard work to keep ahead of it. Sometimes one employee would jam the equipment in order to get a rest. The big problem was if the driver of the collector was on a bonus, he kept going as fast as possible. The men worked from 7.00a.m, to 5.00 p.m.”



The 1940s in Turraun, Co. Offaly. This shows the storage shed and wooden creeled wagons. 

This photo was taken by Father Brown of Titanic fame.

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A few ads from my 1852 cookery book




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I found the following on Pinterest, posted by The Wild Geese.

Not all famine memorials are elaborate monuments in large cities. East of Tralee in the north of Co. Cork, Newmarket is the ancestral home of the McAuliffe clan. While visiting the old clan territory Kieran McAuliffe of Toronto, Canada stumbled on this obscure famine memorial while searching the local cemetery for family stones. Kieran was kind enough to send on two photos of this simple, yet moving memorial.

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Listowel Fire Brigade 1959

Some old photos; this time with names, and a few new ones to amuse you.

By

On January 3, 2014

In Uncategorized

Winter Robin by Timothy John MacSweeney

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Elizabeth O’Carroll Chute wrote to me about this photo:

“Tim  Kennellys  father is man on left . Girl with sunglasses , Frankie Chute who lives in California . 

Next to her girl with long hair could be Kennelly . Her parents had a very busy hardware store in small square next to present shoe shop . I believe the nun is Sr Austin , one of my favourites. 

The man with the grey hair could be Mr Reagan but that’s a long shot . And that is most definitely Norella with her mum . “

The funny thing is is that the one person we were both sure of was Norella and we are both wrong, for it is not the good lady at all but her younger brother. Apologies to Norella and to Eoin.

P.S. I think the woman on the far right with glasses is the late Mrs. Kirby of Convent St.

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This is what Junior Griffin wrote to me about this old photo:

“Back row;

Can’t make out the 1st side face but the 2nd is Sean O’Sullivan of Market St.;Andy Molyneaux, Listowel; Not sure of the next, then partly hidden, Bill O’Sullivan, Clounmacon, Murt Galvin, Killarney (County Board Treas;) Cormac O’Leary, Moyvane, then I feel Tadhg Prendeville, Castleisland, (County Board Treas.)


Front Row;

Dan Kiely Tarbert (possibly North Kerry Chairman at that time, Maybe 1969 or a bit later; Gerald McKenna, Ballyduff; Johnny Walsh, Ballylongford and possibly Jackie Lyne, Killarney”



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The year is 1992 and it’s Christy Walshe winning the bartenders’ race. Tom Fitzgerald found the old photo. He found this next one too. It’s Joe O’Mahoney in another heat of the same race in 1992.

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Turf cutting during the war



In Ireland, while war raged in Europe, turf was the main fuel and to meet the increased demand, men were recruited from all over the country and were housed in hostels and camps in Kildare. The work was very hard, living conditions were fairly spartan but there was good money to be made in a time of rationing and poverty.

This is the bill of fare for the Christmas festivities in the Turf Development Board’s hostel in Newbridge in 1945. Many of the men did not go home for Christmas as they would have worked on Dec. 24 and would be back to work again on the 27th. There were no women in the camps.

This shocking photo shows one of these men in ragged clothes cutting sod turf in his bare feet. Men were paid for the amount of turf they cut.  There was no hourly rate.

Bank of turf in Phoenix Park during WW2

(information from Bord na Mona Heartland)

St. Michael’s Centenary, a strange bike and some Cork Shawlies

By

On September 11, 2013

In Uncategorized

Do you remember this big day in St. Michael’s history? Fr. Horgan was principal. We had a weekend of festivities to mark the centenary of the “college” in town. The younger among you might not know that teachers in St. Michael’s were traditionally called professors .

The highlight of the weekend was a garden fete in the grounds of The College with the army No.1 band, stalls and side shows and “all of human life was there”.

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What on earth?

This great picture comes from my Bord na Mona connection. It is a railway bike, especially designed for riding on railway tracks. The BnaM employee could tie his shovel to the crossbar, store his bucket on the platform underneath the saddle and ride along the track to the site where repair work was needed.

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During the summer, Mount St. Lawrence Cemetery in Limerick put its records on line. Ger Greaney looked up some ones with a Listowel Connection for NKRO.

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These ladies are traders on Cornmarket St. in Cork. The women were often referred to as shawlies. Their descendants held a Gathering event; The Cork Coal Quay historical festival in August 2013.

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If you missed the story of Bridget Ryan on Kerry today on Sept. 9 you can get it on the Radio Kerry Podcasts Page

I will alert you in good time about the TG4 documentary on the same subject.

It seems that Google Feedburner which brings many followers an email with new material I have posted is lagging a bit behind these days.

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Michael Sheehy R.I.P.

Michael, formerly of No. 8 Main Street and Yonkers, N.Y. passed away at the weekend. Michael remained close to his Kerry roots throughout his life. He loved Race Week and when he could not be here with us for it he followed the action on the internet from his New York home. He skyped Vincent Carmody regularly and Vincent and Michael’s brother, Gerry, who visited him regularly,  brought him all the news from home.

Michael’s late brother, John, was the driving force behind the Listowel thread on Boards.ie for years  and it was his encouragement and support that prompted me to post regularly with photographs from town. Since starting this blog I have left Boards.ie but Michael checked in regularly to both places for any news of Listowel.

I extend my deepest sympathy to his family in N.Y. and the three remaining Sheehy brothers.

 May the sod lie lightly on this true son of Listowel.

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200 school children walked the course and met a trainer  at Listowel racecourse in a Go Racing initiative.

More from Vintage Monday 2013 and An Post Rás in Listowel

By

On May 17, 2013

In Uncategorized

These cute little chicks hatched out in Ballyduff yesterday.

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Some more photos of local people enjoying Vintage Monday 2013.

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Turf cutting in the war years

Turf was a very valuable commodity during the war. Lorry loads of turf were transported from rural bogs to fuel fires in Dublin. This photo from Bord na Mona Heartland shows some of the scores  of men saving turf by hand in a midland bog.

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Out of this world in Ballybunion, Co.Kerry

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Eugene Moriarty

The countdown has begun. An Post Rás, Stage 3 will finish in Listowel on Tuesday next May 21st. 2013. There are 2 local riders taking part in this years tour, Eugene Moriarty and John McCarthy. They compete against 180 riders from 9 countries.

The finish will be in Market Street, outside Spar. The Convent School band will play and there will be a festive atmosphere.
The weather forecast is not great but mura fearr, nára measa  (if it gets no better, may it get no worse)

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Jer Kennelly took his camera to the County Fair in Tralee on Sunday May 12 2013 and he sent us this lovely series of photos

http://youtu.be/rXg7HItgahw

 Jer also sent us this video of Donal Walsh’s funeral.

http://youtu.be/pRu6BODkOGQ

Lyre School 1953, Vintage Monday and Bord na Mona

By

On May 15, 2013

In Uncategorized

Bill Murphy sent us this photo of his class in Lyreacrompane school in 1953. With the help of his niece, Kate Murphy MacMahon he has found all the names and even a photo of the page in the roll book with his name in Irish.

Bill is visiting North Kerry at the moment so maybe he will have a few more photos or memories to share.

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This photograph was taken in Dublin sometime in the 1940s. It shows a consingment of tractors on their way to Bord na Mona. In case you are wondering, I have no idea how they got them on and off.

This is a Ferguson machine, turning sod turf. Turning sods by hand, as many of my readers will know, is backbreaking drudgery. This machine revolutionised the turning process, marking one of the steps in the change that saw men replaced by machines on our bogs.

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Some more photos from Vintage Day in town.

Car enthusiasts might like this from the Limerick Leader 1913

Back then motoring was hard work.

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Nothing like a photograph of a photographer except maybe a photograph of 2 photographers. John Kelliher and Denis Carroll were recording it all on Vintage Monday.

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This beautiful baptismal font has been stolen this week from a ruined church in Co. Meath.

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