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
When a photographer with a camera at the ready is in the right place at the right time, this is a photo op.
William Murphy was at the schoolhouse outside Dunquin, on the Slea Head drive, on a mission to catch a photo of An Fear March in the famed “Dingle light” of evening, when this happened. A paraglider came into shot and William knew he had a rare capture. He captioned his shot, “Fear marbh is fear ag eitilt”
William won the overall ‘Photographer of the Year’ title as well as 1st place in the ‘People and the Coast’ category in the Clean Coasts 2024 Love Your Coast photography competition, sponsored by An Taisce.
Inis Tuaisceart, locally known as An Fear March, is the most northerly of the Blasket islands and is a favourite subject for photographers.
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Hospice Coffee Morning 2024
A few more lovely Listowel people supporting Listowel’s Hospice Coffee Morning on October 17 2024.
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Brehon Laws
The Brehons were the earliest jurists. They realised the importance of rules or laws to keep a well run society. These laws were in force in a time before currency when barter was the way of trade and commerce.
Our first washing machine!!!!!! You had to boil the water elsewhere: in our case, in a Burko boiler. You filled the drum the water and the washing, added the detergent, covered it and turned it on. When the washing was done, you fished it out with a wooden tongs and fed it through the mangle, pulled the machine to the sink to drain off the water and then repeated the operation with clean water to rinse the detergent from the clothes.
This machine was regarded as a labour saving device in 1960’s Ireland. It was the much maligned twin tub. The spin dryer had replaced the mangle for extracting as much moisture as possible from the washed clothes. The washing was washed in one compartment/tub which had to be filled with water from the tap. I dont ever remember a twin tub being plumbed in. The water had to be drained off and the clothes transferred to the second tub for spinning. These had to be loaded carefully so that the weight was evenly distributed. Otherwise the machine would do a mad dance around the floor. There were no tumble dryers so the the spun garments had to be hung out on a clothesline to dry.
Washing was a day’s work.
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Some Pres. Girls
I’m sure someone will name them for us, or maybe even one of themselves.
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Our Millenium Arch
Our first arch was blown down in a storm and this is the replacement.
This picture is from 2016
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The Book Tour is Coming to Kanturk
The Kanturk launch of Moments of Reflection will be in The Linngorm Community Hall, (P51 YC57) on Friday next, October 25 2024 at 7.30 p. m.
The children are rehearsing their readings and the hostess, Breeda, is trying out a few mouthwatering tray bakes.
I’m looking forward to a great evening among family and old friends.
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A Few Brehon Laws
The Brehons had no legal tender. all transactions were settled by barter.
Then, as now, location is everything.
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People at a Coffee Morning
On October 17 2024 these lovely people were in The Listowel Arms Hotel supporting the Kerry Hospice.
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A Fact
The world’s first speed limit regulation was in the UK in 1903. It was 20mph.
Photo credit: Chris Grayson in The National Park, Killarney, October 2024
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Moments of Reflection
My granddaughter, Cora, reading my book. I’m truly grateful to all the people who have bought it so far. It really is the ideal gift for young and old.
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Formica
There was a time when we thought plastic was a marvellous discovery. It was strong, durable, easy to clean and store and virtually indestructible. Of course this indestructibility has lead plastic to fall out of favour.
Formica was a tough, glossy surface, easy to clean and disinfect, didn’t splinter or stain. It was ideal for tables where spillages could be easily mopped up and there was no need for a table covering of any sort and no polishing and protecting. I wonder if anyone still has a formica kitchen table.
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Ah, so sad!
from Discover Duhallow magazine
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The Farrier
When I called home recently this sight met my eyes, the farrier’s van complete with an array of horseshoes. Horses, like people, have different shoe sizes.
My brother holding the horse and the busy farrier working away.
The farrier works his way from hoof to hoof and the horse waits patiently for the job to be done.
Pat’s grandchildren came to take a look at this age old skill.
Now, it’s the turn of the stable companion.
The rasp, the equivalent of our nail file, evens off the hoof’s edges.
This trade is no longer carried out by blacksmiths. It is a skill all of its own now and the farrier travels around to pay home visits to his equine customers.
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Brehon Laws
A few more sensible rules to live by…
The Brehons who were the judges were not above the law.
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Date for the Diary
This usually books out quickly.
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A Fact
A cat will clean itself with tongue and paw after a dangerous experience or when it has fought with another cat. this is an attempt by the cat to soothe its nerves by doing something instinctive and natural.
The sunny side of the street….Church St. in October 2024
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Changes at St. Mary’s
When I visited the church on October 10 2024, the usual peace was broken by noises of drilling and hammering. It will all be much appreciated in time as the reason for the workmanlike noises was the installation of comfy cushions on the seats and kneelers.
The choir and the folk group are in future going to sing from the side altar. Comfy seats, carpet underfoot and microphones were being put in place.
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Brehon Laws
Here are two more “laws” from old Ireland.
This seems a very genteel way of pawn broking.
Silence is golden unless you have a good reason to talk.
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Listowel Races on Saturday, September 28th 2024
Great crowd for a Saturday. The sun shone and everyone was in good spirits.
These are the finalists in the sustainable fashion competitions
While the judges were deliberating I discovered that the people beside me in the crowd were none other than this year’s Kerry Rose, Emer Dineen and her family.
Winner alright… Niamh (Kenny) Lordan looked the epitome of style in her preloved Louise Kennedy suit. Orla Winters who is interviewing her, didn’t look too bad either.
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The Playpen
This was a health and safety device. When you wanted to keep baby out of harm’s way you put them in this small prison, where they could see everything but couldn’t get at it.
Shane Lowry once claimed in an interview that his grandmother used to put him in the turf box. A tea chest was my play pen.
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August 25 2011
This is the very first picture I posted on Listowel Connection and here is the very first post….
This is the scene today in Listowel. Minister for Heritage, Tourism and The Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan officially launched an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia related to the work of Listowel’s famous stucco artist, Pat McAuliffe. This is appropriate for my first post on this blog because it marries the old and the new.
What I intend to do with this blog is to post news from Listowel along with some of my photos and every now and again to post some old stories, anecdotes and anything else I find interesting.
For whom am I blogging?
Mainly the Listowel diaspora but really for anyone with an interest in Listowel.
While on the subject of the diaspora I have to here plug our new community organisation, North Kerry Reaching Out. This is a local history, genealogy and tourism venture. We hope to reach out to people everywhere with any link to North Kerry. We will help people as best we can to research their family tree. We hope to set up a website with lots of local news and lore and then…. we hope to organise A Week of Welcomes when some of our new friends would come to North Kerry and we would lay on a programme of entertainment for them.
That was then. This is now.
The organisation, North Kerry Reaching Out, has fallen by the wayside. The Week of Welcomes was poorly enough attended as the Listowel diaspora want to choose their own week to come home. The website has gone because there was no money to host it anymore.
BUT
I’m still blogging.
Blog followers sometimes ask me how they can help me. I have to pay an annual fee for the domain, for hosting and for the ssl certificate.
The best way to help me at the moment is to buy the book, Moments of Reflection. It is available in Woulfe’s, Eason, Listowel Garden Centre, PRIFMA and Super Valu. It costs €20. Woulfe’s will post it abroad or in Ireland.
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A Fact
Every known breed of dog, except the chow, has a pink tongue. The chow’s tongue is jet black.
These are the Tidy Town volunteers who introduced this event which has become the Saturday highlight of race week. They turn up year after year to run this marvellous competition. It has evolved over the years from having some entries that looked like school projects to be a themed fashion competition to rival Friday’s best dressed lady’s event. Many of this year’s outfits would not have been out of place in the Friday competition.
Kathleen O’Flaherty always looks stylish.
This lady got a special prize for inventiveness.
Frances O’Keeffe was the winner of the first sustainable fashion competition at Listowel Races. Her daughter, Edel, won a few fashion prizes too.
The story of the outfit is part of the entertainment of this competition. Maria’s stories areaways the best. Maria Stack was wearing gloves and a hat gifted to her by her late friend, Mary O’Halloran. Mary was a great supporter of Listowel Races.
Tidy Town ladies and An Taisce judge are intrigued by the back stories.
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Something Old
This is the kind of old fashioned pram babies slept in in the 1900s. The net over the pram was to protect the infant from flies and wasps and to deter the cat from jumping in with the baby. There was usually a string of coloured rattles across the hood in view of the baby and nearly always a holy medal pinned somewhere.
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In Athea
The celtic mural in Athea celebrates Irishness in hundreds of symbols but it also celebrates local people and the enormous talent in the area.
This young flautist is like a snake charmer conjuring up shamrocks, birds, snakes and entwined celtic symbols.
What could be more Irish than a step dancing cailín?
A local young girl immortalised forever among the oak leaves in this impressive piece of wall art.
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Brehon Laws
Lately I came upon this treasure of a book in the IWA charity shop. It’s all about the Brehon Laws. These laws were passed on orally since the first centuryBC. They were written down for the first time in the 7th century AD and they were in use until the reign of Elizabeth 1 who replaced the old Brehon Laws with English common law.
The laws give us a great insight into how our ancestors lived.
The great assembly was usually held on Tara. The elders came together to discuss and, if necessary, amend the laws.
Music has always been part of Irish life. There was a hierarchy of musicians with the harpist having pride of place.
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A Fact
Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven. He patented it in 1945.
