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: Bromore Page 2 of 5

Hay and Tae in Bromore in Summer 2018, Ballybunion and Smores

By

On July 18, 2018

In Uncategorized

Life’s a Beach…Ballybunion July 2018

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Hay and Tae in Bromore


Every year Michael Flahive organises a unique event at his farm near Ballybunion. This year in ideal weather his meitheal saved the hay the old fashioned way. A man who posts on Facebook as Salva Tore took these priceless photos.

This is the meitheal gathered for the photo when the work was done.

This is how they took the photo from that angle. No drone here.

Here the men are piking the gathered hay on to the wynn and Michael is spreading it and shaping the cock. There is a special skill in that job. You do not want to peak too soon. My poor dead mother would have a heart attack if she saw that man in bare feet with so many pikes about.

This haymaking was done to musical accompaniment.

You’ve heard of piping the captain on board his ship or piping the bride into the wedding breakfast but this is a new one, piping the farmer on to the wynn.

 What a lovely picture as Michael holds the next farmer who may make hay in a different way.

Sliding off the wynn can take a bit of skill too. Dried hay can be very slippery.

All the loose hay is combed down from the wynn and the whole lot is secured with a súgán. A súgán is a rope made from twisted hay.

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Late Evening Ballybunion July 2018


 My young visitors were playing in the sea until late evening every evening.

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Sunny’s Hair and Beauty, Church Street

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Please sir, may I have s’more


Here are my grandchildren and friend roasting marshmallows over a disposable barbecue to make smores.

I never heard of this delicacy until last week but its amazing what you can learn from children.

A s’more is a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a fire-roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker.[1] National S’mores Day is celebrated annually on August 10.[2] The Guinness World Record for number of people making s’mores at one time was 423, set April 21, 2016, in Huntington Beach, California.[3  



That last is not from the children. It’s from Wikipaedia. We didn’t have Graham crackers so we 

improvised with digestive biscuits.


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John B. Keane Festival



As part of the festival to celebrate John B. Keane on July 19 to 21 2018, there will be an 

exhibition of photographs at

The Seanchaí. Here is one from the Seanchaí’s collection


Some of the founders of Listowel Writers’ Week with Marie Keane of RTE.


Seamus Wilmot, John B. Keane, Bryan MacMahon, Marie Kean and Tim Danaher

Hay and Tae in Bromore, NewcastleWest and Halloween comes early

By

On August 31, 2016

In Uncategorized

Met at the match




My friends, Breda and Bridget met this legendary Kerryman, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh on their way to Croke Park on Sunday.



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Annual Hay and Tae at Bromore


Bagpipers and other musicians were never part of the work in the meadow in my day. Mike Flahive’s annual hay saving festival is something to behold.

Its Hannon’s pictures tell the story.

A fine meitheal did a great job indeed.

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Newcastlewest 1976

Photo; Limerick.ie

And now NCW today

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And Boo to You Too

It’s only August. The children are only just back from  their SUMMER holidays.

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Gene Wilder R.I.P.


The Legendary Gene Wilder who has died this week, seen at the Grave Diggers pub, Glasnevin in 1970. R.I.P (Photos of Dublin on Twitter)

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Then and Now



Last photos from Ladies Day 2015 and A Little bit of Christmas Magic in October in Listowel

By

On October 15, 2015

In Uncategorized



Heather at Bromore Cliffs


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Just a few more


Yesterday I promised you that I was done with Ladies Day 2015. After all, it is the middle of October.  then I discovered that some that I had not included were some of my very best friends so here goes …this is really the last of them before I lose every male follower I have.

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An Old One




Liam OHainnín is a great lover of old songs and Irish music. He posted this old song on Facebook and this is what he said about its provenance,  “My Uncle Tom got it from the singing of Mike Hennessy of Beale whose family were the last native Irish speakers in Beale. I wrote it down from my Uncle Toms singing.”



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Listowel’s Own Winter Wonderland




In Listowel Garden Centre it’s all polar bears, angels and snowmen these days. Here are a few more of the displays.






Shortis of Ballybunion, Fleadh 1987, Holy Trinity Church, Adare and Hay and Tae in Bromore

By

On August 17, 2015

In Uncategorized

Another great Then and Now from Time Travel Kerry

-Shortis bar Ballybunion-

Located in the middle of the village at the corner of Main St. and Cliff Road, it was a shop in the original picture and is a public house called the ‘Bunker bar’ today. It’s great to see that almost all of it’s original exterior plasterwork has survived in good condition.

William Shortis, owner of the shop at the time of the original photograph was also the manager of the Ballybunion station of the famed Lartigue monorail. He died in 1905. The Lartigue closed down in 1924.

The building was built around 1890 with a renovation in the 1930s which included building the pub and changing the facade slightly to accommodate this. The rear extention and dormer roof lights were added in later years. There is a cut-stone plaque on the building inscribed: “To the memory of Lr Patrick Shortis(Son of William)born here in 1895 killed in action in the Easter Rising, Dublin 1916 erected by The No. 7 Kerry Republican Soldiers Memorial Committee 1966′

The houses to the left of the modern picture were also added after the original picture was taken.

(Original photo – Lawrence early 1900s)

(Modern photo April ’15)

Historical ref – Listowel blogspot, Buildings of Ireland)

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Church of the Holy Trinity, Adare, Co. Limerick


This is a copy of a Trinity icon by Andrei Rubiev of Moscow. This ancient Russian icon represents the Trinity as three angels. “The church chose this icon as it most fully expresses the dogma of the Holy Trinity; the three angels are depicted in equal dignity, symbolizing the triunity and equality of all three Persons.”


This beautiful church in Adare has an old fashioned look to it. It still has statues, a pulpit and a railed off sanctuary. It has some beautiful stained glass windows but many very plain ones too. Call in and have a look for yourself if you are passing through Adare.


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August 28 1987



Photo of The Fleadh committee 1987 in two halves        (photo from Betty Stack)

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The more things change, the more they stay the same.  I found this on the internet. I have no idea of the year referred to but there is clue in that the recruiting agent is Lieut. Charles Friend, His Majesty’s agent for Emigration.

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Two postscripts


Adrian McCarron wrote to me about this one. Betty Stack identified most of the people in this photo but Adrian’s name eluded her. So, for the record, the little boy in the blue jumper, third from left in the front row is Adrian McCarron and Adrian reckons the year is 1978 and not 1976 as I stated. He remembers the fleadh in Buncrana in 1976 and this is definitely Listowel.

Adrian, like so many others was delighted to see this old photo and we owe a debt of gratitude to Betty Stack for sharing it. So let me take this opportunity to ask other readers of Listowel Connection to take the time to seek out and share more old photos, a small thing to brighten someone’s day.



Ethel Murphy took the time to email me to tell me that Pearse Street is in fact, William Street. Thereby hangs a tale which I must investigate further.



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Hay and Tae in Bromore



On Friday evening, Mike Flahive organized his now annual Hay and Tae festival. This could be called the Meitheal in the Meadow because that is what it is…a group gathered together along Bromore Cliffs to save a meadow of hay the old fashioned way.



Ah, the memories!


The hay in the meadow is cut into swarths, these are long rows of mown hay. Here Mike is gathering the hay into cocks with the wooden tumbling paddy.

There is a huge skill in tumbling this much hay without injuring yourself. I remember my father operating this implement but then he also had a horse to control. This way the tractor can stop dead still and there is no fear from that quarter.

This is an old fashion wynnd.

This is a new one! Spectators on chairs! In my young day there were no spectators in a meadow. Everyone had a job to do.

What a lovely setting for an evening of haymaking.

The man on top of the wynnd had a very hard job to do because he had to distribute the hay evenly to give the wynnd its cone shape.

Once the wynnd is made the man on top is helped down.

The loose bits of hay are raked down.  later these bits will be made into another wynnd.

Every farm has to have a young fellow on a tractor. Looks like this young lad wasn’t even born when this tractor first saw the light of day.


Ah,  tea in the meadow, the taste of yesterdays.

(photos; Ballybunion Prints, Beautiful setting ,hay and tae; Bromore Cliffs)

What a beautiful setting for such a simple yet great event. Well done all!

That’s it from Opening Night LWW2015: The forgotten diaspora

By

On June 10, 2015

In Uncategorized

John Creedon at Bromore



(photo; Bromore Cliffs on Facebook)

 John Creedon was at the fabulous Bromore Cliffs last week for the filming of his Wild Atlantic Way programme for RTE.

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Still More Photos from Opening Night, Listowel Writers’ Week 2015


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Welcome to Kerry



This is a photo from London Irish Centre’s Facebook page .

The London Irish centre run a yearly trip in conjunction with Kerry Emigrant Support Group, for 32 vulnerable Irish people who have not returned to Ireland in many years.

They send over a team of volunteers and staff to assist, and Kerry Emigrant Support Group hosts the group and pays for the project which is located in Ballybunion.

Here they are hitting the road at the weekend!

When we talk of emigration these days the image we see is happy young Irish people heading off to Australia of Canada. Many of these land good jobs, stay in touch with home through social media and have a tight and supportive network of friends. 

Things were different in the fifties, when many of Ireland’s young people were forced to labour in poorly paid jobs in English cities. Many lost touch with home. Some have no family left here now.This aging population of Irish emigrants are often forgotten about. 

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