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
Feale Sculpture and St John’s, Listowel in December 2021
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Things you may not know about St. Mary’s
Lord Listowel gave the site for the Catholic Church in The Square. One of the sites considered was across the road in the place where the National Bank, later The Butler Centre is now. This was thought to have too much commercial potential so the site eventually chosen was where St. Mary’s stands today. However a house that used to stand to the right of the picture has been demolished so the church is more visible than it used to be.
The late Paddy Horgan told me a story he learned from his elders. He told me that Lord Listowel made it a condition of the donation of the site that the Angelus bell would be rung at 7.00p.m. instead of the usual 6.00. Knocking off time for Lord Listowel’s workmen was the sound of the Angelus bell.
<<<<<<<<<
Christmas Window
Lynch’s Coffee Shop and Bakery in Main Street has a really lovely window display. My photo does not do it justice.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
A Back Lane
Listowel has many many back lanes. They tell their own story, many of them little changed over the years. This one is opposite the offices of The Revenue Commissioners.
Doors leading on to the lane on the second storey often led into a store. The delivery dray or the customer parked his cart in the lane below the door and the sacks of grain or other goods were thrown through the door and into the cart.
To this day the stonework of Listowel’s masons is preserved in these outhouses.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Then and Now
<<<<<<<<<<<
Taking down the flags
This is my brother taking down his Kanturk bunting and flags on Monday, December 6 2021.
In fairness the taking down of the support had more to do with the imminent arrival of Storm Barra than with the recent defeat to Newmarket.
We know how you feel, Kerins O’Rahilly’s supporters.
This is a jostle stone. It’s been here since the days of the horse and carriage. You’ll see them in every town. Their purpose was to protect the corners of a house or other property from damage by the wheels of carriages as they entered a lane or avenue. The stone jostled the carriage away from the wall and into the middle of the road.
Here there is a jostle stone on either side of the road.
This is another more simple example on Church Street.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
“Fond Memory Brings the Light of Other Days Around Me”
Nathalie Léger spent a year of her young life in Listowel. The town and its people made a lasting impression on this young lady.
My own time in Pres. Secondary School did not overlap with Nathalie’s. She discovered me much later through this blog. In response to my request, she has written this essay about her time here.
I came to Listowel during the last week of September 1988. I needed a little while to settle before getting ready to start work on October 1st at Presentation Convent as the French language assistant.
Finding a lodging was made easy with the help of Sr Consolata and some teachers, and I moved in to Market St Apartments.
As I had to buy some tableware I went to Carroll’s on the Square. Then I purchased two extra blankets at Moriarty’s on William St – Irish winters can be so cold !
I also opened a savings account at the Bank of Ireland, where they had very few French clients at the time I believe. The welcome was professional but very friendly.
At Presentation Convent I discovered a different education system that I would call holistic, not just academic. I was particularly impressed by the students and staff’s commitment in the operetta “South Pacific”. I took part in it too, helping with makeup and supervising. This was very enriching as I intended to become – and I have indeed – a teacher of English as a modern language.
I miss the friendly atmosphere and the fits of laughter in the staff room – I soon learnt quite a few “Kerry jokes” !
I really enjoyed working with the staff, who gave me the opportunity to discover what working with teenagers was like. Thank you everyone, particularly Noreen McCarthy, Geraldine O’Connor, Colette Daly, Bridget O’Connor, and of course Sr Consolata.
I would like to give special thanks to Joanna Keane who was replacing her sister-in-law Elaine at the time. Joanna showed me around – I remember a day trip to Dingle with lunch at The Forge – and she naturally introduced me to John B and Mary.
Since John B did not speak a lot of French he nicknamed me “la belle Parisienne”, which I found quite funny as I am not from Paris at all.
Not only did I meet lovely people but I also got the opportunity to read great novels and plays which helped me understand Irish people’s attachment to their land. John B’s pub became the perfect place to meet those people and have a good time chatting and laughing.
Thanks to Mary I saw “The Year of the Hiker” on stage in Tralee, which was a great moment for me.
Before leaving Listowel at the beginning of June 1989 I asked John B if he could sign the books I had bought. He very kindly wrote a different autograph in each of them. God knows how much I have treasured these books since !
Although many years have passed, I have never forgotten lovely Listowel and all the fantastic people I met there. Reading Listowel Connection every week is a means to not only remember the good old times but also discover today’s Listowel.
Thanks to social media I am in touch with Bridget and you, Mary. Now my dearest wish is to come back to Listowel, as real meetings will always be the best.
All of you take care and stay safe !
With my best regards,
Nathalie Léger.
( Explainer; The reason Nathalie didn’t start work until October is that nothing in Listowel started in earnest until “after The Races”. In those years the Races were always on the last full week in September.)
<<<<<<<<<<<<
Like Old Times
I made a rare foray to Tralee and I was surprised to see that Dunnes Stores seems to have morphed into Marks and Spencer’s since I was there last.
It has a real butcher’s shop with butchers butchering away before our eyes.
<<<<<<<<<<<<
Meanwhile in Tralee Town Square
This shop is closing down. Looks like the old order yielding place to the new.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
More Listowel Christmas Windows
The theme, this year is Toy Story.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
A Meeting on Church Street
Clíona (Cogan) McKenna and Joan Kenny in late November 2021
These two houses were the first slated houses in Listowel. They were built by a man called O’Callaghan with money he brought back from the Napoleonic wars.
The blocked up windows were a later renovation. At various times in our history a tax known as a window tax was imposed. The more windows you had in your house the more tax you paid. This is thought to have given rise to the phrase ‘daylight robbery”.
<<<<<<<<<
From Shannonside Annual 1958
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Three Generations
I decided to reprise my photo with my daughter and granddaughter on their recent visit.
Aoife was a bit reluctant to add her hand to the mix.
A nun walks home to the convent in 2007. A lot has changed.
<<<<<<<<<
A Listowel Fact
Lord Listowel visited the town in 1814 and he handed over sites for two churches, one Catholic and the other Church of Ireland. Both were built almost ten years later. St. Mary’s was built in 1829. The spire and porch were added in 1865. Initially the congregation stood during mass as there were no pews. The seats were added and side aisles built in 1910.
<<<<<<<<<
Pixie has made a Calendar
If you’re looking for a gift idea for a Covid bound emigrant, this could be the answer to your prayers.
Pixie will deliver or drop for you to collect if you are local.
You can contact him with your order at the email address below.
pixieskingdom@yahoo.com
<<<<<<<<<<<
Santa at McKenna’s in 1959
Were you one of the lucky children who visited Santa in Listowel in 1959?
Kathy Reynolds has put a lovely collection of Santa photos from that occasion up on line. The link is here;
https://vimeo.com/647951277
If you recognise yourself or someone you know please email Kathy. The photos are numbered and you can give her the number and the names of the people in the photo. Kathy’s email address is on the video. She asks that you respect copyright.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the first performance of Sive, The Listowel Players produced a souvenir programme to go with their production of the play. They included a page from the original programme.
Margaret Ward, who played the first Sive when she was only a schoolgirl remembers an eventful rehearsal.
Lovely memories from Nora Relihan
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Martin Chute, Master Signwriter
Martin stopped for a short chat with a friend as he finished the sign on Griffin Butchers on William Street, Listowel
<<<<<<<<<
Did you Know?
Listowel once had a structure called The Drunken Wall. It was located at the end of the footpath on the Neodata side (or Town Park side for those who don’t remember Neodata) of Bridge Road. It was a wall built across the footpath preventing you going any further. It was built to prevent intoxicated pedestrians from walking into the river which is about 100 yards from that point. The idea was that as soon as you hit the wall, you could go no further and you knew it was time to cross over to the other path which would lead you over the bridge.
