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: coffee

Elevenses

By

On October 4, 2023

In Ballylongford, Listowel, Schools

Fitzpatricks of Church Street in September 2023

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In Ballylongford

A little spot of business took me recently to Ballylongford.

While I was there I visited the church.

I love this picture. Sums me up perfectly.

Interior of Ballylongford parish church

The church interior is very traditional with little stained glass and huge statues.

The windows in Ballylongford church are unusually small. The side windows which have clear glass are set very low into the walls.

The lectern has a modern looking cross with a dove (Holy Spirit) on it. I couldn’t find any account of it online. Maybe a reader knows the story.

There is a huge statue of St Michael the archangel beside the door.

St. Joseph, I presume

It’s a long time since I’ve seen such a well stocked Catholic Truth Society book shelf.

The parishioners seem to have had particular affection for Fr. Pierce.

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Your Cup of Joe

Mick O’Callaghan writes some lovely essays in his Rambler’s Blog

You’ll enjoy this if, like me, you are fascinated by the variety of coffee offerings available to coffee lovers nowadays.

Coffee at eleven

Well, isn’t life gone very strange and complicated when you want to purchase a simple thing like a cup of tea or coffee.

Recently I was out walking in Gorey Town Park, with a relation home from Australia, when he suggested that we go for a coffee, and I immediately agreed. We visited the nearest coffee shop which was in the park. I asked for a cappuccino and was asked what type of milk I wanted so naturally I said that I just wanted ordinary straight cow’s whole milk while my friend wanted a flat white. Then we are further asked as to whether the coffee was for here or to go. Having answered that we would be imbibing our coffee potions on the premises we were given a choice of drinking vessel between cup, mug, or disposable container. Being the environmentally conscious type I opted for mug while my walking colleague chose a cup. The coffee was served up without the traditional saucer but who cares when the coffee served was excellent and the service was polite and friendly. We wished the Cullen family well in their new business adventure.

Being the mathematical type that I am I glanced around and observed that most imbibees were drinking from throw away cups which I found utterly appalling as these would all end up in land fill or incinerator causing further damage to our already damaged eco system.

And so, on Wednesday morning of September 6th, 2023, we went out with five family members for some food and coffees which was all very convivial and enjoyable. The day was fine, and we sat outside in the lovely friendly Cowhouse Bistro on the Courtown Road. The food was excellent and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Next it was coffee ordering time, and a very friendly waitress came to take our order.

I was first to order and was the usual stick in the mud ordering a straight cappuccino in good old cow’s milk. And so, she moved along, and the next request was for a one-shot decaffeinated Americano followed by a normal Americano with extra hot water and ordinary milk.

I ask myself if this can get more complicated and the next barista order is for an almond milk latte with extra hot milk on the side.

I am really switched on now to hear the next order which is a normal milk latte with an extra shot. Now we are really upping the ante.

The final call was for a decaffeinated cappuccino with oat milk. All the coffees were served in cups and saucers which was nice to see and experience.

I am just flabbergasted by the sheer variety of orders. God be with the days of the bottle of Irel coffee and the spoon of Maxwell House instant powdered or granulated coffee. You got your cup, spooned in the relevant amount of coffee, added boiling water, stirred it up, added a drop of milk from the milk bottle and off you drank your coffee with your Marietta or Lincoln Cream biscuits. This was the ultimate in relaxation and had more sophistication about it than the ‘will you have time for a cup of tea in your hand’ effort.

The times have changed and so have our tastes and choices.

Are we any better for it all. I don’t know. Maybe next time I’ll have a skinny latte in mountain goats’ milk, a hot chocolate in sheep’s milk, a mocha with a slice of blackberry and apple tart or luscious strawberry in dark chocolate from Green’s Berry Farm sales shack at the other side of the road. Now that would be sophistication.

We had a very nice pleasant day out on a warm September 2023 day out in Gorey.

Mick O Callaghan 10/09/2023

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Times Past in Presentation Secondary School, Listowel

Photo from Brenda O’Halloran

May 1976

included are Anne McAuliffe, Miriam Hilliard, Kathleen Ryan, Brenda O’Halloran, Deirdre O’Sullivan

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One for the Diary

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A Fact

Bats make up 23 % of mammals by species. There are 980 + known species of bat in the world.

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My Favourite Mural

By

On September 28, 2023

In Festivals, Listowel, Listowel Races, Personal, Poem

Childers Park Wildflower Meadow, September 2023

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Contrasting Murals

Creative Walls is a marvellous project by Listowel Community and Business Alliance.

Here is what they have to say about the latest Listowel mural

~ Listowel Characters ~
The latest Listowel Characters mural has been commissioned by the Listowel Business & Community Alliance. With support from Kerry Co Arts and Creative Ireland.

The artist selected for the new typographic mural is the talented Master Signwriter – Martin Chute. As with our previous walls, the artist gets to choose an inspiring quote from a selection of Writers, Poets, Songwriters, and more.  Martin was keen to create a mural featuring John B. Keane.

“Where’er I go I’ll love you sweet Listowel and doff my distant cap each day to you” 
– Sweet Listowel. 

Martin lived and worked in the United States for many years. Now his exquisite lettering enriches the fascias of his native Listowel. The Chute family’s sign writing and artistic painting work are a prominent feature on Listowel’s shopfronts.

Since his return from America, Martin’s unique, handcrafted signs and shopfront designs have transformed the streetscape in Listowel. His work offers an identity and a sense of place that has contributed to the preservation of the town’s character.

Thank you Martin and all involved for this exquisite piece which has attracted massive attention and admiration already. An asset to the town of Listowel. A special thanks to Pat Nolan from Pat Nolan’s Furniture & Carpet Centre for kindly donating this wall space for this project.💙

#listowel #wherestoriesbegin #soundtown #followthegreenway #kingdomofkerrygreenways #discoverthekingdom #listowel4all 

Listowel Business and Community Alliance
Kerry County Arts 
Creative Ireland
John B. Keane’s Pub, Listowel, Co. Kerry

This is the other Charles Street mural. The contrast in styles is striking. Listowel Community and Business Alliance is catering for all tastes.

I particularly love the quotation Martin chose. Listowel is often described as lovely. Sweet is somehow to me more emotive, more tender, The colours, the shape and the timbre of Chute’s mural is reminiscent of an old sweet wrapper, a taste of childhood.

The doffing of the cap suggests to me respect and reverence, an acknowledgement of all that Listowel has given. It’s a gesture of gratitude and loyalty.

My blog has brought me into contact with many Listowel emigrants. This mural speaks to them and for them. I find among the Listowel diaspora, a massive loyalty to the town. I haven’t met a Listowel person yet who was not proud of where he came from.

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Kilbrin

Kilbrin is a very small village in North Cork. It has no shop and no pub now. It has a primary school and preschool and a thriving GAA club.

My family are buried in Kilbrin.

Over the graveyard wall a flock of sheep were investigating a mound of earth. Kilbrin is in the heart of the countryside.

Kilbrin is a very very old burial ground, still in use today . A wonderful restoration job has been done here by the local graveyard committee. All of the graves’ inscriptions which can be read are also online;

Kilbrin Graveyard inscriptions

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My Family

For the first time in years we were all together for race week.

We took walks and they discovered new things about the place where they grew up.

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Death of an Irishwoman

(Michael Hartnett wrote this about his grandmother who was a link to another era in Irish social history.)

Ignorant, in the sense she ate monotonous food 

and thought the world was flat, and pagan, 

in the sense she knew the things that moved at night 

were neither dogs nor cats 

but púcas and darkfaced men 

she nevertheless had fierce pride.

But sentenced in the end to eat thin diminishing porridge 

in a stone-cold kitchen 

she clinched her brittle hands around a world 

she could not understand.

I loved her from the day she died.

She was a summer dance at the crossroads.

She was a cardgame where a nose was broken.

She was a song that nobody sings.

She was a house ransacked by soldiers.

She was a language seldom spoken.

She was a child’s purse, full of useless things.

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Great Idea… but you must book

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A Fact

Be warned: You can overdose on coffee!!!

Ten grammes of coffee or about 100 cups over 4 hours can kill the average human being

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Asdee, The Rise of Coffee Culture and Listowel Revisited

By

On January 17, 2019

In Uncategorized

Asdee church is a lovely intimate, beautifully kept place of worship. I was lucky enough to be there on Jan 1 2019 for a beautiful wedding ceremony.

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The New Irish Pub Culture


Changes in the laws around driving have driven Irish men out of the pub as their favoured meeting place. Young people had already abandoned the pub for house parties and the gym.

According to an article I read recently, the coffee shop is the new pub. People are meeting with groups of friends in coffee shops and cafes and a whole generation is growing up having a favourite coffee rather than a favourite beer.

Supermarkets used to have a holder for your shopping list. Now they have a holder for your coffee cup.

Listowel, as usual, is ahead of the curve. Long before it was a “thing”,  Danny Hannon, Jed Chute and friends were meeting in The Listowel Arms for a coffee in order to chew the fat and set the world to rights.

I interrupted them last week at their morning chin wag.

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Reconnecting




I took this photograph last week as Patricia Gordon renewed acquaintance with Judy MacMahon and other people she knew in Listowel when she lived here 24 years ago.



This is how we in Listowel remember Patricia.

The reason I have a 24 year old photo of her is because part of the purpose of her visit was to bring me photos taken by her husband, Danny, when they lived in town and he was a member of the camera club.

I will be sharing these photos with you in the coming weeks.

I photographed Patricia outside Jackie McGillicuddy’s shop because that was the very place where she was a victim of crime .

Twenty five years ago she stopped outside McGillicuddy’s and ran in to buy a card. She left the keys in the car because back then there was very little crime in Listowel and she felt safe to pop into a shop for 5 minutes.

But a opportunistic  car thief who happened to be in town on that day saw the “gift horse” outside the toyshop and couldn’t resist the temptation.

Patricia emerged from the shop to find her car gone. Her first thought was that someone who knew her had taken it to for a prank. She went around to Church Street to find it. When she still hadn’t seen it by the time she got to the Garda Station she realised that maybe it was actually stolen. She went into the station where she met Sgt. Tim O’Leary. He made  phonecalls to Tarbert, Moyvane, Ballybunion and other garda stations around about. A keen eyed Garda spotted the car in Tarbert, the thief was arrested and the car returned.

Subsequently Patricia had to appear in court and she was reprimanded by the judge for practically putting a sign saying “Take me”  on her car. 

I noticed when I met her last week she observed all the safety precautions, putting bags and valuables in the boot and locking the car. She now lives in Limerick.

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From The Kerryman of 1994







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