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: Colm Tóibín

“A Year ago on this very Day”

Opening Night  Listowel Writers’ Week 2014

My first pic shows the packed ballroom in The Listowel Arms for Opening Night 2014. Then a flavour of the charming mix of local people and celebrities that makes Writers’ Week so intimate and so global at the same time.

Paul Durkan
Colm Tóibín
Mark Piggott
Bert, Paula and Vincent never miss an opening night

 Eliza Buckley whose singing charmed us all.

Victoria and David making the Writers’ Week video.

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Where Fun and Frolics were to be had

Listowel Community Centre, venue for  The National Children’s Literary Festival at Writers’ Week. This year again, the children’s programme will be centered in the Community Centre.

Take a look at these photos from last year (2014) . An even better  programme of children’s events is planned for this year.

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Development at Cahirdown


(photos; Marie Moriarty)

And in May 2015 this development is going on at Cahirdown  beside the An Post Centre. It’s a new service station, I’m told.

Still more from Writers’ Week

On Thursday last I got a hot tip that John Murray of RTE was going to be on Church St. recording a clip for his show the following day. Camera at the ready, I positioned myself opposite John B.’s old homestead and waited….and waited……and waited. I even moved my location up and down the street a bit so that I would not be arrested for loitering.

Then……. along they came as promised and they even posed for my photo; Bill O’Flynn,Vincent Carmody, John Murray, Billy Keane and Joanna Keane-O’Flynn.

While hanging about on Church St, I did a bit of celebrity spotting. Com Tóibín emerged from The Coffee Nook.

John Malachy Rafferty was strolling by taking it all in.

Óisín McGann

Rob Fossett was doing a spot of shopping.

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While Writers’ Week was happening, life went on in town

The new Sue Ryder shop opened. This is Grace, the manager.

Will we go racing? Two small girls peruse the racing themed window display in The Harp and Lion.

I met Joanne Dillon, on holiday from New York. Here she is with her cousins, Tom and Margaret.

In the St. Vincent de Paul shop I met 3 generations of the Kinsella family.

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On Friday I attended the launch of John Malachy’s latest opus. Here are a few photos from that launch which was well attended by his Listowel friends.

Eliz. Brosnan has sent us photos from 2 of the events I did not get to, i.e. the circus and the Dubliners concert.

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Don’t forget tomorrow night at 9.00 in McCarthy’s Bar, Finuge

NKRO trad night.

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