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: Covid 19 Page 4 of 6

Burst Water Main May 2020, Salted Bacon, and Pullitzer Prize for Son of Writers’ Week Chairman

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On May 19, 2020

In Uncategorized

 Pastures Green

Cows grazing peacefully at Coolageela, Kanturk photographed by farmer, Michael O’Sullivan

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Burst Water Main


I was on my permitted exercise last week when I spotted  more going on than usual these days outside Carroll’s Hardware.

The gardaí were directing traffic and Irish water was repairing the fault.



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Rationing in 1942


Bless them all, bless them all, 

The long and the short and the tall,

God bless De Valera and Seán MacAntee

They gave us the black bread and half ounce of tea….

During the war certain commodities were rationed. This is why  these two in the photo, who have just killed and salted two pigs put this sign on their barrel for the photo.

Spelling not a strong point with Jack Brosnan and his first cousin. Dan O’Callaghan, both first cousins of my mother’s

The sign , in case you can’t read it, says, No Tay, Plenty Mate.

I grew up in an Ireland where killing and salting a pig was part of how we lived. It was all done as humanely as possible. We, children were never allowed to see.

I found the following pictures on the internet. Some people may prefer not to look at them.

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A Pulitzer Prize winner with a Listowel Connection




Photo from Limerick Leader

Malachy Browne who was recently awarded the Pullitzer Prize for journalism is the son of David Browne, chair of the Board of Directors of Listowel Writers’ Week.

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A Covid Poem from John McGrath




Covid Sonnet

The world has pinned us with a warning glance,

the kind our mothers gave us long ago,

the look that was designed to let us know

that this might be our last and final chance.

So grounded, we can only hope and pray 

as, day by day, we inch beyond the fear

and tiptoe towards a future far from clear

our wounded planet showing us the way,

that voices raised in ignorance and greed

may yet be drowned by kindnesses and care,

together we can rise above despair,

united we will find the strength we need

as, all for one, we reach beyond the pain

and dare to dream tomorrow once again.

John McGrath  May 2020

Crows, The Mens’ Shed is Locked Down and a timely story remembered

By

On May 4, 2020

In Uncategorized



Photo credit; Liam Downes from Born in West Limerick on Facebook


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Everything Looks better in Colour


Look at this great initiative in Athea.


West Limerick Rocks! 

We are delighted to be working with West Limerick Resources on the West Limerick Rocks Project. 

Take a rock, bring it home, wash it and paint it and return the rock to the rock display at the fairy garden adding colour and much-needed joy to Athea. You can also pick a rock from your own garden, decorate it and add it to the display. Remember – movement is limited to 2km from your home! 

Thanks to our local caretaker Margaret Carroll who has agreed to spray varnish the rocks! 

This project is funded by the SICAP programme. The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2018-2022 is funded by the Irish Government through the Department of Rural and Community Development and co-funded by the European Social Fund under the Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020

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Observing Birds


Photographer, Tom Fitzgerald, is finding lots of subjects to photograph without leaving the confines of his own house. He has set up his camera in the garden. He can operate it remotely. He can sit at a distance and wait for the action to happen. Last week he saw these crows descend to gobble up these crumbs that had been left out for smaller birds. He captioned the photo “Loaded Up.”

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Lament for Good Times in The Mens’ Shed



We all miss so many things during this crisis. I miss my book club, my knitting group, Writers’ Week meetings and more. But what I really miss is the human interaction, the chat and the banter, the listening and the observing. 

Mattie Lennon speaks for many when he writes of missing The Mens’ Shed.

Our poet with Seamus Hosey at Opening Night Listowel Writers’ Week

RHYME OF THE ANCIENT SHEDDERS.

By Mattie Lennon.

Were you born since nineteen fifty four?

Then listen to my tale.

Since now I can’t go past the door

It’s worse than being in jail.

The Mens’ Shed  basks in silence now

Dead ashes in the grate.

The powers that be will not allow

Us meet or congregate.

Trips to historic places

Postponed till God  knows when

And absence of the faces

Of jolly Mens- Shed men.

Restrictions with good reason

Our precious lives to save,

But it’s Limbo land this season

No wooden beams we’ll shave.

Sans banter, cakes or mugs o’ tay

The shedders felt marooned

 Spin-doctors soon came into play 

‘Twas simply called “cocooned.”

The sound of saws and lathe no more

No smoke or leaping flames. 

We miss the sawdust on the floor

And elders calling names.

No forty verses now from Jack 

Or the  Micks with Niall and Noel.

No poems or  songs or mighty craic

To elevate the soul.

Poor remedy for culture shocks

Are Zoom and mobile phones.

We’ll have to take our stumbling blocks

And make them stepping stones.

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A Thought for the Day


History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

I enjoyed this anecdote from Nicholas

Hi, Mary, 

Amazing what an unseen and unknown little ‘bug’ can do! Mighty countries laid low, despite nuclear weapons and ‘star-wars’ capabilities and endless money. And then there are ourselves. When all the mighty are laid low and helpless, we sheepishly turn to God, who, for many, as was said about the fairies, ‘doesn’t exist’ (but He’s there alright!). We can’t even whistle past the grave-yard now. The bug has decreed that we stay locked away at home! 

All the fear and dread generated by the bug reminded me of an incident in my part of South Meath long, long ago. One of our ill-fated rebellion  was in  progress, and a group of peasant warriors was transporting a cache of weapons, ingeniously, in a coffin surrounded by wailing mourners and downcast men. A troop of soldiers, who were used to these stratagems,  halted them and demanded that the coffin be opened for inspection. There was much shuffling, and obvious horror in the faces of the ‘mourners.’  One of the peasant warriors audibly muttered ‘cholera’ – for the benefit of the soldiers, whereupon the latter fled in some disarray- leaving the ‘funeral’ to proceed unhindered.

Whoever coined ‘O Tempora, O Mores’ got it spot on!

Listowel in Lockdown, April 2020

By

On April 30, 2020

In Uncategorized

April 2020…..Glimpses of a Town in Lockdown

Cherrytree in bloom in the closed Pitch and Putt course

The cinema is closed and the old Walshe’s Ballroom doesn’t presently have a business .

 Upper William Street from the old Casa Mia to the old post office.

 St. Vincent de Paul shop closed.

No music at Mike the Pies

 Not a living soul, hog, dog nor devil, on the street

Carmody’s Corner and Charles Street

 Royal China are operating a take away service only. In the age old fashion of Chinese restaurants, it’s all about numbers. You get a number when you place your order. When your meal is ready they display your number on to the inside window sill and you collect at the hatch.

The Mermaids

 Tracey Grimes’, that used to be Moriarty’s

William Street, Listowel in lockdown

Billy is still flying the flag at John B.’s.

Market Street

McKenna’s and Chemco

Customers are not allowed in the shop at McKenna’s but you can collect your order at the door.

This is the corner where John B.’s famous corner boys hung out.

Lower William Street

This window reminds us of happier times. There will be no Tidy Town competition this year but our town looks spotless anyway.

Looking into Main Street, the sign on Broderick’s Pharmacy window reminds us to wash our hands. Hand hygiene is one of the three main planks of our fight to slow the progress of Covid 19. The others  are social distancing, staying at least 2 metres apart,  cough etiquette and cocooning the vulnerable members of our community.

The kids are all indoors. Confirmation Day has been and gone and Communion Day will pass without a day out too.

Ah, Revival! Not cancelled yet but big question marks hang over it due to the difficulty of following  social distancing guidelines

Lower Church Street

Main Street

At Listowel Racecourse

No June race meeting this year and the Harvest Festival meeting is in question as well.

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Life in Isolation

Stuck at home / safe at home

I have not felt the touch of a human hand for the past six weeks but  I have been touched, supported and loved by means I didn’t even know existed two months ago.

Covid 19 has been an enormous learning experience for us all.  I can use words and phrases like serology testing, R0 rate, herd immunity, community transmission and comorbidities. I could certainly now pick Dr. Tony Holohan or Dr. Philip Nolan out of a lineup of suited gentlemen.

Best of all I have learned how much I am loved and appreciated. My family have come up trumps. The love that was always there has taken concrete form in daily phone calls, postcards and endless text messages and memes. My neighbours, my friends and my former colleagues are a constant presence in  my life. People I have not heard from in years have rung or texted. The Christmas card list has come to life in April.

Things will never return to how they were. Almost overnight constants in our lives like work, church, school, the gym, the restaurant, the pub,  the match were all swept away in a surge of social distancing, working from home, self isolation and lockdown.

We will eventually emerge from this to a new normal, much chastened by our experience and hopefully, with a new appreciation of the little things.

Cocooning, St Patricks Day 2001 and the Roche family and an American take-away in China

By

On April 20, 2020

In Uncategorized


NEWKD William Street, Listowel

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Women in Media 2016


This is the time of year when, under normal circumstances,  I would be looking forward to WiM in Ballybunion.

Claire Hickey, Keelin Kissane and Anne Darby in Kilcooley’s in 2016



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When this is all over…..


The agony and the ecstasy of lockdown in Mike O’Donnell’s incisive cartoons.

Hi Granny


Below is a link to the very best lockdown poem, in my opinion.


This Will all End


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Knockanure in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2001

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The Road to Recovery


Noel Roche grew up  in O’Connell’s Ave., Listowel.

This photograph was taken at a family reunion in 1970. Three of the Roche children died in infancy and this is the clan as it was in 1970. Sadly they have lost a few more siblings since.

Noel gave me the names;

Front left to right. Dolores, Eileen, Peg, Jacqueline, Val and Dolly. 

middle l to r; John, Noel, Paddy, Jim, Mike and David. 

back l to r; Dick, Eamonn and Tom. 

Dolly was the oldest. I’m the youngest

Noel is a recovering alcoholic. He is proud to say that he will be 40 years sober this year. He used poetry as one of the tools to help him through the hard process of rehabilitation. I hope that hearing his story may help others who are struggling at a time that is hard for everyone but especially hard for anyone in the grip of addiction.




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A Covid Fact




In China a McDonalds delivery includes temp. check of food preparer, packer and delivery driver.

(Source; Greg McDonough on Listowel Covid 19)

Nicknames, Covid 19, The Bridge to Nowhere and The Spinning Wheel Restaurant

By

On April 15, 2020

In Uncategorized

2016 just before Bailey and Co. opened

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Listowel Small Square with the Spinning Wheel Restaurant where Footprints is now

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Fighting the Surge


Mike O’Donnell’s cartoons celebrate the bravery of our frontline medics.

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Back to the Bridge


Do you remember the old story here about the bridge outside Duagh that was built at huge expense and then lay idle for years? This tale sparked Joe Harrington’s interest and he did a bit of digging…

Hi Mary. As you outlined last week Mr Flavin MP questioned Balfour about Duagh Bridge in the House of Commons in 1898 as to why the bridge built in 1891, seven years previously, was not available for public use. Interestingly, the bridge is mentioned in a list of tenders for road maintenance in the Kerry Evening Post of November 16, 1892 where it was referred to as a “new bridge”. The Grand Jury of Kerry had erected the bridge at a cost of £3,496 10s. Gerard Balfour, the Chief Secetary, acknowledged that; “…no proper crossing has been provided by the railway company at this point. The grand jury, …state they have no power to employ a person to look after the gate… I am advised there is no legal provision under which the railway company or the grand jury can be required to provide a crossing, and the Board of Trade inform me they have no power to intervene.” 

Mr Flavin tried to ask why the Grand Jury had used ratepayer’s money to build a bridge without first sorting things with the railway company, but he was ruled out of order.

The railway line existed before both the new road and Duagh Bridge over the Feale, running from Foildarrig to Lacka East, was put in place.  Why the Waterford and Limerick Railway Company did not agree to a level crossing to facilitate the opening of the new connecting road and bridge is not clear. The reasons may have been the high cost of constructing or staffing the crossing or, as Mr Balfour said, there was no legal compulsion on them to do so. 

Interestingly, the Limerick & Waterford Railway Act was passed in 1826. It was the first Act authorising an Irish Railway Company, but it wasn’t until May 1848 that the Company began to build their rail network.  The line from Ballingarrane Junction (two miles north of Rathkeale) to North Kerry was opened in December 1880 so, when it came to the question of a level crossing for a new road, the Railway company had ‘squatters right’ so to speak. 

Two years prior to Mr Flavin’s unsuccessful representations to government the Kerry Evening Post of March 11, 1896 carried a report on the proceedings of the Grand Jury and its efforts to deal with the problem of the ‘bridge-to-nowhere’. A report stated, in the absence of an agreement with the Railway Company on the construction of a level crossing, the cost of a bridge over the railway line would be £700 and it would cost £1,000 to carry the road under the Railway line. 

Moving into the next century the Kerry Evening Post of August 9, 1902 reported that the County Surveyor urged the Council to approve the works regarding the approach road to the ‘railway bridge at Duagh”.  At this stage it seems the Railway Company had agreed to build a bridge over the railway line but the Surveyor “had not yet heard from the company as to when they will proceed with it”.   The work on the approach roads required the taking in of one and quarter acres of land. Lord Listowel claimed compensation at the rate of £22. 10s per Irish acre and two of his tenants, William Stack and Daniel Keane, claimed £90 and £60 respectively for the loss they would sustain. The total claimed by the tenants for the one and a half acres would be around €20,000 when updated to today’s money values! The Council also had the option of compulsory purchase. 

So, it seems Duagh Bridge carried no traffic for the first twelve years of its existence – a possible world record! The nearby railway bridge that was eventually built to allow traffic to proceed no longer spans a railway line – instead it will offer a fantastic view of the North Kerry Greenway which will pass under it.  This railway bridge and the nearby Duagh Bridge makes yet another interesting story for the many visitors who will traverse the Greenway in the future.

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A Kerry Story from The Examiner

Story and photo from The Irish Examiner

Former Kerry hurler John ‘Tweek’ Griffin has topped the poll to find Ireland’s most iconic sporting nickname.

Griffin, who retired in 2017 after 15 years in the Kerry senior jersey, just held off another Kingdom legend Tim ‘Horse’ Kennelly by less than 100 votes.

In a 2018 interview with the Irish Examiner , Griffin said he has no idea where the nickname ‘Tweek’ originated, though he recalls it had already stuck by the time he was in first class in school in Lixnaw. 

Kerry football great Kennelly won five All-Ireland medals, earning the ‘Horse’ tag due to his formidable strength from the centre-back position.

Making up the top five polled were Cork hurling powerhouse Diarmuid ‘The Rock’ O’Sullivan, former Cork City star Liam ‘The Conna Maradona’ Kearney, and ex-Kilkenny hurler Martin ‘Gorta’ Comerford.

Munster rugby duo John ‘Bull’ Hayes and the late Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley also feature in the top 10.

It’s clear the poll particularly captured imaginations in a certain pocket of North Kerry, turning into a head-to-head between local rivals Listowel Emmets and Finuge/Lixnaw.

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A Poem from Noel Roche


Noel is a recovering alcoholic. His road to recovery had many painful twists and turns. He acknowledged some of them in poetry.

This is a  sad poem of relationship breakdown

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Listowel Primary Care Centre

John Kelliher photographed this facility from start to finish.

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