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: Danny Houlihan

Fred Chute at work on Jet’s, Bank of Ireland Refurb and Molly in Cork

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On August 9, 2018

In Uncategorized

Trees in Listowel Pitch and Putt course

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Still Number One


I saw Fred on his ladder painting one of the many pieces of  individual wall art that grace Listowel.

A master at work.


Fred’s cousin, Liz, sent a request for a smile especially for her the next time I saw Fred painting. Here it is Liz, a smile especially for you from William St., Listowel.

In case any of the rest of you are getting any ideas, I can’t make a habit of going around town disturbing people at their work and asking them to smile at their cousins in America.

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Bank of Ireland


I haven’t called for a few days. This was how it looked last time I visited.

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Molly at Home


Molly is back in Cork with her family.


 Her girls are learning to touch type. Molly is waiting for them to get done and come and play.

She likes a walk and a little dip.


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A legendary Ballybunion Piper


This is Ballybunion at nighttime. Once upon a time a lone piper used to walk these shores at sunset composing tunes.

According to local lore, Tom McCarthy, the famous Ballybunion piper, was born in 1799. His favourite playing spot was the Castle Green but he also was said to walk along the cliffs listening to the wild life and replicating the sounds of Nature in his music.

He passed away in 1904 after a lifetime of composing and playing music.

After his death, his pipes became the stuff of legend, one man claiming that they played by themselves with no musician about.

Finally the pipes vanished and nobody has any idea where they are to this day.

(I read this story in Danny Houlihan’s Ballybunion, an Illustrated History)

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

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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

Garden of Europe and Evelyn O’Rourke’s Dear Ross

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On April 18, 2014

In Uncategorized

Recently I took a stroll through the lovely Garden of Europe. Several lovely trees came down in the February 2014 storms.

Two men were working clearing the fallen wood on the day I visited.

They told me that they were using the wood pulp as mulch for the remaining shrubs and trees.

These hardy daffodils were blooming on regardless.

Two dogs were enjoying the early spring sunshine.

I spotted these on a tree on the path from the Garden to Gurtinard. Nest boxes?

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This is definitely the end of my WIM Weekend coverage



I know that that is not really a headline but I thought it might be a relief for some of my faithful followers to know that normal service is bring resumed next week.

Before that I have to tell you that I met my friend, Evelyn O’Rourke in Ballybunion.

Me with Evelyn O’Rourke

Evelyn with her mum Peigí, her aunt Eileen and  friend Mairead

Her anxious mum watches as Evelyn relives a very hard time in their lives.

Breda Boderick from Listowel is a fan of Evelyn’s and maybe its this selfie craze but I seem to be in far too many photos of the weekend.

Evelyn has written a book, Dear Ross, telling the story of a year in the life of her family. Evelyn was still on maternity leave with her first son, Óisín when she discovered she was pregnant. She was thrilled. The thrill only lasted a very short while as, within a week, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  

Evelyn wrote a series of letters to her unborn son, Ross, telling him how much she and his dad, John loved and wanted him and wanted to do everything possible not to compromise him in any way.

In the book we read of the horrors of chemotherapy compounded by the discomforts of pregnancy and the trials of looking after a small child.

In Ballybunion we saw Evelyn, the surviver, read movingly from some of the letters. We met Evelyn, the campaigner, passionately promoting the cause of breast cancer research. We  met Evelyn, the family woman, wallowing in the love of her old and her new family. And we met Evelyn, the great communicator standing before us, a testament to the triumph of will, of love and support and modern medicine over this terrible disease.

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During the weekend the local Creative Writing group took the opportunity to sell a collection of their works, A Little Life Music.

As part of the weekend too we got a taster eco tour of Ballybunion.

Danny Houlihan is a man of many talents. He told us about history and wildlife in a really interesting trip to the Cashen and the Castle Green. Below are a few photos from the tour

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Writers Week 2014

The programme was officially launched last night in The Seanchaí. Great night, lots of photos to come but I had to share this one.

 Eilís Wren and Máire Logue of Writers’ Week fill in my lovely granddaughters on who’s coming to this year’s festival.

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