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 Russell Page 2 of 3

November, graveyards and remembering our WW1 fallen

November



This is the time of year when we remember our loved ones who are no longer with us. I took these photos in a very old churchyard in Kilbrin in Co. Cork, where some of my paternal ancestors are buried. The local committee have done a great restoration and preservation job on the old graves.

Obviously different laws applied in the 18th century as to size of burial plot.

Many of the inscriptions are illegible but this one from 1769 was in great nick.

My parents and older sister are buried here.

My grandfather is buried here.  As far as we can make out, his wife, my grandmother, is buried with her own people. She died at a very young age, leaving my poor grandfather with six very young children to raise with the help of his kind neighbours. It is a great credit to him that he kept them together in very tough times. They and all of us, their descendants,  are a credit to him and to the community who helped him to survive this awful tragedy. I pray with thanks for Philip Ahern of Knockalohert, Kilbrin this November.

Sign at the entrance

<<<<<<<<

This is Lyre churchyard in Co. Cork where my maternal ancestors are buried.

This is my great-grandfather’s grave in Lyre. My grandmother is  buried here

Lyre is a little village near Banteer in North Cork. My grandmother, Mary Cronin, was a lovely kind  strong woman, who played a big part in my childhood. As a young girl she saw most of her family emigrate to the U.S. to a little town called Attleboro in Massachusetts. In the way of the times, people from a certain area emigrated to the same area in the U.S. so they had a little home away from home in the new country. Some of today’s citizens of Attleboro have roots in this little North Cork village or its nearby neighbour, Banteer.

This sign at the entrance is an unfortunate sign of the times we live in.

<<<<<

Listowel Military Tattoo remembers

There will be a short Remembrance Service at the rear of St John’s at the Remembrance Stone on Sunday 9th Nov. AFTER 11 o clock Mass to remember all those from North Kerry who died in WW1. A list of names will be read out. If you would like to check if your loved one’s name is on the register, then you can call in to Jim Halpin’s Museum in Church St..



<<<<<<




<<<<<<<



Tonight’s The Night




The very best of luck to all the brave participants. It promises to be a blast!

Halloween at Changes, Listowel Scouts in the 40’s and Protest March against Irish Water

Halloween at Changes

Danny and the gang in Changes at 97 Church St. Listowel love any opportunity to dress up and to decorate their lovely premises. Here is their Halloween look for 2014 from their Facebook page.

<<<<<<<<<

Rainbow over Ballybunion in November 2014

Another great photo from Ballybunion Angling and Coastal Views

<<<<<<<

Listowel scouts in the 1940s

 in Killarney

Listowel boys in the 1940s saw Ireland and Europe with the boy scouts. They were the first troupe to fly to a jamboree. They made friends all over the continent. Many of those friendships lasted a lifetime.

<<<<

An old one!



I don’t know when, where or how but it’s from a site called Historical Tralee and surrounding areas

<<<<<<

Listowel Protest March Against Uisce Eireann on  Nov. 1 2014




photo; Namir Karim



<<<<<<<


Another great North Kerry chef






(Photo and text from The Limerick Leader, Nov. 1 2014)

A County Limerick-based chef is in the last five of the prestigious Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year competition.

John Fitzmaurice who works as a sous-chef in the Mustard Seed restaurant in Ballingarry was selected from among hundreds of entrants for the final of the competition. At that event, he will have to cook for some of the leading chefs in Ireland, with the winning dish to be judged by renowned British chef Phil Howard of two-Michelin-starred The Square in London (and co-proprietor of the Ledbury and Kitchen W8).

“It is brilliant to be involved. You are actually learning during it as well, which is very important,” said John, a native of Moyvane and son of the poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice.

He has been working in the Ballingarry restaurant for three years.

Just to get to the final, John had to go through a number of stages. These included a social media element, for which John used his Twitter account, @mustardseedfood, to showcase some of the mouth-watering dishes he has prepared.

The second stage involved submitting a proposal for a dish which he would prepare for the competition. This was followed by an interview at which he outlined his experiences and his vision as a chef.

“There are 500 or 600 people who enter the competition every year so it is great to get into the final five,” John said.

“I am the only chef from the West coast in the final,” he added.

For the final stage of the competition, which takes place in four weeks, John will have to prepare his dish live in front of a panel of judges and serve it up to a group of culinary experts.

The judges will be looking for evidence of creativity, skill and superb cooking talent, with passion for Irish food and local and seasonal sourcing at its heart. This year’s theme is ‘No Chef is an Island’ with an emphasis on fun, interaction and sharing; shared food, shared experiences, shared ideas.

The winner of the competition will win an all-expenses paid stage at the Square in Spring 2015.

Christmas preparations and Craftshop na Méar and Tar Abhaile

Photos from Changes at Nine Seven , Christmas 2013

<<<<<<<<

Craftshop na Méar

Mairead Sharry is spinning by the range in Craftshop na Méar at No. 53 Church St. Listowel. Namir Karim of Scribes is opening a craft shop just in time for Christmas. Knitwits will be selling their wares there and spinning demonstrations, knitting classes etc are planned.

Our first job was to make a St. Bridget’s Cross to pray a blessing on the venture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tls8E00sYY0&feature=youtu.be

Kniwits joined in a good old sing song around the wheel and by the range;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpoH8Rail5o&feature=youtu.be

The shop will be officially opened on Dec. 10 2013.

<<<<<<

Do you liked the new sign?

Its not finished yet. I’ll bering you the fully finished sign soon.

<<<<<<<

It’s that time of year again.

<<<<<<<

These two are in rehearsals for this year’s panto. Alladin will go on stage in early January 2014.

<<<<<<<

Date in the diary yet?

Mary Cogan, Kay Caball and Evelyn O’Rourke

Sunday next Dec 1 Tg4 9.30 Tar Abhaile from North Kerry. People outside of Ireland can watch it in a live stream from TG4.

This is the press release from TG4:

“Don’t forget , TG4 , This Sunday Night 9.30 P.M. A night of Genealogy with North Kerry Reaching Out. This week’s programme of the “Tar Abhaile ” series comes from Listowel and other locations around North Kerry and West Limerick.

The first descendant who features this weekend is Julie Evans, a teacher from Sydney Australia who discovers the mystery behind how her grandmother’s grandmother ended up leaving Listowel Workhouse in 1849 and on a ship to Australia as a 16-year old girl as part of the Famine Orphan Girl Scheme. 

The second is Angie Mihalicz, a retired teacher from Beauval, Saskatchewan, Northern Canada who comes back to discover what she can about her grandfather’s father, Peter McGrath and his mother Ellen, who emigrated to Canada at the height of The Famine and after a long search finally gets to stand on the land of her ancestors.
Join us live on TG4 at 9.30 P.M Sunday , Listowel time
Monday 8.30 A.M. Sydney time
Sunday 3.30 P.M. Beauval Canada time.
Watch it live anywhere in the world athttp://www.tg4.ie/en/programmes/tar-abhaile.html or Just go to www.tg4.ieand click on the Tar Abhaile (Come Home) logo when it appears in the ‘Check it Out’ box and it will bring you directly onto the series link on the player.
It is available to view live and for a further 35 days after airing.”


<<<<<<<



Lovely photo from Friday night. Bernard Brogan and his parents watch the fireworks in The Square, Listowel.

( More beautiful shots from a better photographer than me to come in the next few days)

Shop Closures, April Horse fair and Danny Russell

All of these following are no longer trading:

A frightening sign of the times.

<<<<<<<<

More from Thursday’s horse fair

<<<<<<<

This is Danny Russell at work in his very popular hair salon, Changes in Upper Church St. Listowel.

Danny has shaved his head in order to raise money for Kerry Cancer Support Services whose bus service to Cork is under threat for lack of funding.

I asked the obvious question: Since Danny is an expert on wigs and other hair loss solutions, why is he not wearing a top -of -the -range hairpiece to cover his shorn head.

His answer highlighted Danny’s essential good nature. He felt that it would have detracted from his gesture to use the head shave to promote his business. Fair play to you, Danny.

Whose hair was Danny styling when I met him?

None other than Miriam Kiely, formerly of this parish who has met a whole new branch of her family since an initial request to Listowel connection for information about Listowel Kielys. I was delighted to hear it.

Some photos from Christmas 2012

 On Thursday Dec. 20th I met Noreen and Rosarie doing their Christmas shopping.

 Griffin’s door: perfect!

Listowel Arms’ welcoming fire

 Listowel Arms’ tree

I popped in to the Friday Market just in time to snap Anne Moloney being presented with her prize in the traders’ raffle. Presenting Anne with her hamper is Maurice Hannon. Also in the picture are Jimmy Moloney and Ella O’Sullivan.

While I was there I took a few more photos of the stalls.

 Mulled wine and reindeer food were on offer here.

This knitwear stall was being run by a camera-shy nun who told me that her (very pricey) knitwear was being sold for charity.

<<<<<<

Below is the cover of the December issue of Munster’s newest glossy magazine.

Listowel is well featured in this publication.

This article describes the work of the new Love Listowel organization set up to promote the town.

Aoife Hannon, our very own haute couture milliner is featured.

Danny Russell gives us an account of a typical day in his busy life. 

I spotted this rose blooming on a wall in a back lane on Dec. 21.

>>>>>>


Good news from Kerry Radio

Kerry Parents & Friends have
won the fight against Government plans to cut its funding by 5%.


The organisation joined forces
with the Federation of Voluntary Bodies in successfully campaigning for the
cutback to be reduced to point three percent (0.3%).
 According to the
association, which  works with people with an intellectual disability, and
supports their families, its funding has been cut by over €1m over the past
four years.


>>>>>>

The fireworks display is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKmtUr4iuGE

Page 2 of 3

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén