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: Famine Page 1 of 2

A Horsefair, A Postbox and Famine Sculptures

First Horsefair of the Year; January 2025

A Post Box Story

I found this story in a Facebook Group dedicated to old wrought iron gates. It was contributed by Michael Dempsey

Post box at Jamestown Cross Laois. When the key was lost the door was broken open in several pieces. While I was thatching the Cottage beside the box 2003, Ned Boland from the Pub across the road asked me if I could do anything with the box as it looked unsightly. We found 6 or 7 pieces of the cast iron which I brought home and welded. There was no key so I dismantled the lock and made a key. There was layers of red and green paint going back to V R which I stripped and repainted, it  will need another coat shortly.

A Poignant Tribute To people who Keep on Keeping On

New Kid on the Block

Tattoo Shop in Galvins of William Street

Native Americans and Us

In 1847 the Choctaw people sent money to Ireland when they learned that Irish people were starving due to the famine. The Choctaw themselves were living in hardship and poverty, having recently endured the Trail of Tears.

Kindred Spirits is a large stainless steel outdoor sculpture in Bailick Park in Midleton, County Cork. The shape of the feathers is intended to represent a bowl of food.

from Brendan ONeill  August 2024

A life-size bronze sculpture entitled ‘The Gift’ has been unveiled outside the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park. It commemorates the generous aid provided by the Choctaw Nation to Ireland during the height of the Great Irish Famine.

“Esteemed American sculptor Brendan O’Neill, based in Maryland in the USA, sculpted and donated ‘The Gift’ to the museum. It is a replica of his original piece displayed at the Choctaw Cultural Centre in Oklahoma and is now permanently installed in the courtyard adjacent to the National Famine Museum.

Measuring 29 inches tall and 41 inches wide, this poignant artwork depicts an elderly Choctaw woman and a younger Choctaw man embracing in a gesture of support and protection. They extend a hand of friendship to the Irish people as the woman holds an “ampo,” or eating bowl, symbolising sustenance and nourishment.”

Irish Heritage Trust

A Fact

The number of days of racing at Listowel Harvest Festival of Racing has increased from 2 in 1858 to 7 in recent years.

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Kerryman 1994, Christmas candles, a Christmas poem and a Generous Mill owner in Famine time Listowel

Canon’s Height

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Kerryman  Christmas 1994

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Christmas candles


From Patrick O’Sullivan’s A Year in Kerry

In olden days the Christmas candle was the big white one pounder. Anything smaller was regarded with something bordering on contempt., unworthy of the title “Christmas” candle. They were unfavourably described as “little traithníns of things”. Tháithnín being the Irish for a wisp of straw or a blade of grass. When the electric candle arrived in the mid sixties the newcomer was dismissed as being nothing like a rale candle at all.” I vividly remember all those “rale candles” shining in the windows of the farmhouses as we made our way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, the nip of frost in the air and the sky “alive with stars.”

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A Christmastime Thought


Maura Brennan Esmonde is one of the faithful blog followers we lost during 2018. Maura was always one to send a joke or a quote or an uplifting or thoughtful poem.

Here is the first poem she sent me for Christmas 2013. In her memory I’m posting it today

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A CANADIAN or U S SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN’T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
“SANTA DON’T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.”

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.

I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, “CARRY ON SANTA,
IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.”

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.”

The poem was written by a marine

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Folklore and Truth



Every so soften I include in a blog post an item from the Dúchas collection of folklore. This lore was collected by school children from their elders. Much of it is old wives tales, superstitions and gossip and really needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

I posted this item last week;

This account of the Famine in Listowel was contributed by a W. Keane to the schools’ Folklore collection and is now in the Dúchas collection.

 The old mill by the river in Listowel (once N.K.M. factory) was built out of the stones of the part of Listowel knocked by Sir Charles [?] in 1600. The time of the famine the mill was full of corn and soldiers were placed on guard to mind it. Leonard was the man in charge of the mill. They used the bags of wheat inside and there were soldiers outside the door and the people used to go down to get the wheat and they used be fighting the soldiers. Finally the wheat went bad and had to be thrown out in the River Feale. 
Cars used go out every day from the workhouse in Listowel to collect dead bodies & they used be carried to Gale Churchyard. But as Gale church was too far from Listowel they got a field near the town on the road to Ballybunion now known as Teampulleenbawn where they buried the bodies in pits or else with coffins with sliding bottoms, & used the coffins all over again. There were auxiliary workhouses: St.Michael’s College, Listowel, was an hospital; Stalls in Clieveragh known now as “The Barn” was a workhouse & “The Model Farm” on the Ballybunion Rd. “The Model Farm” is so green amid a stretch of poor land. The people say that it was the sweat of the paupers carrying manure on their backs that made it green. You’d get £33 for a pig.


And then I got this via email.

With regard to the Leonard man at Listowel mentioned above  (Maurice Leonard was the mill-owner) and the wheat denied to the starving people in Famine times, TF Culhane wrote on Page 111 of his book, ‘Home Thoughts from Abroad,’ that the Listowel mill-owner, Maurice Leonard, was remembered as having given ‘six thousand barrels of flour’ to the starving during the Famine years.

I’m happy to put the record straight.

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Thoughts



My most recent week of thoughts for the day is at the link below

Just a Thought; Radio Kerry

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Book launch



On Sunday Dec. 9 2018 at 7.00p.m. in The Listowel Arms, Vincent Carmody will launch another title to add to Listowel’s canon.

Listowel , a Printer’s Legacy is the story of printing in North Kerry from 1870 to 1970

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries printed posters and pamphlets brought us news of auctions, plays and other entertainments, upcoming fairs and markets and a host of other information.

This book is an important part of our social history. Sunday evening promises to be a great evening with Billy Keane as MC and Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Seán Kelly, Bryan MacMahon and Kay Caball speaking.

I photographed Vincent at his door on Thursday December 6 2018, chatting to a fellow local chronicler, Michael Guerin.


Jumpers, McKenna’s, Listowel History Festival and Vincent Carmody’s Race Week in the 1950s

Photo: Chris Grayson

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Painting Job well done




McKenna’s is looking splendid in its new coat.

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Jumpers and By Herkins

Recently I included the below snippet in a blog post

Brosna Jumpers

(from The Freeman’s Journal New South
Wales, Australia)

Passing to the diocese of Kerry, I observe
that at a mission by the Franciscans, in the parish of Brosna, 5,000 persons
communicated, 2,000 were invested with the scapular of the Blessed Virgin, and
1,200 were enrolled in the Confraternity of the Holy Family. Moreover, six
unfortunate persons who had become ‘Jumpers’ made, with their families, a
solemn public recantation. I may mention that this place was once the centre of
a Protestant proselytising traffic, I doubt if there is any single Protestant
there now.

Has anyone any idea what Jumpers were?

Joe Harrington answered my call. Here is the explanation from the Clifden heritage organisation:

The Famine
years were particularly harsh all over the west of Ireland, and especially in
the Connemara region whose population of tenant farmers and labourers depended
almost entirely on the lumper potato. Thousands died when the potato crop
failed in the summer of 1845 and failed again over the following three years.
Those who managed to survive were weakened by years of hunger and disease and found
it difficult to restart their lives as their work tools, farm implements and
furniture had been sold to raise money for food. This was the environment into
which the Irish Church Missions stepped when it began its proselytising work in
Clifden in early 1848. Its arrival, with plentiful supplies of food and
clothes, must have seemed like a godsend to the starving poor of Connemara.

The Irish
Church Missions was established by Revd Alexander Dallas, the Church of England
rector of Wonston in Hampshire and had been active at Castlekerke, near
Oughterard since 1846. Its ambition was to convert the Roman Catholic
population of Ireland to scriptural Protestantism and it was handsomely funded
by the Protestant population of Great Britain. The Irish poor who attended the
Irish Church Missions schools and churches of received clothes and food in
addition to educational and religious services and, with the west of Ireland in
the midst of a dreadful famine, it is unsurprising that the poor of Connemara
eagerly flocked to the Protestant Irish Church Missions.
Within a short time the mission could correct
claim a very large number of converts or ‘jumpers’ as they were known. [It is
thought that the term Jumpers comes from the Irish expression d’iompaigh siad –
they turned.]


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I also got this interesting snippet about the etymology of the exclamation “By Herkins”

It is a strange saying. I thought it was probably an incorrect rendition of some similar sounding-word, maybe ‘Hearken.’ This was much used in biblical connotations- 

​’​

Hearkenbrothers, give ear unto my words

​…’​

However, I believe that is not the case.

I was later informed that ‘By Herkins’ is, in fact correct, and this is validated in the story, “The Lady of Gallerus” by T. Crofton Croker 1798-1854. 

It echoes of wonderment:  “By Herkins, I nothing but a made man with you, and you with a King for your father.”

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Finally, a ‘Jumper’ is someone who changed from R.C. to Protestant- usually as a result of hunger and proselytising. He or she ‘jumped ship!’ Or took the soup and became known as a ‘Souper.’

Dingle was noted as a Colony of Soupers/Jumpers.

Brosna also had a colony (though some were ‘economically’ inspired and did it for gain. Others did it to stay alive, which was o.k. in 1847 or thereabouts. Many we

nt back to their old faith when their bellies were full again!

Fealebridge on the Kerry-Limerick border (near the creamery on the old main road) had its small colony. There was a proselytising Minister, the Revd. ‘Ned’ Norman there, and he had a church in the middle of no-where. (It is reduced to rubble now- with some fine cut limestone).

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Going to the Creamery


This lovely old postcard was shared recently byListowel History Festival. The History Festival is a new venture from the people behind the military festival. The time had come to move on from the military emphasis.  In future this festival will look at all aspects of history. If you have any ideas of how this new history weekend could be enhanced get in touch with them through their page. They are very anxious to get as many diverse aspects of history covered in the weekend.

Back to the postcard. Doesn’t it take you back?  The donkey looks young and sprightly to me and his cart is either new or newly painted.  The saved hay in the background says that it is summer. I wonder could the history festival find a donkey and bring him into the town and tackle him to a flat cart. How many people nowadays could name the various items of donkey’s tackling? Would’ nt it be a education for youngsters and a trip back in time for us all to see the donkey dressed for a trip to town.

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It’s Race Week



This window display in Lawlers of Church St. is getting us all in the spirit.

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Reminiscing at the beginning of another Race Week

Photos and text by  Vincent Carmody,       Sept. 
 2017

 The pristine straight, without a hoof mark… within a
few hours the horses will come thundering up the hill, some gallant winners and
many more gallant losers. The Listowel Arms and twin church spires are in the distance.

 The three stands are ready and waiting to host the
thousands who will flock to the Island for the seven days.

One of the many Tote facilities, this one built into
the new building which was opened last year, it also includes a large bar and
“The Old Weir” foodhall.


Some Listowel Races memories.

I went for a walk this Sunday morning, 10th
September, back to our Island Racecourse, to see the course in its state of readiness
for the first day of our seven day feast of racing. The memories came flooding
back.

In the days of the 1950s when myself and my contemporaries
were growing up, racing days consisted of three days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
We would have school on the Monday, and I remember one of the compositions
always rostered for homework was one, either through Irish or English, with  a ‘ week of race-week theme ‘.

For us townies, the sense of anticipation, would have
began during the previous week when a gentleman called Paul Kennelly from
Woodford would move around the streets with a hay cart which contained
specially large made concrete bases with a hole in the middle.  These had metal handles for lifting. 
The bases were left on the edges of the various footpaths at either side of the
road, at distances of about 30 yards. Alongside these were left tall poles,
some painted black and white, more multicoloured, similar to the wooden poles
one will see on showjumping fences. Mr Kennelly’s next job was done with the help
of some of his sons. They stood the poles into the concrete bases. This done,
they strung coloured buntings from the top of each pole to its opposite across
the street, until the streets were ablaze with the fluttering decorations.  Later when trucks were getting higher, a
metal pole was attached to the tops of the poles. It was also customary at one
stage to tie bunches of ivy on to the poles. 
This was discontinued when somebody’s emancipated donkey, which had been
tied on to one of the poles, decided to feast on the ivy. The stricken ass had
to receive veterinary assistance and when possible litigation loomed  a
stop was put to this form of decoration.

Strings of electric light bulbs would, I remember,
have been first erected by Gene Moriarty. His family still keep up the practice
to this day.

The market amusements were also a major part of the
week, The Bird family operated the most popular of these, and were located in
the back market, which was, in our time, until the building of the Mart, separated
from the front market by a long shed which ran from the market wall down
towards the river. The top end of the front market, inside both gates would
have contained lines of travellers green coloured canvas topped caravans. This
is why it  was known as the Tinkers Market.
The lower part hosted small-time amusement operators, mostly with swinging
boats and hustlers selling everything and anything. An abiding memory that still
abides is the smell that emanated from the wood-fueled open fires which
would be lit outside the caravans at dusk.

Also in Market Street, McKennas used have installed a
small screen which fitted into the fanlight of one of their small doors. On
this screen throughout the week they would play repeats of that year’s Grand National
and other sporting events, more than likely, similar to Movietone News. I
remember one of these was a match which featured Stanley Mathews. 

For those of us living near the railway station, Monday evening
had its own attraction; the arrival of the special train coming from the
Curragh. This would be full of racehorses, scheduled to run in the various
races during the week. The Race Company had a stable yard with around 50
stables at the back of William Street where most of the horses would be housed
and the overflow would go to various houses who had private stables in their
backyards. The various trainers and stable boys would always require assistance
in bringing their luggage and equine requirements to the stables, so we would
become hastily employed and willing stablehands for the evening. The monies
received would happily subsidise race-week pocket money which one would never
have enough of.              

    

Fungi, Mulvihills and Famine in North Kerry

Third Class 1997/98

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Last week Fungi joined that exclusive club of people whose deaths had been reported prematurely. Great to see that he is alive and well and frolicking as usual with his friend Rudi.

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Jer found these photos on a  Mulvihill family website. All the photos have a Listowel connection but I don’t know what.

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Famine times in North Kerry

Extracts from State Papers during the  famine years.


Listowel Union reported in 1847 that these were works selected to be done by Paupers. 

Breaking stones on the public
road. 

Fencing and renewing fencing on new roads. 

Scraping and cleaning the
streets of Listowel. 

Collecting and breaking stones. 

Stewards were Michael Maher,
Dillane and Pat Carroll

Stewards wages were1s-6d per day .

Paupers will be given food before calling on them to work .

If they refuse to work they shall be struck off the relief lists. 

Hammers will be
provided by the Board for breaking stones, Stewards will be responsible if any of them
are lost. Spades and shovels to be provided by the paupers themselves. 

Edward
Ware of Ballylongford sent a letter to the Lord Lieutenant asking for Relief for
the Destitute Poor and indigent people of Ballylongord.

They needed some relief
and assistance to keep them alive as coffins cannot be purchased for the numbers
dropping from famine and distress.

 Captain Spark visited Ballylongford in Feb
1848 to make inquiries about the condition of the people following the letter
from Ware. He went to the Parish Priest Rev D Mc Carthy, his curate Rev Mahony
and the local dispensary doctor. They told Capt. Spark that the statement of Mr
Ware was false. 3 or 4 had died in Ballylongford town since Christmas. 2 were
poor and aged and were receiving relief.

 It was noted that Mr Edward Ware was taken
off the relief list because he refused to work. He is now employed By Mr Blacker, the landlord. Mr John Blacker is employing the poor on his estate doing work of improvement at this time.

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KnitWits, St Michael’s staff and Famine donors

This is the KnitWits crew in Scribes on Saturday last. We knit there every Saturday from 11.00 to 1.00 and we welcome new members. Call in for a chat or just to see what we are at.

This is our newest doll model showing off one of the dresses that will be for sale in aid of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at the craft fair on November 4.

Quinny modelling  a smart pink coat.

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The quality of these pictures is really poor but I thought some people might like to see them anyway. The staff of St. Michael’s College in the 1990’s.

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Famine Donors

A little known fact is that many people worldwide came to the aid of Ireland during The Great Hunger. A new book sheds some light on just who reached out the hand of friendship to us in our darkest hour.

Former US President Abraham Lincoln, a tribe of
Choctaw Indians and a Turkish Sultan were among a group of 15,000 people
worldwide to donate money to Ireland during the Great Famine.

That’s according to a new book by the historian and
lecturer Christine Kinealy, who is one of the world’s most respected
authorities on the Great Hunger, having studied it for over 20 years.

The Drew University Professor says Abraham
Lincoln’s donation, made when he was a newly-elected senator, came as part of a
wider effort organised by the then-vice president George M Dallas.

In 1847, the vice president of the United States
convened a massive meeting in Washington and he called on all senators and
congressmen to go back to their states and do something for the Irish
poor. 

At that stage Abraham Lincoln, who was
newly-elected, really wasn’t very well known except for maybe in his
home state. But he sent about ten dollars, about five pounds.

The president of the US sent a donation which was
50 dollars.

Christine says that that mass donation didn’t pass
without incident, however:

There was a whole controversy about the vice
president Dallas, who was a slave owner. 

So people in Ireland – most of whom were opposed
the slavery – had a dilemma: should we take money from people who owned
slaves? 

In the end they decided that they would and he was
happy with their decision.

She says one of the great myths of the Famine
surrounds Queen Victoria’s donation. It is widely believed that the British
monarch only sent five pounds to help with the famine relief. 

In reality, she sent much more than that:

People say that ‘Queen Victoria gave five pounds,
she gave a far higher amount to a local dogs’ home’. In fact, this is is a
myth. 

Queen Victoria was the largest individual donor to
famine relief – she gave two thousand pounds and she became involved in some
other ways. 

But I think people prefer to hold on to the fabled
fiver myth. That fits into their image of [her].

Help came from further east too. A Turkish Sultan,
who was the head of the Ottoman Empire and had an Irish doctor, offered to give
ten thousand pounds to Ireland. 

However, in the end gave a thousand
pounds. It’s believed that he tried to help out in other ways  – the
subject of which may be made into a movie – but Christine says that the story is
difficult to verify:

One of the myths, it
just hasn’t been substantiated so maybe its just a myth
waiting to become a fact,  [is] that he sent three ships that
the British government said couldn’t land in Dublin so they
made their way to Drogheda. 

So there are all these debates about whether the
Sultan of Turkey’s ships came to Drogheda. It’s a myth that people like to think was true because it’s a
heartwarming story.

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A shocking picture from Life magazine of London during the blitz

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Picture from The Farmers’ Journal of the scene outside Dáil Eireann yesterday. The picture below is from the Irish Times.

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Great news: Kerry Group announced 800 new jobs to  be created in a new R&D plant in Naas.

Published on Tuesday 9 October 2012 16:12

Having started out as a local dairy co-operative, Kerry Group is now a world leader in food ingredients and flavours.

The group’s origins date back to 1972 when they opened a dairy processing facility in Listowel, Co Kerry.

The company started out with a workforce of about 40 people and reported profits of €127,000 on a turnover of €1.3 million in it’s first year.

Today, Kerry Group employs more than 24,000 people around the world and generated revenue of €5.3 billion in 2011. They supply over 15,000 food, food ingredients and flavour products to customers in more than 140 countries.

This is made possible by Kerry’s manufacturing facilities in 25 countries and international sales offices in 20 other countries.

Headquartered in Tralee, Kerry Group is listed on the Dublin and London stock markets, having launched as a public company in 1986.

The group makes several well-known household brands, including Denny, Galtee, Shaws, Cheestrings, Charleville, Mitchelstown, LowLow and Dairygold.

– Liam Godinho

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