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: GAA Page 2 of 3

A Bronx Garden, Football Fans in 1963 and Deidre Lyons goes to Gleninchaquin

By

On August 10, 2017

In Uncategorized

Montbretia on the John B. Keane Rd. Listowel July 2017

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An Emigrant photographer


Robert O’Shea grew up in Charles Street, Listowel. He has lived in New York for 34 years but he still loves Listowel and gets back often. He enjoys keeping in touch with what’s happening at home through Listowel Connection. Recently, in response to my request to tell me more about his Listowel connection,  he wrote;

“I am not just a listowel man more importantly I’m a Boro man (Charles St ) where I grew up and started my first job after leaving school I worked for 3 years in Jerome  Murphy’ Bargain Store and 5 years in Jack Mackenna’s before coming to American. Growing up in Charles St the fire station was our soccer,football rugby pitch & handball ally as we got older it was replaced by the Astor cinema, St Patrick’s hall and the FCA hall and of course the Arms Hotel dance hall,we’ll I hope that gives you some insight sorry I don’t have any old pictures but I would love to know if anyone has any pictures of the FCA during the mid 1970 I do remember sitting for them. I will email you some pictures I took lately at the Bronx Botanical Garden it features works by the artist Daley Chihuly.”



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Kerry Football Fans in 1963

This photograph from This is Kerry shows passengers at Tralee Station waiting to board a train to Dublin for the Kerry Galway All Ireland Football Final. The year was 1963.

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Gleninchaquin by Deirdre Lyons



These stunning photos of a very beautiful corner of The Kingdom were taken by Deidre Lyons as she trekked with a group led by John Lenihan.

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Classical Musician with a Listowel Connection



Paul Carasco is making a name for himself as a classical pianist

Listen to him HERE

Who is Paul Carasco?

Vincent Carmody has the answer.

Paul Carasco,  from Sydney and is my first cousin, Roselyn Carmody’s son. 


Her father was my uncle Vincent, my dad’s brother. A good number of years ago, Peter was doing the Australian thing, seeing  the world.  He stayed with us for a weekend, during which he told me that his mother had warned him if he came to Listowel, I would have to take him back to see the Presentation Nuns as his grandfather had served as an altar boy back in the Convent as a schoolboy. 

So I took him back and, during his visit, hearing that he could tickle the ivories, the nuns invited him to play a tune or two, thinking, Danny Boy or the Rose of Tralee. Paul, unaware of the good nuns’ tastes  launched into, it was pointed out to me, a most serious piece by Rachmaninov, I would say, even any nun with hearing difficulties, that night must have thought that their hearing had been cured.


Vincent.

Lovely Listowel, Lawlers’ Cake Shop, and a letter to raise the spirits.

By

On October 21, 2016

In Uncategorized

Gurtinard October 2016

Autumn leaves on the path by the Pitch and Putt course

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Lawlers

I came to live in Listowel in 1975.  Lawlers cake shop in Church St. soon became my favourite shop. Gigs Sheehy could be seen there early in the morning delivering trays of fresh eggs. Buckets of fresh cream came from the creamery. Lawlers cream sponge was to die for. There is nothing in town nowadays to compare with the mouth wateringly good cream buns which were usually sold out by 4p.m.

Those were the days!

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“There is nothing short of dying half as lonesome as the sound

Of the sleeping city sidewalks Sunday morning coming down.”

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This Letter Restored my Faith in Humanity a little bit


As I’ve told you, I have been ill recently and I spent a tamall in hospital and a while in a convalescent home. Inevitably my consumption of electricity went down. Last week I received this letter from SSE Airtricity.

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A message and poem from Dick Carmody

On the occasion of Marc Ó Sé’s retirement from the Kerry football panel, I am attaching a few lines written the day after the 2009 All-Ireland win when all three brothers, Dara, Tomás and Marc typified the heart, spirit and backbone of Kerry football.

The Brothers Three

Where Three Sisters guard West
Kerry’s coast from the North Atlantic swell

Of the famous Gaeltacht brothers a
football story we will tell

In this year of celebrations in the
annals of our native games

The three O Se’s will feature high
among those Gaelic names

From a long and proud tradition in
our language and our sport

One family bequeathed Kerry with a
gift we must report

Three sons have worn the Green and
Gold with passion and with pride

The backbone of the Kingdom team,
the spirit of this side

From an early age, still in his teens,
Dara was to make his name

With skill and endless stamina he
adorned the midfield game

Majestic jump and fielding were
soon his defining mark

From club on to West Kerry and then
to famed Croke Park

From under age he soon progressed
through senior rank transition

To rightly claim the centre spot,
since his youth a long ambition

For sixteen years he has held sway
against numerous pretenders

And yet finds time to notch up
scores or fill in for defenders

Soon following in his footsteps,
Tomás his younger brother

A stout defender at half back, be
it centre or positions other

Relentless in defending back or in
his sorties up the field

His gift for taking points at speed
was soon to all revealed

Then youngest of the trio, Marc
joined the county team

Another class act from out west, he
is part of Kerry’s scheme

With lightning speed and dummy,
leaves opponents in his wake

Outfield he surges on a run and a
score he will surely take.

We celebrate our 36th this
year, again they have played their parts

They have given every ounce of
strength, every beat of bravest hearts

The crowd respond to their every
move in defence or in attack

As they repel the opposition and
send the onslaught back

So here’s to our Gaeltacht heroes,
to our shining knights in arms

Who keep us in their constant spell
of skill and football charms

May they long continue in the side
to further Kerry’s chances

And from other lesser mortals
receive only envious glances.

Dick Carmody   



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Brosnahans of Lacca, Kilmorna in 1988




I posted this photograph of Peter Brosnahan and his two sisters a while back. I can’t remember where I got the photo from. The image caught the eye of a certain lady in the U.S. Peter was her father’s first cousin. She believes that neither he nor his sisters married . She is anxious to make contact with this family or anyone who might know them or remember them. Please email me if you can help.

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Guímis Codladh Sámh i measc na Naomh is na nAingeal Dó


R.I.P. Anthony Foley


Anthony Foley & the Sleeping Giant in the distance – during Munster training camp in West Kerry (pic Mossy Donegal).

(Tweeted by Seán Mac an tShíthigh)


That Dublin Mayo Match, Hugh O’Flaherty Garden, The Ashes in 1960 and The Land War in Munster in 1886

By

On October 5, 2016

In Uncategorized

It’s Conker Season





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I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day

Fr. Vincent Sherlock, a Mayo priest, posted a great sermon on his website after his team’s heartbreaking defeat to Dublin last Saturday. I’m just reproducing a section of it here but you can read the full post at the link below;

Balls.ie


The photos shows Andy Moran lying on the grass of Croke Park and his daughter sits on one of his outstretched legs.There’s something healing in that photo – something that says the Metal of Sam Maguire may be sought after but it’s cold comfort when compared with the flesh and blood you shaped, nurtured and nourish. The little girl sits with one who is not judged on which side he was on at the sounding of the final whistle but on one who is her “father”, provider and one who loves her unconditionally. The love is likewise returned. She is undoubtedly more crucial and cherished than a cup to be passed from hand to hand, team to team, year to year. In this child, in this picture, is life and all that is meaningful therein.




The second photo is of Bernard Brogan of Dublin reaching out to place his open hand on the top of the little girl’s head. Andy is now standing, smiling as he watches this gesture. To me, the Dublin man is saying “be proud, very proud of your father. I’ve given everything I have over the last seventy and more minutes to hold him back, to beat his team but you have a father to be proud of there.” I’d like to think that somewhere deep within, he might even feel a tinge of regret for Andy and his teammates but more than that, it’s a gesture that says when the game is over, life goes on and must be cherished. It’s moment that speaks of a respect between players, even when on opposite teams, maybe especially when on opposite teams.

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Hugh Flaherty Memorial Garden, Tralee

This is a lovely memorial to the great man, Hugh O’Flaherty. It is situated at a very busy corner in Tralee. It is beside what I have heard described as a Kerry roundabout, you know the ones that everyone drives over rather than around. This roundabout is on the way to the Bon Secours hospital or the turn off for West Kerry.

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Down Memory Lane with The Advertiser

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 Stories in the Papers of The Land League in Munster   in 1886


Sydney Morning Herald 17 Feb 1886

IRELAND. 

The Dublin correspondent of the Times writes :
A gentleman who has been obliged to employ emergency men sent 23 or 24 cattle
into the  fair near Tralee a few days ago. They were of good quality, and
were sold without difficulty to a stranger. A local butcher, however, who saw
the  sale, got up on a bale, and, addressing the people, said the cattle
were  boycotted. The bargain was immediately broken off. The same butcher
lately took a farm on the seashore where the people  had been in the habit
of drawing seaweed, and his consistent patriotism has been shown in his refusal
to allow them to take any more  weed. 

Examples of this kind might be
multiplied by the score in every part of the  country where the League is
dominant. Its power is not exercised against landlords alone. It is now dictating
terms to the banks, and threatening to boycott them if they do not obey its
orders. 

It was recently attempted in Listowel, in Kerry, in which a farmer who

borrowed from the  bank was pressed for
payment. He  complained to the local league that the bank demanded to be paid
in full, and it appears, from a report in the Kerry Sentinel of a
meeting,  which Mr. Sheehan, M.P., and Mr. Stack, M.P., were present, that
a deputation, to be headed by ‘Father Pat,’ was appointed to wait on the
manager and offer him one-half  his  debt. The result of this view is not yet known, but the  bank must borrow. 

No man can deal with his
workmen, his caretaker, or his servant as he  thinks fit. If they are
members of the League they can defy him. If he displeases the  League his
servants will be ordered to leave his employment, and he must submit or take  the consequences. There is nothing to mitigate or counteract the
tyrannical and treasonable influence of the League.

An extraordinary incident occurred in
connection with the meet of the County Limerick hounds at Rockhill, near
Bruree. There was a large meeting of horsemen, but before the hunt commenced
the Rev. Mr. Sheehy, of Bruree, who was arrested during the land agitation,
attended, accompanied by a large  gathering of the country people. The  Rev. gentleman went to Mr. John Gubbins, the master of the hunt, and
asked if he was prepared to settle with his tenants. Mr. Gubbins replied that
he had offered his tenants a reduction of 25 per cent. The Rev. Mr. Sheehy
re-joined that what was required was a permanent settlement. As a result of the
interview, Mr. Gubbins refused to be dictated to, and said he was not prepared
to refer the dispute to arbitration. The Rev. Mr. Sheehy threatened that until
Mr. Gubbins settled with his tenants  hunting would not be
permitted.  The crowd who backed up Father Sheehy cheered him
enthusiastically and  made  it was evident from their aggressive demeanour
that they would have offered violence if Mr. Gubbins had persevered’ in the
hunt. Some of the dogs were beaten off, and Mr. Gubbins, seeing the state of
feeling shown, wisely decided to return home.

 A man named Ryan, who had bought turf
from a boycotted farmer, was pursued into the chapel where he went to attend
Mass by an excited crowd, and had to seek the protection of the parish priest
from the violence of the  people. Before  leaving, the man promised
to return the turf on the following day to the obnoxious farmer, and the
neighbours accordingly attended for the purpose at the man’s residence to see
him carry out his promise. The turf was then stacked in a wagon, and  led
the horse in the direction of Mr. Griffin’s, the boycotted farmer’s house,
about a mile distant. The crowd, which numbered several  hundred, followed
the wagon. In passing through the  village of New Pallas, the procession
was further swelled by the  villagers and constabulary———–. On the
procession reaching Mr. Griffin’s  house, they found himself and his three
sons armed with guns and prepared to resist the return of the turf; but on the
police interfering with regard to the threatened use of the firearms, the
 Messrs. Griffin quickly allowed the turf to be placed in the yard,  amid
cheers from the throng.

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Listowel Ladies RFC


(Photo; Listowel RFC on Facebook)

These ladies, members of Listowel Rugby Club, played on the Munster team who lost to Ulster on Saturday last Oct. 1 2016

Rural Ireland, the good and the bad and a story of Danny Kelliher.

By

On November 17, 2015

In Uncategorized

Listowel Town Park, November 2015





“Poems are made by fools like me

But only God can make a tree.”

(Joyce Kilmer)

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Ireland’s Rural Communities do Funerals Well

Last week I went back to the
land of my forefathers. I went back to my roots, to my father’s parish of
Kilbrin in North Cork. I was there to attend the funeral of a local legend, Dan
Breen.

Dan was a lifetime vice president
of  Kilbrin GAA and, boy, did they see him out in style.

 The flags flew at half
mast and most of the club players and officials lined out on both days to
provide an impressive guard of honour. A lone piper piped his funeral cortege
from the church to the playing field where he attended so many matches, then on
past “The Club” i.e. the local community
centre which was a second home to him. There he loved to play cards and chat over a pint with friends young and old. Dan was one of “the old stock” and Kilbrin respects its elders.

Dan’s funeral involved 3
North Cork villages and he would be proud that he brought all three to a halt at various times over the three days. His
wake in Kanturk and his funeral mass in Kilbrin were the biggest seen in the
area for quite some time. His burial in Kiskeam in the lovely hillside
graveyard there was a fitting end to a long and productive life.

My photo shows the hearse bringing Dan home to his beloved Kiskeam for the last time.

Those who were there will
never forget the plaintive playing of Danny Boy by a family friend from Miltown Malbay as Dan was laid to rest in his
native soil beside his beloved wife, Beatrice.

It was a great funeral with a
huge party afterwards in the community centre in Kiskeam with sandwiches and
confectionary to feed the whole parish. The party continued afterwards in The Club in Kilbrin, finishing on November 8 which would have been Dan’s 88th birthday.

The communities of the two
places Dan Breen loved best, Kilbrin and Kiskeam, did him proud. They saw one of
their favourite and most loyal citizens out in style.

Guímis leaba i measc na naomh is na naingeal i gcomhluadar a chairde dá anam uasal dílis.

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Kilbrin Revisited… A Sad Journey down Memory Lane



Church of St. John the Baptist, Kilbrin, Co Cork November 7 2015

My father died when I was
seven. As a child I visited Kilbrin often to tend his grave. I have not been
back now for a few years.

 The churchyard where my paternal ancestors, my mother and my sister are buried.

The Ahern family graves

I called  to the graveyard to say a prayer for my parents, grandparents, my sister and all of my kinsfolk and neighbours who are buried there. The graveyard is beautifully kept by a local committee who have done tojan work in cleaning up the whole burial ground and putting a  plan of the churchyard and the names of all who are buried there online; Kilbrin Graveyard Inscriptions

The church too is lovely. It is very small with 3 small aisles. It was built in the 1830s by Fr. Con Scully. I do intend returning to look at the place again….a trip down memory lane.

I saw huge changes in the village of Kilbrin. It now has no shop and no pub. It does have a licensed premises, the
community centre, but when that is closed you can’t buy a newspaper, a bottle of
water or a pint of milk anywhere in the village. It still has a school, a
church and a thriving G.A.A. club but the village without any retail business
is a sad sight.

Read all about Kilbrin in their website here;   Kilbrin

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Local Men Fondly Remembered




Last week I published these photos of a group of local friends who are all still remembered with great affection.



Owen MacMahon told me about Danny Kelliher (on the right in the first photo). On the left of the photo is Tommy Murphy of Murphy’s Butchers’ in William St.  Murphy’s Butchers’ employed Danny to deliver the meat around town. 

After he finished at Murphy’s Danny got a job as a window cleaner. 

One day Bryan MacMahon was walking in The Square when he met Danny. The Master stopped to enquire how Danny was getting on with his new job. Danny told him that he was always being asked by tourists alighting from buses in The Square if he knew anything about the history of the castle . He was always disappointed to have to tell them that he didn’t. Bryan offered to write out a short history of the castle for him to learn off so that he could answer the tourists’ questions. This he did.



Some time later Bryan MacMahon was again perambulating in The Square when he met Danny again as he was cleaning a window. He asked Danny if he had had any opportunity to use his new found knowledge of Listowel Castle.



Danny told him that an American tourist had indeed come up to him and asked about the castle. He gave him the full history as learned from The Master’s account. the American man was astounded and he remarked that Danny had a great knowledge of history for a humble window cleaner.



Danny’s reply, “You can’t beat a well educated proletariat.”



The Yank asked no more, only gathered himself back to his bus.



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Listowel 10K: a Great Success




Vincent Carmody presented his medal to his grandson, Jack, at end of Kerry Crusaders 10K on Saturday November 14 2015.




Listowel Town Square, Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann and an up and coming hairdresser,

By

On August 13, 2015

In Uncategorized

Lovely Listowel in Summer 2015

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Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Listowel


At its height, the fleadhin Listowel was organized by a local committee of fifty people. Here is another of Betty Stack’s press photos from that time. I photographed the cutting in two halves. When she has a chance Betty can probably name them all for us.

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RSVP Magazine’s One to Watch




Below is the first paragraph of an article in this weeks RSVP magazine about listowel’s Tracey Grimes. You can read the full article  HERE

My Name is Tracey Grimes, I’m 24 and I’m from and Listowel, Co Kerry.  I began learning my trade working part time in a local salon at 14, where I spent 4 years prior to enrolling in FAS Hair Dressing Course in Limerick.  From there I continued to work in the salon for 2 more years where I continued to educate and upskill in other training.  At this stage of my career I wanted to challenge myself and i made the decision do the Great Lengths Hair Extensions Course. I left the salon and began working freelance and I was pleasantly surprised by the interest in hair extension in Kerry and my client list soon began to rapidly grow and span counties throughout country. After a little over a year as a Great Lengths Stylist i was given the opportunity to become an Educator for Great Lengths which involved me training staff from salons all over the country.  In 2014 I was given the opportunity to work with another brand of hair extensions Gold Fever which i am now a Global Educator for the brand. This involves training salons in Dublin and all over the world. During the years being educator for Great Lengths and Gold Fever  I continued to grow my business in all aspects of hairdressing and I currently employ a stylist on a part time basis. 


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More Titivating going on in St. Mary’s




Cleaning, I think.

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Only in Ireland….






This photo from Pundit Arena GAA. was posted with this caption

 “The only house in Balla, Co.Mayo with Sky Sports last Saturday… Brilliant! “



The arguments in favour of selling the broadcast rights to SKY are that this way the diaspora can see the games and the GAA has to get its funds from somewhere. But this is the reality at home. The GAA is turning away from having alcohol vending companies sponsoring teams and on the other hand it is driving people into pubs to watch the games.



I bet these people in Mayo had a great time anyway. Thank God the day was fine!

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