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: George Best

Ballybunion after the storms and George Best in Cork, 1975

Ballybunion in February 2014

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I’m going to repost a popular piece from a while back:

 I am going to share with you a piece by my favorite sports writer, Con Houlihan. He is writing about someone who had as much natural talent as any footballer ever, but, unfortunately, mishandled his talents and became more famous for his antics off the pitch than on it. I speak of course of George Best.



Folk memory has forgotten that, towards the end of his career, George had a brief unhappy sojourn on “the banks of my own lovely Lee”.

“George Best, like Brendan Behan, came from a family whose closeness made the arrows of exile all the sharper.

Brendan Behan was the kind of child on whom grannies and aunts and assorted auld wans dote – so  seemingly was George Best.

Such indulgence makes for a pleasant childhood — but when eventually you sail out into the open sea, you may find the going a bit rough.

 ….

I have a particular little cause for being ill disposed towards George Best.

It concerns a Christmas week some years ago when I was spending a well earned holiday in the bosom of my family.  (The well earned etc part  is what low-grade correspondents in the Kerryman say about some dosser home for a few weeks from England.  ) 

There I was on Saturday night, 28 December 1975, eating a little piece of Christmas pie and drinking a mug of lemonade, when word arrived over  the electronic wire ordering me to be in Cork on the morrow.

The reason for this dramatic message was the rumoured appearance of wee Georgie in the colours of Cork Celtic in a League of Ireland game.

At that stage of wee Georgie’s career everything was rumour.  But I  turned up — so rather amazingly did he.

And so did the greatest gaggle of small  boys and indeed small girls seen at large since the Pied  Piper of Hamlin turned debt collector.  The winding little lane that leads down from the city to Flower Lodge was almost bursting its banks..

 I find it hard to forgive George Best for his display that day.

Lo and behold — George was back for the next match (against Shelbourne at Harold’s Cross).  A big crowd came to that game too — and went away less than gruntled.

George appeared one more time for Celtic — and people stayed away just because his name was on the team sheet.

An old truth had been illustrated — you don’t pay twice to see the same fat man in the circus sideshow.


The reason I am revisiting George is because I came across a photo from that occasion posted on a website dedicated to old Cork photos. The photo was submitted by Paul Campbell.

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I found this photo on the same website. It was posted by Mags O’Sullivan and it shows floods in Patrick Street, Cork in 1961.

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Jewels for Cures

The Brian Boru Millennium Crown is being created in commemoration of The High King of Ireland victor of The Battle of Clontarf which occurred on Good Friday 1014.

We are asking the fellow dynasties of Europe and others of European noble stock to contribute a small piece of personal gold jewellery which will be cast into the crown to link their families with our ancient High King.

The Irish people and the Diaspora are being asked to donate items of gold, platinum precious jewels and broken gold jewellery.  For example: a single gold cufflink that has lost its mate, a broken gold ring or chain.

A particle of each person’s gold will be cast into the crown.The names of each contributor will be put on The Crown Brian Boru Heritage Scroll, leaving a legacy for your descendants.

You can follow the progress of this great fundraising venture here;

https://www.facebook.com/JewelsForCures?fref=ts

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A WW1 Trench

Week of Welcomes 2013

 N.B.  August 2 2013

If you are planning on coming to Listowel or indeed to anywhere in North Kerry in 2013, August 2 is the time to start your holiday. 

If you are interested in looking up your Irish ancestors, NKRO’s Ger Greaney and his team will help you trace your Irish roots.

If you just want to see how your ancestors lived, the games they played, the music they listened to then next year’s Week of Welcomes will give you a taste of all that.

Names in the Kennedy family tree include Fitzgerald,
Hannon, Hassett, Hickey, Kennedy, Linnehan, Cox, Field, Murphy, Noonan, Sheehy,
Wilmouth.

……..

And did you know that this man had Irish connections?

CHE
Guevara’s daughter recently made a week-long trip to Ireland.

The
Argentinian born Cuban revolutionary icon, also known as Ernesto Guevara Lynch,
was killed leading a guerilla campaign in Bolivia in 1965.

His
daughter, Dr Aleida Guevara March, 
visited Ireland with Che’s wife, Aleida March. Dr Guevara is a
pediatrician who works at the William Solder Paediatric Hospital in Havana.

During
her visit, she was promoting the English version of a new book, Remembering
Che: My Life With Che Guevara, written by her mother.

Dr
Guevara attended the All Ireland Senior Hurling Final in Croke Park on Sunday
— her Lynch family background is rooted in Galway so will have been
disappointed with the result. She was the guest of Dr David Hickey on a visit
to Beaumont Hospital.

Come and join us in August 2013. You’d never know who we might discover among the branches of your tree.

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No, we can’t trace either of these two legends back to North Kerry. But we are working on someone equally famous. Watch this space.

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Football crazy

Euros 2012 fever is beginning to abate and those of us with only a glancing interest in soccer can reclaim the telly.

I thought that it would be timely to put up a little post about soccer.

Firstly I am going to share with you a piece by my favorite sports writer, Con Houlihan, which he wrote about someone who had as much natural talent as any footballer ever but unfortunately, mishandled his talents and became more famous for his antics off the pitch than on it. I speak of course of George Best.

Folk memory has forgotten that, towards the end of his career, George had a brief unhappy sojourn on “the banks of my own lovely Lee”.

“George Best, like Brendan Behan, came from a family whose
closeness made the arrows of exile all the sharper.

Brendan Behan was the kind of child on whom grannies and
aunts and assorted auld wans dote – so  seemingly was George Best.

Such indulgence makes for a pleasant childhood — but when
eventually you sail out into the open sea, you may find the going a bit rough.

 ….

I have a particular little cause for being ill disposed
towards George Best.

It concerns a Christmas week some years ago when I was
spending a well earned holiday in the bosom of my family.  (The well earned etc part  is what low-grade correspondents in the
Kerryman say about some dosser home for a few weeks from England.  ) 

There I was on Saturday night, 28 December 1975, eating a
little piece of Christmas pie and drinking a mug of lemonade, when word arrived
over  the electronic wire ordering me to
be in Cork on the morrow.

The reason for this dramatic message was the rumoured
appearance of wee Georgie in the colours of Cork Celtic in a League of Ireland
game.

At that stage of wee Georgie’s career everything was
rumour.  But I  turned up — so rather amazingly did he.

And so did the greatest gaggle of small  boys and indeed small girls seen at large
since the Pied  Piper of Hamlin turned
debt collector.  The winding little lane
that leads down from the city to Flower Lodge was almost bursting its banks..

 I find it hard to
forgive George Best for his display that day.

Lo and behold — George was back for the next match (against
Shelbourne at Harold’s Cross).  A big
crowd came to that game too — and went away less than gruntled.

George appeared one more time for Celtic — and people
stayed away just because his name was on the team sheet.

An old truth had been illustrated — you don’t pay twice to
see the same fat man in the circus sideshow.



>>>>



Now I’ve rifled through Listowel Celtic’s website to bring you these old photos of soccer closer to home

The early days: a 1960 Celtic team:

back row(l
to r) – Noel Downey, Jack Carmody, John Croghan, Mike Brennan,

          
Joe Guerin, David Shaughnessy, Michael McEvoy

front
row
(
l to r )- Michael Sugrue, John Leahy, Owen Beechinor, Jerry Griffin 





1970’s


Back Row..Jackie Carmody, Pa Kennedy, Daithi Carroll, Toddy Scanlon, Leo Allman, Tony
Carey, Henry Molyneaux, Jack Kelly, John Bunyan, Denis Bunyan.

Front Row..Mike Casey, Paddy Lynch, Paddy Hannon, David Fitzmaurice, Declan Sheehy,
Gerard Tarrant.

1980s

Back Row…Tony Carey, Gerdie Collins, Mike Canavan, Nix Riordan, Liam Canty, Dobs
O’Brien, David Mulvihill, John Chute, Sean Carey, Pat Carmody,Tom Walsh.

Front Row…Declan
Leahy, Mickey Kelliher, Maurice Hannon, Gerard Tarrant, Fergus Houlihan,
Tommy Sweeney, Declan Sheehy, Jimmy Dore, Alan Grimes, Colin Grimes.

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