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
Every now and again Jer Kennelly delves into the nespaper archives and finds something with a Listowel connection. Sometimes the story ends there and sometimes the story (remember John J. Foley and Thade Kelly’s Hin?) takes on a life of its own.
Here is such a cutting from 1895 for you.
San Francisco Call, Volume 77, Number 133, 22 April 1895
PARISH PRIESTS NAMED
Father Kirby Assumes Charge of the New St. Agnes Church.
SUPERIOR OF THE PAULISTS. Father Wyman Appointed to Succeed Father Brady of St. Mary’s. Rev. Father Kirby has been appointed pastor of the new parish of St. Agnes by the Most Rev. Archbishop Riordan, and Rev. Father Wyman has been named superior of the Paulist community at old St. Mary’s Church on California street to succeed the late Father Brady. Father Kirby preached his first sermon at St. Agnes Church, which is a neat little edifice on Masonic street, near Page, at the high mass yesterday morning. The church was built as an outside mission to the Sacred Heart parish, and was under the jurisdiction of Rev. Father Flood. Father Kirby is a young man of zeal and talent. He was born at Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, on April 16, 1860. His early education was gained at Mount Melleray and at All Hallows. Later he attended the seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris. On the 17th of March, 1883, he was ordained by Bishop Higgins of Kerry, Ireland. He “came to San Francisco in the spring of 1883. His first appointment was as chaplain of St. Mary’s College, from where he was transferred to Father King’s church in Oakland. Later he served two years as assistant to Father Serda at Temescal. On September 2, 1885, he was appointed as assistant at the cathedral, where he has since resided. Of his family a brother is a priest, Rev. Thomas Kirby, at Mission Dolores, and two Sisters are members of the Presentation Order, Sister Augustine in Berkeley, and Sister de Sales in the Powell-street convent, this city. Father Wyman has long been a Paulist missionary and is well known throughout the United States. He prefers missionary work to the cares and responsibility of a pariah and looks forward to the appointment of a permanent superior to succeed him that he may go into the country and preach. “We have received requests for missionaries from different parishes all over the coast,” he said yesterday, “and we are anxious to comply. Missionary work is the object of the order, and for myself I much prefer that field. If we had the priests we could send them north to Washington and south to Arizona. Besides, California and Nevada must be looked after.” The work of remodelling old St. Mary’s Church will begin this week. The interior is to be handsomely painted and frescoed, and the idea of the Paulists is to make the historic tabernacle one of the most beautiful in the city.
<<<<<<<<<
An Interesting old Post Box
in West London
<<<<<<<<
Another Photo from Carmel Hanrahan
Left to right: Tom and Eileen O’Halloran, John and Breda Hanrahan and Joe Mc Namara & Betty.
<<<<<<<<<
Athea Mural Relocation
Athea has two extraordinary murals by local artist, Jim Dunn. The older one, celebrating the town’s history, legends and local talent has had an adventurous life surviving the worst the weather could throw at it.
I took this picture late last year.
This is just a small section of the artwork but it gives you an idea of the complex detail of flora and fauna, legend and history woven into this masterpiece.
The mural was given a temporary home on a long wall until the nearby premises was sold. This has now happened and the new owners have plans for the space so the masterpiece so dear to everyone in Athea must be relocated.
Athea Tidy Town Group undertook the task of dismantling it and minding it.
Here are some of the pictures they shared on Facebook.
<<<<<<<
A Fact
In Germany about 2000 schools were closed between 1989 and 2009 because of the fall in the numbers of children in the population.
These are the Tidy Town volunteers who introduced this event which has become the Saturday highlight of race week. They turn up year after year to run this marvellous competition. It has evolved over the years from having some entries that looked like school projects to be a themed fashion competition to rival Friday’s best dressed lady’s event. Many of this year’s outfits would not have been out of place in the Friday competition.
Kathleen O’Flaherty always looks stylish.
This lady got a special prize for inventiveness.
Frances O’Keeffe was the winner of the first sustainable fashion competition at Listowel Races. Her daughter, Edel, won a few fashion prizes too.
The story of the outfit is part of the entertainment of this competition. Maria’s stories areaways the best. Maria Stack was wearing gloves and a hat gifted to her by her late friend, Mary O’Halloran. Mary was a great supporter of Listowel Races.
Tidy Town ladies and An Taisce judge are intrigued by the back stories.
<<<<<<<<
Something Old
This is the kind of old fashioned pram babies slept in in the 1900s. The net over the pram was to protect the infant from flies and wasps and to deter the cat from jumping in with the baby. There was usually a string of coloured rattles across the hood in view of the baby and nearly always a holy medal pinned somewhere.
<<<<<<<
In Athea
The celtic mural in Athea celebrates Irishness in hundreds of symbols but it also celebrates local people and the enormous talent in the area.
This young flautist is like a snake charmer conjuring up shamrocks, birds, snakes and entwined celtic symbols.
What could be more Irish than a step dancing cailín?
A local young girl immortalised forever among the oak leaves in this impressive piece of wall art.
<<<<<<<
Brehon Laws
Lately I came upon this treasure of a book in the IWA charity shop. It’s all about the Brehon Laws. These laws were passed on orally since the first centuryBC. They were written down for the first time in the 7th century AD and they were in use until the reign of Elizabeth 1 who replaced the old Brehon Laws with English common law.
The laws give us a great insight into how our ancestors lived.
The great assembly was usually held on Tara. The elders came together to discuss and, if necessary, amend the laws.
Music has always been part of Irish life. There was a hierarchy of musicians with the harpist having pride of place.
<<<<<<<<
A Fact
Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven. He patented it in 1945.
Waiting in the long grass…Chris Grayson’s image of stags in The National Park before the commencement of the rut.
<<<<<<<<
Tackling a Horse
This photo of a workhorse in Jim Dunn’s great Athea mural led me to boast that I once could name every piece of tack on that horse. Mattie Lennon helped me out.
There is a winkers on the horses head and a bit in his mouth. The reins is attached to the bit.
Around the horse’s neck is the collar and hames. The reins goes through this.
On his back is the straddle and britchen.
If the horse was attached to a cart, a bellyband under the horse and attached to the shafts prevented the cart from tipping up.
The brass attached to the winkers was an optional piece of horse jewellery.
<<<<<<<<
Gortaglanna Memorial
GortaglannaGortaglanna Celtic Cross
I thought that the white commemorative steps on the roadside were the memorial to those who fell at Gortaglanna, but I was wrong. Kathleen Griffin sent us these pictures which she took on a rainy day in 2016 of the bigger monument. This memorial is in the field where the men died.
<<<<<<<<
There’s Always Hope
<<<<<<<<<
Some of the local Style on Ladies Day at Listowel Races 2024
A gravity defying creating from milliner, Cathy Troth
<<<<<<<<<
One for the Diary
<<<<<<<<
Signwriter at Work
Martin Chute was on his scaffold painting Listowel Garden Centre sign as I was going to Thyme Out for a cuppa and a chat.
Martin is used to immersing himself in his work and ignoring distractions.
But when he spots me, he is always willing to chat.
On this occasion he descended the ladder to pose with Barry McAuliffe and his son who are home on a visit from the U.S. Barry is one of my oldest internet friends, from the days when we were all on Boards.ie. He reminded me that he won Vincent’s nearly impossible quiz and he has the placemats to prove it.
<<<<<<<
A Fact
Albert Einstein’s brain had a parietal lobe that was 15% larger than the average human brain
Kanturk, my hometown. was looking good when I visited last week.
<<<<<<<<
A Few More from the Launch of Moments of Reflection
Billy and Owen having a chat
The McKenna family from Newbridge made the trip to be part of the event.
My old knitting club friends, Mary and Maria
Liz and Jim Dunn with their page from the book
<<<<<<<<
Remember this?
I found this on the internet and there was no location given. Queues like this were once a familiar sight at every creamery in the country.
<<<<<<<<
At the bookclub in Kanturk Library
I called in to tell my Kanturk friends that I will be launching my book in The Temperance Hall in Kanturk on October 24 at 7.30
<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<
A Treasure from Jer Kennelly’s Knockanure blog
HISTORY OF THE HILLS AND VALLEYS THAT SURROUND KNOCKANURE CHURCH YARD
By John Murphy.
The churchyard on Knockanure hill encircled by a large field affords a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Rich in natural beauty history and local lore.
Here is a roofless church where people prayed over 400 years ago. Down by the side of the hill is friars field in Barretts land where some Dominican monks found shelter after the Cromwellian wars and lived there up to around 1804. Just a few fields away is the memorial to the three men who died at Gortaglanna. Pat Dalton, Paddy Wash and Lyons from Duagh the white cross marking where Mick Galvin was killed in the Kilmorna ambush of 1921 can be seen a short distance away.
The broad wooded valley of the Feale. ..The wood is the only thing that is left of the beautiful oO’Mahony Estate. The great house went up in smoke. Its resident at the time, Sir Arthur Vicars, was shot dead. The river Feale flows in a graceful curve before it seems to lose itself forever in the woods of Ballinruddery, the home of the knight of Kerry. The castle still stands proudly in all its ruined glory. One old manuscript relates that the river got its name from Princess Fial. Out of modesty she went into deep water to avoid a gaze of a man and was drowned. Her husband, a prince, decided to name the river in her memory.
On the hill of Duagh can be seen a grove surrounded by a ditch. This is a Killeen, a burial place of unbaptised infants. Gorge Fitzmaurice, the playwright, lived near Duagh village. His plays portray the life style of the north Kerry rural scene a hundred years ago.
In the hill beyond Duagh the river Smerla has its source. It flows down to meet the river Feale near Listowel. In 8 miles of its fertile valley, some 40 young men answered the call to the priesthood mostly in the 1920s to the 1950s period. In their youth they fished the Smerla. They became fishers of souls all over the world.
On their farm in Ballyduhig on Smearla hill lived a leader of the Wexford insurgents of 1798. His wife was Jane Foulks. She eloped with McKenna. One of their daughters married William Leahy of Benanaspug. Jane Foulks is believed to be buried in Kilsinan cemetery.
Looking east, a ring of hills enclose the valley of the Infant River Gale the village of Athea is hidden from view by Knockbawn . The Limerick border is just two miles from Knockanure Churchyard. Names such as Mullanes, Histons, Sheahons and many others from Athea townlands are engraved on headstones within the cemetery.
Pages of History could be filled of the exploits of Con Colbert who died in 1916, Paddy Dalton who was killed at Gortaglanna, the Ahern brothers of Direen who beat all comers at the Olympic games nearly one hundred years ago. Professor Danaher an authority on antiquity, Fr Tim Leahy whose book beyond tomorrow gives a colourful account of his youth in Athea and his many adventures as a priest in China. According to historical records the hills of Glenagraga, Knocknaclogga, Knockfinisk, Rooska must have been devastated during the Desmond rebellion of 1580. One account states that in a wood near Clounlehard three hundred men women and children were killed. Looking towards the north we have a good view of all that was left of the O Connor heritage at the time of Cromwell from being the chief of all north Kerry the were reduced to the lands of Ballylongford Tarbert, Moyvane and Knockanure. The remaining O Connor land was confiscated and given to Trinity College. John O Connor was hanged in Tralee. Teig O Connor was hanged in Killarney along with Fr Moriarty.
The Sandes were appointed land agents for Trinity College. Outlined near the bright waters of the Shannon the battered castle of the O Connors can be seen. When it surrendered in 1580 its garrison of about sixty were hanged.
In the Abbey of Lislaughtin nearby three aged monks were murdered. A tragedy of a different nature accrued here in 1830 when the Colleen Bawn was taken in a boat trip to her death on the waters of the Shannon. On a clear day the ruins can be seen on Scattery Island. The tallest skyscrapers in Ireland pierce the sky on the Clare coast, the chimneys of Moneypoint also the lesser ones of Tarbert.
Ballylongford can claim one of the men of 1916 the O Rahilly. In a low-lying part of Moyvane where floods once almost submerged his home lived Eddy Carmody he was shot by the tans in Ballylongford in 1921. His nephew is a bishop in the U.S.A. Another Moyvane bishop Collins in Brazil. One of those green fields brings back memories of the many great football matches played there. Moyvane was the homeland of all Ireland players Con Brosnan son Jim, John Flavin, Tom Mahony and the O Sullivan’s.
There where the Anomaly flows to meet the Gale half mile from Moyvane village was born the father of Tom Moore, Ireland best known poet of the last century. Having attended local hedge schools, he settled down in Dublin. One of Tom Moore’s poems, by the Feales waves was said to be composed at Kilmorna on a visit to Pierce O Mahony. It relates the tale of romantic love, when the young Earl of Desmond having lost his way, entered the home of a man called McCormack he fell in love with his daughter. When they married, they were forced to immigrate to France.
“Love came and brought sorrow with ruin in its train,
But so deep that tomorrow I’d face it again.”
All the Moore’s are said to be related. The white Boys were active in the district during the early 1800 a suspected Whiteboy was arrested at Keylod he was hanged at Knockanure village. The upturned shafts of a car was the Scaffold. Blake lived where Lyons Funeral Home now stands. In fact, he gave his name to the cross. He was singled out to be shot. He was usually seen through the window at nightfall reading in the parlour. It was decided to shoot him while he read. Lucky for him an informer told him of the plot. He dressed a dummy, placed it in the parlour, hid himself in a bush outside the window and waited for the Whiteboy. It is claimed that Blake shot the man who attempted to shoot the dummy in the parlour. Blake is buried here in Knockanure, no trace of the tomb now remains.
A relative of his, the most famous Kerryman of all time Field Marshall Lord Horatio Kitchener was born at Gunsboro, grew up at Crotta near Lixnaw. He was a remarkable man. One of the great generals of his time. He died at sea after his ship was torpedoed in 1916.
On crossing the fort Lisafarran the veiw westwards opens up. This fort was planted with oak in days gone by. Other forts in the area Lisnabro, Lisapuca, Lisheendonal and Lisroe. Many more forts have disappeared over the years the large fertile land that surround the church yard was the Glebe or church lands.
Just a mile a way spreading far and wide is the bog of Moinveanlaig.The story goes like this a troup of solders were lured into the bog by a piper hidden in a deep hole. The soldiers were attacked and most of them were killed the crying of the wounded and the dying who were left to die for days gave the name to the bog, The bog of the crying, in Irish moinveanlaig..It was thought that was to this bog that Con Dee ran for his life. He had already jumped several ditches, ran across half a dozen fields. picked up a bullet wound in the leg, ran in the front door of a house in the bog lane and ran out the back, asked for a cup of water but did not wait.When he reached Coilbee he was rescued by Donal Bil Sullivan.
A month later Jack Sheahan of Coilbee ran into the bog when he saw a lorry of solders, several shots were fired at him but missed. Finally at five hundred yards he was shot. Today a cross marked the spot Knockanore hill shut off the view of the mouth of the river Shannon. Close by in Asdee lived the ancestors of the famous American outlaw, Jesse James. Jesse finally met a violent death shot by one of his own.
THE POET SAYS:
Breathe there a man with soul so dead.
Who never to himself hath said
This is my own my native land
The pleasure of standing on a hill such as this
The pleasure of projecting associations that surround us
This was always by the phone. It had all our frequently called numbers. We had a telephone directory for looking up numbers we rarely if ever called. Making a phone call has certainly been made easier by the advent of the mobile phone.
<<<<<<<
Listowel Pitch and Putt Club Honours
(Picture and text from the club’s webpage)
Pitch and Putt
Since its foundation in 1971, Listowel Pitch and Putt Club has operated on a volunteer basis. Last night, we honoured seven of those volunteers, for whom without their hard work and commitment, largely in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the club would not be in the strong position that it is in today. They are Teresa Carey, Nuala McAuliffe (RIP), Jim Cronin, Willie Enright, David O’Shaughnessy, Robert Harrington (RIP), and Jerry Brick. A big thank you to their families, especially the families of the late Nuala McAuliffe and the late Robert Harrington, for joining us on the night to celebrate these seven wonderful people. Unfortunately, Jerry Brick could not attend on the night, and we look forward to presenting Jerry with his award in the coming days. Thank you to Bernard and Kelvin (Trophy World, Tralee) for the lovely awards, and the Listowel Arms Hotel for hosting us on the night. Last, but not least, a big thank you to local photographer, John Kelliher, for taking the pictures on the night.
<<<<<<<<
My little book has reached Amsterdam
Fergus Ashe has a very strong Listowel Connection. His dad is a Listowel man and Fergus spent many happy holidays with his Listowel grandmother and his Listowel family.
He got an early copy of the book but the payback was he had to pose with it for Listowel Connection.
<<<<<<<<<<
In Athea
Across the road from the church I caught up with Jim Dunn’s mural.
It is almost impossible to tell where the old stone wall ends and the Jim Dunn’s wall begins.
This scene takes me back to my childhood. I love that the men are not dressed in casual clothes but, like all of us before the days of leisurewear, they are wearing old good clothes.
Once upon a time I could name every piece of tackling on that horse.
The hens are Light Sussex.
Looks like the men have called to the forge on their way home from the creamery. The tableau is just so relaxed and easy. The pace of life is slow. We have time to chat as we wait our turn.
The business end of the forge is here. A horseshoe is being hammered on the anvil, a seed drill is being repaired and a horse is being attended to by the farrier/blacksmith.
The onlookers…this is a lovely touch where people from our time look on in awe at the work of the forge.
There is something very touching about the artist’s inclusion of his own grandchildren admiring the skill of the blacksmith as we look on in wonder at their grandfather’s talent and skill.
This has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of wall art I have ever seen. If a picture paints a thousand words, Jim Dunn’s picture, better than any book, achingly evokes the world of my childhood in 1950s and 60s rural Ireland.
Modern, more simple murals, are often larger than life, emblazoned with slogans and demanding our attention. Jim Dunn’s scene is just there as we pass, unobtrusive and undemanding, quietly passing into history.
I predict that, when it is finally finished, it will be a place of pilgrimage for art lovers.
<<<<<<<
A Fact
There can be up to 60,000 bees in one hive in mid summer.
<<<<<<<<<
A Break
Next week is race week. Tomorrow evening is the launch of Moments of Reflection in The Listowel Arms at 7.00p.m.. So next week I will be racing and book promoting. I will be taking a break from blogging. I hope to be back soon with lots of photos for you.
