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: Jimmy Hickey Page 4 of 8

Street Name Changes 1900 and Jimmy Hickey on St. Patrick’s Day 2019

By

On April 10, 2019

In Uncategorized




Ballybunion sunset by Bridget O’Connor

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Proposed Name Changes to Listowel’s streets

Cork Examiner December 6 1900

(Thank you, Paddy Keane)

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St. Patrick’s Day 2019


When I wrote about St. Patrick’s Day stalwarts previously, I missed one man who is the heart and soul of the entertainment on St. Patrick’s Days in Listowel for as long as I am in town. That man is our own dancing master, Jimmy Hickey. This year his dancers were the highlight of the day at the St. Patrick’s Day mass in St. Mary’s parish church.

Another stalwart of St. Patrick’s Days in Listowel is Anne O’Connor/ Brosnan. Presentation Primary School marching band under her stewardship  has provided the musical colourful element to the parade. Her family have taken up the mantle  and over the years we have watched Mairead and Patrick entertain us from the stage.

This year Patrick’s stage was the step of the altar. This video is a joy to watch. Notice too his dancing teacher, Jimmy Hickey watching proudly from the wings as his star pupil struts his stuff.

Listowel, Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2018, Spoilt Rotten, Dancing in INEC and more photos from Listowel Races 2018

By

On September 26, 2018

In Uncategorized


The last of the 2018 butterflies


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The Day after Listowel’s Big Tidy Town Win

The sun was shining so I took the camera and off I went. Here are a few of today’s snaps from Ireland’s tidiest town

 In the Square I met some tourists and I dragooned them into posing on the Tidy Town seat. They knew about our win  and they had just arrived in town and were beginning to explore.

Our community fruit and nut garden was looking smashing.

Nearly warm enough for a picnic, if one had a picnic.

This is a tad worrying. This apple tree is in bud…in September!

This man who had come to pick up the branches of a fallen tree posed for me with these lovely roses.

He helped out this granny on a mission to collect conkers for her Cork grandchildren.

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Jack McKenna at 100


Family, friends, McKenna’s retired and present staff, historians and  admirers came to the Kerry Writers’ Centre in Listowel Town Square on Sept 19 for the launch of Spoil Rotten, the memoir of a local business man, pioneer and philanthropist who has reached the age of 100.

Did you know that this man gave the site for the restored Lartigue railway AND he gave €250,000 to set up the Lartigue Museum?  In keeping with this spirit of generosity to his native town, his family took on themselves all the publishing costs of his memoir with all the profits from the sale of the book going to Áras Mhuire, the local retirement home.

 On the night of the launch Jack McKenna  signed copies of the book and even took the microphone to thank us all for coming and to wonder what he had done to deserve such a turn out.

At the top table were Jimmy Deenihan whose Kerry Literary Trust published the book and who is a friend and admirer of Jack McKenna, Jack’s daughter, Louise, who brought the whole project to fruition, continuing on a labour of love set in train by her late mother, and Fr. Anthony Gaughan who was the guest of honour who launched the book.

This book is an important piece of the jigsaw of Listowel’s history.


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Learning from A Master



This photo was shared on Facebook by Scoil Realta na Maidine. These little boys are taking their first  lessons in Irish dancing from Jimmy Hickey.

Among them maybe there is a Justin Walsh or a Patrick O’Mahoney. Both these men are former pupils of Jimmy’s and both have gone on to dance on the world stage.

As part of an ongoing project to produce a film documenting Jimmy Hickey’s life in dancing, Jimmy went to the INEC to see his former pupil, Patrick O’Mahoney dance the lead role in Riverdance.

Before the show, Jimmy got to show Patrick and some of the troupe a step or two and both Patrick and Jimmy were delighted to dance together on the INEC stage.

Jimmy and Patrick dance together on the INEC stage, Killarney in September 2018

Jimmy teaches Patrick a few steps.

Members of the troupe, who were watching in the wings, join in for a lesson as well.

Patrick thanks his former teacher for dropping in to see him. There is a mutual respect between these two men, both masters of the dance .

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 The Colour and the Winners at Ladies Day 2018


Waiting for the results of the best dressed competition

The judges, Aoibhinn Garrihy and Marietta Doran, interviewed one another for a bit first.

Then it rained.

David Moran, Kerry footballer, picked the best dressed grooms.  This lovely lad came second and the  groom below won. He wore a suit he had bought for a wedding and very smart he looked too.

This lady came second in a dress her family didn’t like but the judges loved. Her hat is by Aoife Hannon. I thought I was being a very clever photographer by photographing her face and keeping the full shot in someone’s mobile phone in the picture. Didn’t quite work.

I was too far away from the stage to get a full length shot of this second runner up but her hat was gorgeous .

And the winner is…..

And her prize is …€3000 and this car for a year.

This is the winner from the back. I didn’t actually get a good photo of her because I didn’t think she would win. That’s all I know about fashion!

Meanwhile the business of racing went on, Presentations were made in the parade ring, People watched the horses and the men had a chat.

Jimmy Hickey, Jimmy Deenihan, Namir Karim and a few photos from Cork

By

On February 28, 2017

In Uncategorized



Yesterday, February 27 2017 in Listowel






Photo; Jerry Hannon on Facebook



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Early Morning , Listowel Town Square, February 2017








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Jimmy Hickey, Shoemaker and Dancer



Jimmy Hickey’s unique combination of talents is currently being recorded for posterity by Jimmy Deenihan. Jimmy has assembled a crew of video and sound recording specialists and he is recording the various aspects of this special Listowel man’s life.

As well as his work as a very successful dancing master, Jimmy also turns his hand to shoe repairs in his workshop in Listowel. Jimmy comes from a family of shoemakers. He brings his understanding of the importance of footwear to bear on both aspects of his life. When he is not tapping his heels in his dance classes, he is tapping his hammer in the shoemaker’s workshop.

Jimmy Deenihan decided that it was high time that this man’s unique talents were put on film. I was privileged to be present at Jimmy’s dance classes in Dromclough National School while the recoding was in progress. It was a joy to watch the master in action and to see the enthusiasm and the skill of his young pupils.

Two Jimmys; Jimmy Deenihan and Jimmy Hickey, passing on the torch to the next generation.

The team recording the dance class.

Jimmy Hickey speaking directly to camera about the dances and their history.

Learning from the Master: In time Jimmy Hickey’s  young pupils will appreciate how lucky they were to have learned the steps from a true dancing master in the age old tradition.

Dromclough is magnificent, well resourced school with an appreciation that a truly rounded education includes song and music, art and I.T. as well as the traditional three R’s.

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In Cork’s North Main Street




When I saw this lovely little street sculpture on North Main Street last week I was reminded of a incident I witnessed on that same street some years ago. Dunnes Stores used to have a shop on that street. I was at the Customer Service Desk in the shop and I was behind a lady who was returning a bag of onions and asking if she could exchange them for a bag of carrots.

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Giving Alms




There was a time when every shop counter had an array of alms boxes, often called mite boxes after the bible story of The Widow’s Mite. There used to be a green one with a three D “black baby” on top. Saint Anthony’s one was very popular because you could bribe him to help you find things. Every missionary society had its own one and they employed someone to come round and empty them regularly. Some of the boxes were anchored by a chain but the more trusting ones left their loot at the mercy of sneak thieves.

Are those boxes completely gone, I wonder?

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Happy Ever After

Ryan Tubridy met Namir and Kay and he broadcast their extraordinary story

Namir is the proprietor of this very popular restaurant in Ballybunion. But who is Namir?

Namir Karim was born in Basra
in the south of Iraq. He was the eighth of ten children in his family.  He has seven brothers and two sisters. All of
their names begin with the letter N.  By
his own admission Namir was his mother’s pet. He loved to sit with her while
she knitted and he helped her to prepare and cook the family meals.

 Namir’s father worked in the port of Basra. There was a club there where the
British socialized. Namir’s father worked in the club and Namir and his family
lived side by side with the British and enjoyed the same lifestyle, casinos,
discos and music. Then the Iran Iraq war started in 1980 and soldiers moved into
Basra from all over Iraq to protect the port. It was the end of the good times.

Namir was raised as a
Chaldean Catholic. This form of
Catholicism is like a pre Vatican 2 version of Roman Catholicism. They
acknowledge the authority of the pope and have the sacraments. Women still
cover their heads in church and the priest celebrates mass with his back to the
congregation. 

Namir has family scattered all around the world. Some like Namir
are fleeing war, others went to college in Britain or America and never came
back to Iraq.

Namir has told his story on
radio and television in Ireland and he has been asked about Iraq, about Saddam
Hussein and life there . Saddam was a
cruel dictator. His people lived in fear. Because it was forbidden for an Iraqi
to socialize with a foreigner, Namir took big risks to be with Kay.

 Happy wife; Happy life, is Namir’s motto

1995 was a happy year for
Namir and Kay. Kay decided to enter Namir into a competition to select the
Husband of the Year. The competition was run by The Star newspaper and an RTE
programme called Twelve to One. Kay wrote a short essay describing why she
thought Namir was special. She described how he had given up everything to be
with her. He left home and family to “take a chance on me” she said.

Namir won the competition and was declared Husband of the Year.

He is still Kay’s Husband of the Year to this day.

Call in to him in Namir’s in Ballybunion or Scribes in Listowel.

Ballybunion, Cameras, a Lenten Story and Listowel’s Plaza Cinema

By

On February 24, 2017

In Uncategorized

Rough Seas at Ballybunion 

Photo: Mike Enright

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An Old Ciné Camera


Did you watch the old video footage of the frozen river Feale in 1963? 

This little film was made by a young Jimmy Hickey on the below Kodak Brownie.

The 8 minute film strip ran reel to reel and when you reached the end you rewound it with the winder shown below.

I think you’ll agree that camera technology has come a long way since 1963.

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Some Spring Colour in The Garden of Europe

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Reminiscences  from Delia O’Sullivan



Lent and Laughing Gas

By Delia O’Sullivan
(published in Lifelines, an anthology of Writing by the Nine Daughters Creative
Writing Group)

In 1950s Ireland Lent was a
time of penance, prayer and self restraint. For forty days and forty nights we
were encouraged by the nuns to give up sweets – a scarce resource anyway.  We were to give our pennies to the missions
instead. The mission box was adorned with pictures of little naked, smiling shy
black children. It was brought out after morning prayers. Each offering was
carefully recorded. The nun said that this was important, as, on reaching the
half crown mark we would then have bought our own black baby. Michael’s mother
was the local maternity nurse and he did well from all her clients, so he was a
clear winner and the only person to reach the target. Michael was told that he
could now name the baby but we were all very disappointed to learn that the
baby would not be travelling. He would stay in Africa. The nun said that maybe
someday Michael would visit him.

When we reached our teens,
we found the dancehalls closed for Lent. The showbands headed for the major
English cities. But every rural village in Ireland had its own dramatic group.
The plays and concerts were not frowned on by the clergy as they brought in
much needed funds for churches and schools. This was a wonderful time for us.
As part of the Irish dancing troupe we travelled on Sunday nights with the
players. We sold raffle tickets, met “fellas” and experienced a freedom that
our parents didn’t even dream of.  We got bolder, inventing concerts in
far-flung area, returning later, saying there was a cancellation.

In 1959 we were student
nurses in London. During Lent we could enjoy the dances and the showband scene
denied in Ireland. But, with only two late passes a week we were restricted.
However we found ways around it – mainly by signing for a late pass in the name
of a fellow student who never went out. One of these was Mrs. Okeke.

As young country girls in
Ireland most of us had never been beyond the nearest small town. In our small
rural Catholic environment, foreigners were the occasional English or American
husband or wife, brought on holidays by an emigrant. They spoke with strange
accents and didn’t seem to understand the rituals of standing and kneeling at
mass. In Ireland I had only ever seen one black person, Prince Monolulu, adorned
with a headdress of feathers and very colorful robes, performing the three card
trick at Listowel Races. We were now part of a multi national society in a huge
teaching hospital. It overlooked Highgate Park where we watched the squirrels
climb trees and nibble at shoots. We also saw a steady flow of visitors to the
grave of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery. We integrated well, most of us being
of the same age group.

The exception was four
Nigerian ladies who were older and dour. They never smile. One of them, Mrs
Okeke asked us why we stared and , if we laughed, she called us silly girls. Off
duty, they dress in bright robes and huge turbans. They chewed on sticks to
whiten and strengthen their teeth. They cooked spicy foods on the gas rings
which was supposed to be used only for boiling kettles. When reprimanded by the
Home Sister, they pretended not to understand.

It all came to a head on the
day  the anaethestist was giving us a
demonstration of the different types of anaesthetic. We were encouraged to
participate. As Mrs. Okeke’s hand went up for a demonstration of laughing gas,
we all kept our heads down. A small whiff and she was laughing hysterically,
displaying a number of gold teeth. We laughed until our sides were sore.
Suddenly her face took on its usual dour look but by then we were unable to
stop laughing. She couldn’t retaliate with the anaesthetist present.

Some days later we met her on
her way back from the Matron’s office.  She had been asked to explain why her name had
been signed for seven late passes in a row, even though she was convinced that
she had never had a late pass. Her perplexity deepened when one of us suggested
that she was suffering from the after effects of laughing gas.

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Help for a Family who have suffered an appalling tragedy




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Remembering The Plaza



During the week I posted an old picture of Listowel’s Plaza/Ozanam Centre. Here is the story behind its construction from Vincent Carmody’s Snapshots of an Irish Market Town

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Michael Martin met some local people on his walkabout in town yesterday



What I’m Reading, Junior Griffin’s Reminiscences continued and more Irish dancing photos

By

On November 24, 2016

In Uncategorized

 May all our U.S. Friends Have a Great Thanksgiving



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Listowel Castle

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Humans of Listowel

Bobby Cogan met his old badminton coach, Roly Chute, on the street when he was home for the weekend. He was delighted to hear that Roly is still going strong and still teaching the skills of badminton to North Kerry’s youngsters.  Over the years Roly has given thousands of hours coaching tennis and badminton. Listowel owes hm a big debt of gratitude.

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What I’m Reading

Hazel Gaynor is an Englishwoman living in Kildare. She writes a great story.  In The Girl from The Savoy she opens our eyes to a world we will never experience, post war London. Her style is easy to read, carefully researched and accessible. I’m enjoying this one.

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Junior Griffin’s Reminiscences continued

……..We didn’t realize then but we
ere back in Páirc Uí Caoimh before the year was out. That was for the Cork V.
Dublin All Ireland semi final replay.

The days before the match the
Dublin press continually queried the wisdom of staging this match in Cork.

That morning Munster
officials, the late Tadhgh Crowley and Donny Nealon called the strilesmen
together. They requested us to be extra vigilant and to remain on duty until we
were officially closed. Munster proved that they could stage the fixture.
Everything  went off without a hitch and
there were no problems.

Incidently, dear reader, can
you rememebee who p;layed in the Austin Stack Park on the same day that Cork
and Dublin played that semi final in Páirc Uí Caoimh. Answer anon.

The centenary year of 1984
saw the hurling final played in Thurles, the birthplace of the GAA. I remember
getting a bit of a telling off because of that final. I was on duty on the
terrace stiles on the town end. The senior final was well on when I was
approached by three North Kerry men seeking admission with one ticker. I let
them in. That was close to 4.00 p.m. on Sunday, Tadhgh Crowley heard it being
conversed on a pub in Tralee on the following Tuesday night. So much for people
keeping their mouths shut.

The old type low stiles were
much more difficult to manage than the modern ones.The stilesman did have the
same control. At rimes in the old low stile you would be startled by a fleeting
shadow soaring over the bar of the stile showing Carl Lewis type agility. All
you’d hear would be a loud guffaw as the intruder made his way to the safety of
being lost in the crowd. The rouses used by people to sek free admissions were
many. The common ones would be for a lady possibly with a few children to come
in first and pointing back would exclain,”Himself is paying,” “Himself” comes
in and you’ve guessed it. He is on his own. He never before saw that woman! I
can assure you that, more often than not, if you searched around later you
would see the big happy family together.

Also a group of 5 or 6 men
would queue up together. The one the rear would be gesticulating wildly and
calling “right-right-right”; giving the impression he was paying for the lot.
His turn comes- and “I am only paying for myself; I was calling to my friend
who went in on the other stile”.

The experienced stilesman
will always ask the first person to pay where there is a group. The chancer
will generally retort ” is it so you don’t trust me boy?”

Some years ago one of my
collegues, John, was approached in Limerick by a gentleman who was in a very
agitated state. Almost in tears, the poor man told John his pocket had been
picked and he had been cleaned out. Being a soft hearted Kerryman, John had
pity on the man and let him through.

The following Sunday, John
was on duty in Cork, and, low and behold- who came to his stile but the same
gentlemen in the same agitated state, John knew he was caught once but not
again. Your man was told, not too politely, where to go. I wonder what are the
odds of him picking the same stilesman on successive Sundays? No doubt our
friend is still performing his Oscar like performance to this day at stiles
somewhere throughout the province to this day.

The dreaded stile, is, of
course, the student and OAP stile. Look at the queue outside the student stile
at any major match and one could only surmise that the students of every
university in Ireland must be in attendance. To the genuine student, the
student card is like his right hand and he will always have it in his
possession. But so often we hear, “ I left it at home”; “I left it in the car”
and so forth.

The variation of cards
produced would make the mind boggle. The stilesman has seen them all, from meal
vochers to petrol vouchers to playing cards. The cards are flashed in front of
the stilesman eyes and disappear so fast with a slight of hand dexiterity that
would make the great Houdini gasp with amazement.

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More Photos from the Eisteddfod

Eileen O’Sullivan has shared a few new photos of Jimmy Hickey’s dancers trips to Wales.


These photos were taken in 1999 as the Irish dancers entertained local people in the town square. Here they are dancing a polka set.

 Eileen O’Sullivan did the intricate Celtic design embroidery on her daughter, Michelle’s costume. Traditionally the costumes featured  embroidery and crochet lace collars.

Michelle O’Sullivan with  Noreen OConnor

Michelle O’Sullivan and Sarah O’Sullivan in Wales

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