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 7 of 8

Horse Fair, Brosna, and Jimmy Hickey and his dancers and musicians in the 1990’s

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On October 19, 2016

In Uncategorized

October Horse Fair


Photos by Elizabeth Brosnan


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Aspects of Brosna Today







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Listowel Musicians and Dancers


This picture was taken outside St. Johns before Jimmy Hickey’s troupe headed off to the Harmonie festival in Germany for the first time. Kathleen McCarthy (4th from left at back) provided me with all the names.

Back, Left to Right: ? , Mary Doyle R.I.P., Phil O’Connell, Kathleen McCarthy, Mary Murphy R.I.P., Jimmy Hickey, Jean Lynch, Brina Keane, Mary Cantillon, Seán Murphy

Front, L.to R.: Martin O’Flynn, Margaret Harrahan, Bob Downey, Richard O’Connell R.I.P. , Kate Downey and Jerry Browne

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More Photos from Listowel Garden Centre’s Christmas Shop’s opening


Teresa Hannon was indulging her inner child and picking up a few new ornaments.

The very very last of my Pictures from Listowel Races 2016

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On September 30, 2016

In Uncategorized

The man in the middle is Davy Russell’s father in law and he loves Listowel Races. He reprised his style from last year with his very arresting Heineken hat.

Nora Sheahan’s friend has been coming to Listowel for two decades. 

Judges and interviewers dressed in style for Ladies’ Day.

Some of the bookmakers made the effort as well. These two female bookies were particularly well turned out.

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I was everywhere taking photos at The Races. It was only to be expected that the snapper would be snapped. Elizabeth Brosnan is responsible for this great photo. She got me to a T., in among the fashionistas, camera in one hand and race card in the other.

And…..


Jimmy Hickey was as good as his word. He brought me a scrapbook and lots of photographs of his dancing exploits over the years. I just now have to photograph it and sort it all out.

Watch this space!

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Artist in Residence



Jonathan Gräuel is the artist in residence at Olive Stack’s gallery.

This is his Tidy Town picture which is on display in the gallery. I took the snap from Twitter.

Listowel Races 2016 and Smalltown

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On September 13, 2016

In Uncategorized

It’s Raceweek 2016


I went to the island on Sunday Sept 11 2016. The crowd was small. The weather was cold and very windy and there is a long week ahead so many people found something else to do. The attendance at the Ballyduff Kilmoyley hurling replay was massive. Lots of reasons why people stayed away but I enjoyed having the place to myself to explore.



You’d never know who you’d run into on the island.

Bishop Ray seemed to be enjoying himself with his Listowel hosts, Shane and Jim.

Jimmy Hickey was there with friends. He has promised to give us a real treat very soon. He is going to give me some old footage of Listowel dancers on trips abroad. When I get my hands on it I’ll be sharing it with you on Listowel Connection.

The Sheahan family have a long association with Listowel Races.

These fellows were there to keep the children entertained. They were very popular.

This is the parade ring. Every year it gets a bit of a facelift. This year it is looking particularly spruce.

If your horse is first pat the post next time round, the parade ring is the place to be to see him coming in and his jockey dismounting. Then follows the debrief with the trainer and connections.

If you are lucky enough to get a ringside seat, you also get to see the winner being presented with his prize. Ringside seats were easier than usual to come by on Sunday.

I never knew there were so many different bridles available for racehorses. From my seat at ringside I observed that practically every horse that passed was sporting a different bridle. I think we used to call them winkers.

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The Custom Gap


First glimpse  as you come into The Square for Listowel Race Week 2016


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Did you watch Smalltown? It is the most gut wrenching show you will see in a long time. It is absolutely brilliant and it was made by a Listowel man.

It is a story about family, a rural Irish family who love one another but can’t express it in words. They don’t talk to one another much and when they do, it is often the wrong words that come out.

The two things that unite them are preparing food for one another and watching TV together.

Conor, the prodigal son, comes home to be present with his family in the final weeks of his mother’s life. Everything in his home town is the same and everything has changed. His awkwardness is so well captured we all know a Conor and we’ve all felt some of Conor’s feelings at times.

The family is breaking up, mother is dying in “the room”, Tom is out with his cattle and his farmyard chores, Conor is eating alone at the kitchen table and Timmy is watching other families resolve their problems in shouting matches on The Jeremy Kyle Show.

Conor cooks a meal for the family in a ham fisted effort at drawing them together. Funnily, just like these things happen in real life, the exposure to foreign “culture” works and the family eat the “shit” together in the bedroom while laughing together at some stupid show on TV. We just know as they do that this will probably be their last meal together and maybe their last happy memory as a family.

“For love, all love of other sights controls, 

And makes one little room an everywhere. ” John Donne

There is a scene in episode two when Tom, stripped to his bedtime attire of vest and boxer shorts,  slowly quenches the candles that light the room and climbs into the cold hospital bed beside his dying wife. She tries to comfort him as he tries to draw strength from the shell who once was his rock.  The scene is so well done, I challenge anyone to watch it without a tear.

There is loads more to Smalltown. I can’t wait for this Thursday when the mother will inevitably die. Will the English girlfriend come to the funeral? How will that go down?

I have never seen a Gerard Barrett film through to the end. Pilgrim Hill was so heart breakingly gloomy that I gave up. I didn’t venture to Grassland. Smalltown has won me over. I’ll definitely be at the next Gerard Barrett movie.

Fr. Tom O’Donnell, tying the knot and some old photos

By

On October 3, 2014

In Uncategorized

Chaplain of The ancient Order of Hibernians in the U.S. has a Listowel Connection

Maeve Moloney Koch sent us this 

National Chaplain’s Report

By Fr. Tom O’Donnell

Vocation seeds in the Kerry
genes;

My mother and father came to
the Garfield area in Pittsburg in 1924. My father, Bartley was from Moycullen
in Co. Galway and my mother, Nellie from Listowel, Co. Kerry It was the custom
of the Irish at that time that after they were established in The States they
would send money to Ireland for one of their siblings or close relatives to
come to the America. My godmother, Delia O’Donnell Griffin brought her brother,
my dad to the States and my great uncle, Nick Synan sent for his my mother,
Nellie Synan.

Since they were from separate
counties, separated by Clare and Mayo my mother and father did not know each
other until they came to Pittsburg. They met at the home of my great uncle and
aunt Nick and Maria Synan.  Nick was the
brother of my mother’s father, John Synan. I never knew any of my grandparents
since they did not come to America. However my aunt, Maria and my uncle, Nick
became my surrogate grandparents. Maria and Nick along with three other great
aunts lived directly across the street from us. I spent a lot of time at the
Synan home. I particularly like to go there at night for there was always a
game of Euchre or Five Hundred.

On one occasion when I was
about eight or nine years old, my Aunt Maria said to me, “Tommy, did you know
that you had a great uncle who was a bishop of Kerry?” It was not until I was
ordained a priest and became interested in my ancestry that I discovered that
my great great uncle, John Mangan, was Bishop of Kerry 1904 to 1917. Bishop
John was born in Listowel in 1853 and was baptized and confirmed in St. Mary’s
church, Listowel, the same church where all my Synan and Mangan relatives
received the sacraments. Bishop Mangan was ordained on July 1 1877 and died on
the fortieth anniversary of his ordination, July 1 1917. He is buried in St.
Mary’s Cathedral in Killarney under St. Patrick’s altar, a side altar at the
cathedral. I was privileged to visit his grave many times on my trips to Kerry.
Two of his sisters’ sons, his nephews and my cousins were ordained priests.
Bishop Mangan’s sister, Elizabeth Mangan who was married to Denis Synan was my
great grandmother. My great grandmother lived in the same family home as my
mother growing up.

Now to the seeds of vocations
in the Kerry genes. In addition to Bishop Mangan and his two nephews, I the
great great nephew of Bishop Mangan am also a priest and my nephew Fr. Michael
Joyce OFM Cap is also a priest. A co incidence- or have the Kerry genes blessed
the Mangan, Synan, O’Donnell and Joyce families with the seeds of religious
vocation? Ultimately we thank our heavenly Father for the gift of our vocations
to the priesthood.

National Hibernian Digest
July August 2014

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Tying the knot




Oddly enough, the
phrase ‘tying the knot’ comes from an old Irish tradition that symbolises the
bond of marriage in the same way that the exchanging of rings does in most ceremonies
today.

At the point in
the ceremony where the bond between husband and wife is signified, the couple
clasp their hands together, and a ribbon, cord, or rope – often brightly
coloured is wound around
their joined hands as a symbol of their agreement to spend their lives
together.

This is a Celtic
tradition to which the Scottish also lay claim, and there’s plenty of evidence
to suggest it was widespread throughout Europe at one point. It was even part of
the British royal wedding in 2011.  ( source: Irish Central)

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An Eclectic Collection of old photos from negatives


Old images from The Market.

Jimmy Hickey in 1970. I don’t know who the young lady is.

Athea Baby Show 1970

Josephine McEnery at the creamery Athea 1973



Jimmy Hickey’s Dancing Class, Knockbrack, Knocknagoshel

Writers’ Week, Dan Keane and Maureen Beasley and a return to the sky garden

By

On May 29, 2014

In Uncategorized

Three of Listowel’s great unsung heroes of The Arts; Jet Stack R.I.P., Maureen BeasleyR.I.P. and Jimmy Hickey. These three have played their parts in preserving folk traditions in music, verse and dance and have all done North Kerry and its literary heritage a great service.

Another of the great stalwarts of the North Kerry literary tradition is Dan Keane. He has left us a legacy of poems, ballads and stories and some great memories.

This poem by Dan is a tribute to his friend, Jet Stack:

Mr. Garrett Stack 

If you are out to learn dancing

Take a tip from me,

Go through Listowel and Greenville

Until you reach Scartlea,

Go all the way to Scartlea Cross

Then count two houses back,

There you will find the maestro

That’s Mr. Garrett Stack.

That is his Baptismal title

But he’s never used it yet,

He is no way sanctimonious

He is always known as “Jet”,

He will make you very welcome

With tea and home cooked ham,

And if he is scarce in sugar,

He will give you plenty jam.

He will quickly come to dancing,

It will only take a while,

To show you reels and figures,

In every kind of style,

He will show you steps and polkas,

Like jewels from days of yore,

And he will even demonstrate

He is tasty on the floor.

Now if you ever doubt me

I have witnesses to prove,

That even first class dancers,

He can tutor and improve,

He is not the slightest selfish,

His glory’s greatest crown,

Is his patriotic willingness,

To hand his dancing down.

He is also a musician

And in case you might not know it,

He is good at prose and poetry

A writer and a poet.

He is witty and good humoured,

And a joke he’s good to crack,

So don’t forget three cheers for “Jet”,

That’s Mr. Garrett Stack.

By Dan Keane

I think the lines “His glory’s greatest crown is his patriotic willingness to hand his dancing down.” sum up what Writers’ Week is all about….handing on the torch to the next generation of writers. Who knows? a future John B. or Bryan might be in our midst here on the streets of Listowel this week.

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Another old photo from Writers’ Week of times gone by






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Mardyke Garden




Do you remember that I went to Fitzgerald’s Park last week to view the Diarmuid Gavin sky garden? This garden cost over a million euros. Well, it took just one week for the children of Cork to wreck it.

Children taking turns climbing on the giant stainless steel spheres.

The plants in this section never stood a chance.

These paths through the garden were lined with blue stepping stones last week.

Yet again, the café couldn’t cope with demand.

The lovely rose beds of old are gone. The colorful roses are replaced by dull drab green plants.

Dead and damaged plants abound.

Dotted throughout the park are lovely gems, like this Oisín Kelly dancer.

In defense of Cork’s children let me say that there was no sign to say that this garden was to be looked at and admired, not treated like a playground. Those big silver sphere’s are far too tempting and they do look like the sort of thing you might see in a playground. I don’t know if the garden can be saved and replanted.  As it stands, it’s a disaster.

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D Day is near…. Saturday May 31 2014

Eileen Moylan of Claddagh will launch her beautiful creation in Craftshop na Méar at 7.00 p.m.

Page 7 of 8

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