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: Junior Griffin Page 10 of 11

McKenna’s Social, Corpus Christi and a Moloney family from Duagh

 McKenna’s Social from Junior Griffin  (continued)

At the request of the staff members I organised another trip in 1963, this time to Galway taking in Salthill also. The new Galway Cathedral was almost completed at that time and we spent a long time walking through and admiring this beautiful church.

My most abiding memory of that day was our stop in Ennis.

Through our then local travel agent, the late Michael Kennelly  I had organised lunch at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis and on arriving we all trooped in.There was many non staff members on this tour  also and I finished up at a table with just Tim Shanahan and myself. Many will remember Tim from the paint department and from the glass cutting at McKenna’s.

We were all viewing our menus when the swing doors from the kitchen area were literally burst open and in a John Wayne like swagger, what I would call a portly, pompous gentleman wearing a dickie bow  confronted us.

Standing in the middle of the room and clapping his hands he exclaimed, “Attention please, who is in charge here ?”.  I’m afraid the eyes of my colleagues turned to me and like a frightened school-boy and putting up my hand I retorted, “I am sir”. Turning to the waiter and clicking his fingers and then pointing towards me , “Waiter,” he said, “that gentleman  is free”

Yes, I did get my free lunch but it proved to be a costly one  for many years to follow, as when any discussion of food came up at shop level Tim Shanahan would always remark;  “Ah, you did me out of a meal. If you had said that I organized that trip with you, I would have got a free meal that day above in Ennis as well.”

Just a few memories of days gone by, as said previously our staff social went from strength to strength for many years after, even getting tickets for McKenna’s social at times were harder to come by than a ticket for a  Kerry/Dublin All Ireland final. 

Thank you Junior for those lovely memories

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Some more photos of people walking in the Corpus Christi procession 2013

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Fr Denis Moloney with  his sister and his father, John Moloney of Islandanny, Duagh.

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Update

Máire MacMahon’s picture is quite a talking point. Maura Brennan of Colbert Street and now New York contacted Margaret Dillon to give us 2 extra names.

Back Row second from left is Sheila Brosnan of Woodford.

Second from right is Noreen O’Connor McAleer of Ballygologue and now Chicago 

McKenna’s social and Parker’s Pub

Ger Greaney came into possession of this great photo from McKenna’s social in 1968. Junior Griffin can name everyone and he will in time.

In the meantime I bring you a short history of the social as told to me by Junior. The Kerryman photos and ads were kindly sought out for me by the County Archivist, Michael Lynch.

Back in the 1960s very few young people had cars and an excursion in a bus was a real treat. Junior organized just such a treat for McKenna’s staff. They went on a day trip around the Ring of Kerry in August 1961. Unfortunately no photos remain of that great day out.

As Michael O’Neill was thanking Junior for organizing the trip he put it to him that they should have another treat in Winter and he proposed that they organize a Social. For the benefit of my younger followers, a Social was a dinner dance, organized for a group who worked together or who belonged to the same club. They were very popular in the 60s and 70s.

Junior ran with the idea and, beginning in 1962, McKenna’s Social became the most sought after ticket in town. You did not have to work in McKenna’s to attend and sometimes between 260 and 300 people were there.

The organizing committee brought bands from as far away as Tipperary and spot prizes were sourced from far and near. In fact the spot prizes were often the talk of the town for long after.

Word of this glittering social event reached the national media and Patsy Dyke, social columnist with The Sunday Press was dispatched to cover it one year. I wonder if anyone kept the cutting!

Many a Listowel romance started on the first or second Monday in January at McKenna’s Social.

Mrs. McKenna presenting the door prize to Jim Sheahan in 1962. A young Jack McKenna is also in the photo

John Griffin, Richard Kiely, Michael O’Neill, Brendan Daly and J.J. Daly who organised McKenna’s Social in 1962

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Dame St. Dublin on Saturday last Jan 26 2013. What an ass!

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Rathkeale in the 1950s. Gone for a quick one on the way home from the creamery, perhaps.

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Danny Healy-Rae’s daft and totally unenforceable cure for the loneliness of isolated rural people, which he managed to get through Kerry County Council with the help of three publicans and the son of a publican got way too much publicity for my liking.

Very little publicity is being given to a North Kerry publican who has a way better solution to the problem.

Parker’s pub in Kilflynn provide a taxi service to get their customers home safely. All the fun of the school bus and no ridiculous “permits” necessary.

Parker’s also have a great website to keep Kilflynn people up to date with what’s happening in their area, all from the comfort of your own home.

http://www.parkerspub.com/index.htm

Now that’s a sensible method of combatting the problem of rural isolation. Why is the media giving this no publicity?

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R.I.P. Eamon de Buitléar

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Jer brings us this piece of football news;

Stephen Stack winner of All-Ireland SFC medals in 1986 and 1997,  will take charge of Austin Stacks in 2013. Stephen  played with and managed Listowel Emmets. Then last year he  managed Bray Emmets. 

Junior’s Christmas Wish and a flavour of Christmas 2012 in town

Christmas in Listowel in photos

 Allos

Claire delivers some Christmas mail to Brenda in Woulfe’s Bookshop.

St. Mary’s

Christmas display in Listowel Veterinary Clinic

Lawlee’s

 KDYS

Busy man

Pierse Walsh of John R’s helps a customer with a hamper.

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A Christmas poem from Junior Griffin

MY CHRISTMAS WISH

Oh
Lord, when we give this Christmas time,

Do
teach us how to share

The
gifts that you have given us

With
those who need our care,

For
the gift of Time is sacred~

The
greatest gift of all,

And
to share our time with others

Is
the answer to your call,

For
the Sick, the Old and Lonely

Need
a word, a kindly cheer

For
every precious minute

Of
each day throughout the Year,

So,
in this Special Season

Do
share Your Time and Love

And
you’re Happy, Holy Christmas

Will
be Blessed by Him above

Junior
Griffin

                                                                                            Listowel



Jer photographed a few people I missed at Vincent’s launch, including my good self  and our poet, Junior, with his brother, Bert.

Late news just in;  A little birdie told me that Vincent Carmody might feature on Liveline today talking to Joe about his book.

Christmas in the workhouse, photos from Vincent’s launch

  Both Junior Griffin and Michael Lynch, county archivist, sent me accounts from newspapers of the time (very early 20th. century) of Christmas in Listowel workhouse. Here is the first of those accounts from The Kerryman Jan 5 1907 and I will bring you the others over the next few days

XMAS TREAT
AT LISTOWEL WORKHOUSE

Human
nature is so selfish that the great majority of us never think of the miseries
and misfortunes of our poorer brethren. 
We are so much engrossed with our own little affairs that we rarely go
out of our way to give a helping hand to those who most need it.  And for that reason we doubly value the
generosity and kindliness of heart which prompted Mrs. Foran, lady guardian for
Listowel and vice-Chairman of the Board to institute an annual Christmas treat
for the workhouse children. 

We were present at the entertainment on Tuesday
night at the Union schoolrooms and one would require to be present to
thoroughly appreciate the happiness which was brought even for a few short
hours into the lives of the little ones which cruel destiny has decreed to
spend their youth in the Workhouse.  For
weeks the children look forward with pleasure to the entertainment and it would
be no exaggeration to say that it is their happiest hour in the whole long
year.  Smiling faces everywhere and it
was an inspiration to watch the gleam of pleasure in the children’s eyes as
they received one of the toys from the Christmas trees artistically placed at
the head of the school room, which was turned into a veritable fairy land.  And then the playing of the Brass band – the
members of which who, so kindly and generously attended – sent a thrill of
delight through the little ones which found expression in a joyous cheer for
their fair benefactress.


  Truly the few
hours, fading and evanescent though they may be brought joy and gladness into
the lives of the little ones.  The first
night of the New Year was to them a pleasurable one, and no matter what their
lot may be in after years, their annual Christmas treat will be a sweet and
pleasant memory.  We would wish that all
the other Unions in Kerry would follow the example given by Mrs. Foran and her
lady friends and bring happiness into the cheerless lives of the children.  To Mrs. Foran particularly, the originator of
the Christmas entertainment in Listowel, the best thanks of the community are
due for the charity and warmth of heart which prompts her to bring so much
happiness into the lives of the poor little waifs who are compelled to spend
their innocent youths in the cheerless surroundings of a workhouse.

>>>>>

From The Advertiser

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Very, very nearly there!

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Joanne Dillon, a good friend of this blog discovered this Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/Wistorical?goback=%2Egmp_1189897%2Egde_1189897_member_191767043

It has all kinds of interesting historical stuff including a piece about this man;

The O’Rahilly

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Sunday Dec. 9 2012 in the ballroom of The Listowel Arms

A few more photos from the launch

Billy Keane, Jerry Kennelly and Jimmy Deenihan

Ann and Oonagh Hartnett

Vicent’s sister, Maura and his wife, Kathleen

Some old stories and photos…. and a smile or two

Look what I found? It’s none other than our own Junior receiving a handball shield in 1959.

A good few years later; St Michael’s College Badminton team, U16 Schools County Champions 1993.

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John Scanlon, formerly of  The Spinning Wheel Restaurant in Main Street and who now lives in Limerick, was the subject of an interesting story in 2009. Here is the link

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/a-bike-please-letters-in-chimney-reveal-requests-of-santa-in-1929-1252313.html

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Jer. Kennelly unearthed these few snippets from old newspapers for us:

Kerryman Feb. 24th 1912 reports, AOH paid out in 1906, $483,073 in sick and funeral benefits and $73,737 for charitable purposes.

In 22 years AOH paid $7,174,156 for funerals etc and paid for charity sake $4,481,146. They also gave $50,000 to Washington University.

Kerryman of March 2nd 1912; Death of Mrs Cronin of Toor, Duagh on 16 Feb. 1912, she had a big family including, J Cronin, Inland Revenue, Sheffield. J J Cronin Admiralty, London. J T Cronin  GPO London.

Duagh meeting of Ancient Order of Hibernians told to insure with 1 penny per week and member got £10 for death of a father and £6 for death of a mother.

Death of Mrs Michael Stack of Fahabane, Kilflynn, her brother Fr Scollard, daughter Mrs Brosnan and Sr. Dympna Stack in Mercy Convent Swinford.

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One would love to get a hair do in such a polite salon.

>>>>>>

A lover of irony called Schnobbles spotted this in the capital.

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Draw more cash

Or I’ll shoot you

You bastard!’

I drew and drew

And the next thing I knew

I had created millions,

Trillions, gazillions.

Artist/poet Mike O’Donnell cheers us up with his wry little poem and accompanying sketch.

More here:

http://www.courtsketcher.com/

>>>>>>

Jer. Kennelly was in Dublin at the farmers’ protest and he brought his video camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCkbDWMfCjk&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwpzs7oepaA&feature=youtu.be

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