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
Kanturk always looks well. It has a very hard working Tidy Town Group, a Men’s Shed and a very involved local community.
The grotto at Greenane is always beautifully maintained.
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A Few More from My Brehon Law Book
“The laws were a civil rather than a criminal code, concerned with the payment of compensation for harm done and the regulation of property, inheritance and contracts; the concept of state-administered punishment for crime was foreign to Ireland’s early jurists. They show Ireland in the early medieval period to have been a hierarchical society, taking great care to define social status, and the rights and duties that went with it, according to property, and the relationships between lords and their clients and serfs.” Wikipedia
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Some People at the Hospice Coffee Morning
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Things Fall Apart !
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St. Patrick’s Hall’s New Sign
This is how it used to look with the old white sign
This is how St. Patrick’s Hall looks today with its glamorous new gold sign.
I spotted Martin Chute erecting this one. He did a beautiful job, as usual.
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A Fact
Even though the first newspaper crossword appeared in a US newspaper in 1913, it took until November 2 1924 before a crossword was published in an English paper, The Sunday Express.
Linngorm Community Hall, Kanturk on Friday, October 25 2024
I was delighted to meet so many old friends like Liz, Catherine and Susan
These are just some of the Boherbue ladies who came
My cousin, John Brosnan, with my brother Pat and me
Great to be among family, my family and Pat’s
The celebrations spilled over into the next day in Thomas Brown’s. Mary Lynch remembers my late sister well. They were in the same class and sat next to each other in the pew for First Homy Communion.
Apart altogether from launching my book, a trip home is always a joy. Being among my own people, people who knew “all belonging to me”, and who knew me “before I was famous” brings back so many memories.
I wasn’t allowed to have my phone to take pictures on the launch night so I’m hoping to have some more when people get round to sharing them.
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Iconic Stucco Work in Abbeyfeale
I was in Abbeyfeale last week and I spotted that the beautiful McAuliffe plasterwork has been painted. Isn’t it beautiful?
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Knockanure’s Unique Church
Photo and text from RTE website
Less than ten kilometres outside Listowel lies a simple structure that belongs to the first generation of modern Irish church architecture. The building is strikingly modernist, as is the artwork inside, but the young architect also reached back into the Hiberno-Romanesque ecclesiastical tradition.
Corpus Christi church in the village of Knockanure, near Moyvane, in North Kerry was regarded as a break with traditional church architecture and a modern fit-for-purpose design. This chapel of ease was commissioned in 1960 and its opening and blessing took place on 21 April 1964. Michael Scott of Michael Scott & Partners (later Scott Tallon Walker Architects) won the commission to construct the new church, with partner Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Tallon (1927 – 2014) designing it. Tallon would then establish the philosophy of the practice for the inclusion and integration of artworks in their buildings.
The Lightness of a Concrete Slab Roof
Corpus Christi is a Roman Catholic church in the International Modern style. It expresses a very simple concept: an open, unified space, like a temple on a podium, overlooking the valley of Knockanure. It is a double-height, flat-roofed, single-cell with four-bay side elevations. To the south-east side of the church is a freestanding iron belfry, built c. 1965, possibly incorporating the bell of earlier church. The most beautiful feature of the design is the church’s clear span, with its concrete roof, a series of T-beams cast in-situ, delicately floating in space above a transparent glass wall. This diffuses light through the interior and helps to express the quality of the board-marked concrete used in the shuttering for the beams.
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Still More Photos from the Hospice Coffee Morning
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A Corner of Tralee
The James Hotel
A pillar post box
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A Fact
The first newspaper crossword appeared in The New York World in 1913.
Our first washing machine!!!!!! You had to boil the water elsewhere: in our case, in a Burko boiler. You filled the drum the water and the washing, added the detergent, covered it and turned it on. When the washing was done, you fished it out with a wooden tongs and fed it through the mangle, pulled the machine to the sink to drain off the water and then repeated the operation with clean water to rinse the detergent from the clothes.
This machine was regarded as a labour saving device in 1960’s Ireland. It was the much maligned twin tub. The spin dryer had replaced the mangle for extracting as much moisture as possible from the washed clothes. The washing was washed in one compartment/tub which had to be filled with water from the tap. I dont ever remember a twin tub being plumbed in. The water had to be drained off and the clothes transferred to the second tub for spinning. These had to be loaded carefully so that the weight was evenly distributed. Otherwise the machine would do a mad dance around the floor. There were no tumble dryers so the the spun garments had to be hung out on a clothesline to dry.
Washing was a day’s work.
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Some Pres. Girls
I’m sure someone will name them for us, or maybe even one of themselves.
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Our Millenium Arch
Our first arch was blown down in a storm and this is the replacement.
This picture is from 2016
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The Book Tour is Coming to Kanturk
The Kanturk launch of Moments of Reflection will be in The Linngorm Community Hall, (P51 YC57) on Friday next, October 25 2024 at 7.30 p. m.
The children are rehearsing their readings and the hostess, Breeda, is trying out a few mouthwatering tray bakes.
I’m looking forward to a great evening among family and old friends.
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A Few Brehon Laws
The Brehons had no legal tender. all transactions were settled by barter.
Then, as now, location is everything.
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People at a Coffee Morning
On October 17 2024 these lovely people were in The Listowel Arms Hotel supporting the Kerry Hospice.
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A Fact
The world’s first speed limit regulation was in the UK in 1903. It was 20mph.
Kanturk, my hometown. was looking good when I visited last week.
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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
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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.
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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
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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 premises in Kanturk is now the home of Yumm café but when I was growing up it was the home of Sarah and John O’Connor. This couple were the salt of the earth, Sarah, in particular, was involved in everything in town. She was in the Legion of Mary, Comhaltas, every play and show in the Edel Quinn Hall, the youth club, the bible study group and more.
Importantly, in the days before internet, emails and Zoom, Sarah typed up a twice yearly newsletter that was eagerly anticipated and much appreciated by Kanturk people who lived far from home. England was far in the days before cheap air travel. Sarah gathered all the news of births, marriages and deaths and anything else of interest . She was journalist, typist and post woman.
Whenever I met Sarah away from Kanturk she was always good for the “stand”, a selfless generous saint of a woman. May she rest in peace.
By the way the 1900 over the building signifies that it was a national school, the first in Kanturk.
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From 2007
The Farmers Market was busy on Fridays in 2007
Dillon Boyer R.I.P, Pat and the late Mrs Walsh met up with Junior Griffin.
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Nettle Soup
Yesterday I told you that it is recommended we eat nettle soup twice a day in May. Yesterday too I met up with my friend, Liz Dunn, and she had a story for us about nettle soup.
Liz and Jim watch Clarkson’s Farm. This TV programme which they watch on Amazon Prime follows Jeremy Clarkson’s adventures on his farm.
One of the workers on Jeremy’s farm is Lucca Allen, son of Rachel Allen. Lucca, one day, made nettle soup for Jeremy and it is now a staple on the menu on Clarkson’s Farm.
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A Fact
The San people of southern Africa use a set of tools that dates back 44,000 years.
