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: Killarney House

Killarney House, the ball alley , Pilgrim Hill and Armistice Day 2018 in Listowel

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On November 12, 2018

In Uncategorized

Dahlia blooming in October

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Beautiful Killarney House and Gardens


If you haven’t already visited Killarney House, do put it on your bucket list. it’s a really excellent visitor attraction with something for the historian, the gardener, the art lover and now for the children as well.


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Upgrading the Ballalley


Charlie Nolan was in the area when they started work on the ball alley. He took this photo before they plastered over the last of the graffiti.

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Holy Well near Pilgrim Hill


From the Dúchas folklore collection

Old Ruins, Kilmorna . Collector- Máire Bean Uí Catháin,

Informant Kathleen Brosnan(1) Gallán standing alone 3 1/2″ by 3″ by 1 1/2″ situated in the property of Mrs. Nora Brosnan, Lacca East, east of Kilmorna. It was an old burial-place.

Folklore.
The hill, on which this stone is situated, is called Pilgrim Hill.
According to the old people engineers, who visited the place fifty years ago, said it was the second oldest Church yard registered in Rome.
There is a well in the recently called an tobar mór and it was regarded by the old people as being a “blessed well”.
Beside the well there was a big mound of earth.


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North Kerry’s WW1 dead remembered



After a very moving mass of remembrance this wreath (crafted by Amazing Blooms, Listowel) was laid at the memorial stone in Listowel Town Square.

Listowel’s memorial plaque to the fallen is located at the rear of St. John’s Arts Centre in The Square.

Colour Party leaving St. Mary’s church after mass prior to marching across The Square for the wreath laying ceremony.

Pipers and drummer lead the dignitaries across The Square.

Listowel Marching Band, A Visit to Killarney House and a Seán MacCarthy song

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On November 7, 2018

In Uncategorized

Cahirdown, looking towards town

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Listowel Marching Band 1987



Charlie Nolan shared this great old photo with us.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone could name names and tell us the story. I know the marching band brings back happy memories for a few forty somethings.

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Killarney and Killarney House


Mons. Hugh O’Flaherty striding out beside the side entrance to Killarney House.

 In the garden

In Killarney House you can take a guided tour and learn all the history of the house which was once a stable. You will hear how the McShane family sold it to the state for a pittance and how the state spent millions restoring it to the beautiful national treasure it is today. You are not allowed to take photographs during this part.

Last month they opened 15 new self guided interactive rooms and that is where I took these photos.

There is lots of information on the ecosystems and the people in the National Park. It is all presented in accessible and varied format.

I took this through a window looking out on the vast lawns and gardens which link up with the gardens at Muckross House.

 Family photographs of Lord Kenmare (Killarney House was originally Kenmare House) tell us the interesting story of this family.

Lord Kenmare became Lord Castlerosse and he married Doris Delevigne. If that name is familiar it is because she  was a relative of the now famous Cara Delevigne.

All the signage and explanatory notes are in Irish and English. Edward V11 visited Killarney House when he was Prince of Wales. Queen Victoria visited too and more recently Charles and Camilla came here as part of their Irish tour.


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A Seán Mac Carthy Song

This is a very sad song of a mother who is encouraging her daughter to make the pragmatic but awful decision to marry for money and security rather than for love. This was in an Ireland when parents who knew poverty and hardship themselves appreciated the importance of land and money. Love was a luxury. You were lucky if it grew in a made match but many unions were unhappy unless you could find the mindset to count your blessings and make the best of your lot.

Mattie Lennon shared the lyrics with us.

DARLING KATE

You are fair of face, dear Kate, now you’re nearing twenty-one,

I hesitate to spoil your dreams, when your life has just begun.

Your father, he is old, a grah, and I am far from strong,

A dowry from John Hogan’s son would help us all along.

Just think of it, my darling Kate, you would own a motor car,

You’d wear fine linen next your skin and travel near and far.

Hogan’s lands stretch far and wide, from Rathea to Drummahead;

He owns sheep and cows and fine fat sows; pyjamas for the bed.

I know he’s tall and skinny, Kate, and his looks are not the best,

But beggars can’t be choosers, love, when you’re feathering your nest!

He’s been to college in the town; his shirts are always new,

What does it matter if he’s old, he’s just the man for you.

I know you love young Paddy Joe, him with the rakish eye,

I’ve seen the way you look at him whenever he goes by.

I will admit he’s handsome, Kate, but he doesn’t own a car,

Sure, he likes to fight and drink al night above in Sheehan’s bar.

Did I ever tell you, Kate a grah,  that I was pretty too?

The summer days seemed longer then, and the sky was always blue!

I was only gone nineteen, and your father fifty-three,

But he owned the land on which we stand and he seemed the man for me.

There was a young man lived next door, I loved with all my might,

It was his face that haunted me when your father held me tight;

I longed, dear Kate, down through the years, for the soft touch of his hand.

But young love is no substitute for ten acres of fine land.

You will wear a long white dress and a red rose in your hair,

I will throw confetti, Kate, the whole town will be there;

You will make a promise true, to honour and obey,

I will stand on your right hand, and I’ll sell my love away.

Tears are not for daytime, Kate, but only for the night,

You’ll have a daughter of your own and teach her wrong fro right;

Rear her strong and healthy, Kate, pray guidance from above.

Then one fine day when she’s nineteen—she might marry just for love. 

Killarney House and Gardens, Craftshop na Méar and another instalment of Vincent’s racing memories

By

On September 14, 2017

In Uncategorized

Chris Grayson took this photo of a peacock butterfly….more beautiful than any best dressed lady

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Killarney House and Gardens


Since it opened to the public I have been planning a visit here. It is breath taking. If you can at all, go there before the winter. I’m sure it will be still lovely but at the moment its magnificent…and it’s free.

This is the entrance on the Muckross Road. These things on top to the wall and gates look to me like a sceptre and crown, letting you know that this is no ordinary estate you are entering. It was once the seat of Lord Kenmare. It is now part of The National Park.

The restored gate lodge

The avenue at the front of the house is beautifully kept and the lawns are pristine but nothing prepared me for the staggering beauty of the formal borders and gardens behind the house.

The house itself is a fine house but it is the gardens that make a visit here a must. This present house of the McShain family is actually converted stables which was transformed into a dwelling house after their other house burned down.  The McShain family sold their estate to the Irish people for a peppercorn rent. The state spent seven million euros on the restoration work.

The restoration work here is faultless. Killarney House is now another jewel in the crown of Killarney’s many visitor attractions.

The dining room and living room are furnished just as the McShains left it. Mrs McShain died in 1998.  Many of the furnishings and fittings are relatively modern. In this it is very different to Muckross House. Both houses are well worth a visit.

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Listowel Tidy Town’s Vintage Day at Listowel Races


Saturday is my favourite day at The Races.  As they ramp up the excitement for this year’s event, Listowel Tidy Towns Committee have mounted a photo collage in their window display. There I am enjoying Vintage Day 2016..   Happy memories!

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Perfect Pairs Stylish revamp




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The Work of Some Local Artists on Craftshop na Méar Church St. Window


My Silver River Feale pendant by silversmith, Eileen Moylan

Listowel drawings by Maurice Hannon

Donkeys by Viveca Amato



Michael Tea Cozy by Frances O’Keeffe



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Some photos from Vincent Carmody

Here are some more of the photographs which I took on the trip over to the racecourse last Sunday morning, September 10 2017.

Nos 1 & 2 The entry to the stands from the town end along the river bank.

For those unfamilar with the course, it  is linked to the town by two foot bridges, one just off The Square and the second from the Greenville road.  There is a roadway that runs directly from the Tralee road to the racecourse.

There has been a tradition among traveller children to stand in the river under the bridge, crying ” Throw me down something, ” to those passing on the bridge above.  This year, I am afraid, due to the floods, the habit will be dis-continued. 

No 3, The Castle in the backround continues to play an important role in the tourist attractions of Listowel. Even though the races were first run in Listowel in 1858, the Fitzmaurice Castle has been the central and focal point of the town since the 1300s.

No 4,  A fellow course spotter that I met on Sunday morning, I suppose if you met him there next Saturday evening, he would be called,, ” The Last Man Standing”

No 5,  Gypsy Kathleen has a very prominent location in the Square. She might, just might, have a few winners before the week is out. One would never know what she would see in that crystal ball.

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