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: Listowel Foodfair 2024

After the Snow

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On November 22, 2024

In Listowel

John Kelliher’s photo of snowy Listowel on November 21 2024

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Meeting Eleanor

In Manor in Tralee earlier this week I met this lady for the first time. This is none other than Eleanor (Walsh) Belcher whose vivid memories of a happy childhood growing up in Listowel have entertained you all. It was great to meet a very popular contributor to Listowel Connection. I hope that meeting her has stirred up the memory bank and maybe she will put pen to paper while she is in Kerry. She has the writing gene and her reminiscences are a pleasure to read.

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Young Entrepreneur

On my way home from Tralee I popped in to Kelly’s to buy the great Lyreacrompane Journal and I was impressed by this display outside the shop.

These beautifully crafted and painted flower boxes are the work of an enterprising young man. I’ll have to call back to get more details.

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The Recipies

A novel way of cooking your turkey from Mary Lavery

And for Margaret here is the plum pudding recipe…

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More from the Food fair Craft Fair 2024

Olive Stack, artist has turned her hand to wearable art. Her charming, unique micro mosaics are little keepsake pieces, ideal for gifting to someone away or at home.

Delia O’Donoghtue always has lovely pots. Her wildlife collection is absolutely beautiful.

From wearable art we go to edible art. Fifi Shades of Cake’s pieces have to be seen to be believed

When I met Sarah for the second time she had a bevy of female relations gathered around her stall.

Copies of the Foodfair calendar were available to buy.

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Promoting my book on Talkabout

I had a great chat with Deirdre on Talkabout on Radio Kerry last week. I told her all about Thade Kelly’s Hen as well as rabbiting on a bit about pet funerals and useless but precious tat.

Here is the link…

My Interview with Deirdre Walsh on Talkabout

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A Fact

Elephants can hear one another’s trumpeting calls from a distance of up to 5 miles away.

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A Christmas Story, a Craft Fair and a New Poetic Voice

By

On November 20, 2024

In Duagh, Listowel, Poem

Church Street, November 2024

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Kerry in 1901

I found this picture of a market day in Killarney in 1901 on the internet. Houses are thatched. Horses and carts are where tractors would be nowadays.

Meanwhile in Tralee

The local painting and decorating firm of John J. Foley painted this magnificent ceiling in the convent chapel at Balloonagh.

The market place is constantly changing. Art is forever.

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A Christmas Story

By Maura Laverty

Charity shops are full of treasures. This is the marvellous Christmas book I found in St. Vincent de Paul charity shop in Listowel. It dates back 50 or 60 years and is an insight into a world that is fading into memory.

The following story from Maura Laverty is a gem.

Turron is very like nougat. It is thought to originally be a kind of halva brought to Spain by the Moors. It was a confection of honey, egg whites and nuts.

Now read on.

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Listowel Food Fair 2024 Craft Fair

On the Sunday of the Food Fair there is always an exceptional craft fair held in The Listowel Arms. Here are just a few of the highlights.

The lovely entrance bower set the scene for the picturesque displays within.

Mom’s Porter Cake business is about so much more than just porter cake. The mom here, Sherley, is not the mom who gave her name to the business. Sherley’s mom inspired her and now she is passing on the skills and the recipes to the next generation. She sells every kind of confection from Christmas cakes the size of cupcakes to huge celebration cakes. I bought a little porter cake and it was delicious.

Josie is always a pleasure to meet at a craft fair. I raised a false rumour here that she was retiring from knitting. She told me she was. But thanks to the miracle of cataract surgery she is back in business and knitting more than ever. Her babies’ cardigans and toys are heirlooms to be treasured by generations. Lovely lady and lovely craftwork! If you want a unique handmade baby present, Josie is the woman to meet.

I love this man’s honey. He is Jean louis Valentin and his honey is called Trieneragh Honey, after the home address of his bees. He is also a skilled craftsman in wood, producing beautiful wooden products. He is a previous winner at Listowel Food Fair. Jean Louis is always up for a chat. He is a great people person and his stall is always a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds.

The hard working Sarah Fitzgerald took a minute off from organising Food Fair 2024 and selling her Green Green Gate Kombucha. Sarah posed for me with mom, Peggy, and aunt, Carmel, three lovely ladies, always a pleasure to meet.

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A Poem

Today’s poem comes from a lovely new anthology by a new poet, Anne Donegan.

This beautiful stylish little book is in the local shops now. It has many charming poems, some with a local flavour, that will bring a memory, a tear or a smile.

Here is an example;

It took a poet to see the potential in this heart shaped stone and to craft this lovely thought provoking poem.

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A Fact

The name of the legendary Lady Godiva’s horse was Aethenoth.

(You can thank me when it comes up in the table quiz.)

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