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 Writers’ Week Page 3 of 5

1975 Cinderella, Spectators at the tennis and Listowel Writers Week Literary Evenings.

Robin in The National Park photographed by Chris Grayson

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Listowel Tennis in the 1980s


Watching a tennis game are Denis O’Rourke (standing) and the late Paudie Finnegan (seated).



Miriam Croghan and Jacintha Egan

Photos; Danny Gordon

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1975 Panto




This old newspaper clip of some of the cast of Cinderella in 1975 brought back many many happy memories.

One sad fact I was reminded of is that Mary Dooley who played Cinderella was tragically killed in a Road Traffic Accident a few years after this happy time leaving behind a young husband and family.

At the other end of the scale another blog follower told me that there is a video of this panto somewhere and the drag show at the intermission is hilarious.

If you have real photos or would like to pen a few memories, there is an audience out there hungry to relive those happy busy winter days in 1970s  Listowel.

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Listowel Writers’ Week Literary Evenings




You are still in time to catch the last of these tonight. This partnership between Writers’ Week and The Rose Hotel Tralee has added a whole new dimension to the festival and brought in a whole new local audience.

Because these soirees were free it was an ideal opportunity to sample a literary event and maybe find that it wasn’t quite so literary after all but warm, welcoming and accessible. The interviewers and guests have all done an excellent job, the venue is intimate and elegant and all in all this is a super venture and must be repeated.

On Weds January 23rd I went to hear Deirdre Walsh interview Carmel Harrington and came away eager to read the book. It was a lovely evening.

Mark, on behalf of The Rose Hotel, did the welcoming.

The inimitable Seán Lyons, on behalf of Writers’ Week, did the introducing.

Deirdre Walsh did the interviewing.

Here is the best selling author of seven novels with some of her Kerry friends, Mark Sullivan, Máire Logue, Liz and Jin Dunn and Deirdre Walsh (seated)

Posing with our books are Seán Lyons, Mary Cogan, Joan O’Regan and Mairead Costelloe.

Just like at Writers’ Week people queued to have books signed.

Just for a night, Liz forgot about Marie Kondo and the pleasures of decluttering. Anyway, this one sparked joy.

I missed the next one which was the very popular Tomi Riechenthal.

Tonight it’s the last in the series, the spoken word poet, Stephen James Smith. Should be a good one.

This series has been a resounding success. Thanks are due to Seán Lyons and Mark Sullivan for dreaming it up and to Listowel Writers’ Week  for organising another great project.  I think I can safely predict that this venture will be repeated.

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Big Night in Store for The Dublin Kerry Crowd




Everyone is welcome

Mayor’s Award for LWW, Garda John O’Donnell R.I.P.. Auction at Gurtinard House and changes on Charles Street

Listowel Garda Station in 2019




Church Street, Listowel, January 2019


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Mayor’s Award for Writers’ Week

The great literary festival that is Listowel Writers’Week was recognised last week at the presentation of the Mayor of Kerry’s awards,

If ever there was a definition of blue sky thinking, Writers’ Week is a living example. The literary festival goes from strength to strength. Now it is expanding outside a short week in summer into a year long engagement with other festivals and events. The visionary committee well deserves this award.

Accepting the award on behalf of everyone in Listowel Writers’ Week are;

Left to Right; Eilish Wren, Joanna O’Flynn, Máire Logue, Norma Foley (Mayor)

 Madeleine O’Sullivan, Miriam Griffin and Elizabeth Dunn

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The Late Garda John O’Donnell




I told this story before in 2012 but I think it’s worth telling again.

Garda John O’Donnell who was in his early thirties was stationed in Kanturk, Co. Cork.  In the summer of 1940 he was on holiday in Ballybunion with his wife and three young children.  He told a relative that he would have preferred to holiday in his native Burtonport but petrol was rationed during the war  and he couldn’t secure enough fuel for the journey.

On the evening of July 20 1940 he was swimming near Castle Point when a freak wave swept him and other swimmers on to the rocks. John drowned while attempting to rescue two local girls, Vera and Patricia O’Carroll. The girls were eventually rescued by others who were present.

Listowel’s Dr. Joseph McGuire was the coroner who presided over the inquest which was held on the following day. The jury commended Mr. Jack McGuire, then a medical student, for his bravery in taking out a life buoy into rough seas in a vain attempt to  save John O’Donnell who was being dragged out to sea by the strong current.

In an extra tragic twist, the body of John O’Donnell was formally identified by his brother who was then only 17 years old.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, letters were published in The Kerryman calling for life guards on Ballybunion beach and the presence of a rescue boat and a competent crew to man it.

Garda O’Donnell was remembered in Kanturk, where he had been living for six years, as a quiet, unobtrusive, helpful brave man. 

He was posthumously decorated by the state for his bravery. 

This courageous man was the grandfather of the very talented artist, playwright and composer Mike O’Donnell.

Dave O’Sullivan found a few newspaper cuttings relevant to the awful tragedy.

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Auction at Gurtinard House in 1868


In June of 1868, Lord Listowel’s agent, James Murray Home sold everything in Gurtinard House in an “unreserved auction”. The notice was published in the Evening Post of May 23 with a list of items to be disposed of. It makes interesting reading

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Then and Now




Charles Street, January 2019

RTE DJs, The Armstrongs of Gurtinard House, Rev. Robert Ronayne and Writers Week at The Rose Hotel

The Base at Listowel Community Centre in 2019

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This Rte Guide cover from 1984 appeared on Twitter to mark Larry Gogan’s move to RTE Gold. Can you name all the Radio 2 DJs? I can’t.

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Old Photo of Gurtinard House



This house which is now a guesthouse was once owned by the Armstrong family who ran the sweet factory by the river.

Patrick McCrea who is the grandson of the Armstrongs who lived here sent us this photo of the house and the following photo of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong of Gurtinard House, Listowel.






This is an old postcard with the sweet factory on the right.

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An illustrious Corkman who married into the Sandes family




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Great New Initiative by Listowel Writers’ Week



An International Award for Listowel Documentary Maker. A Poem of a Still Born baby

St. John’s Listowel, October 2018

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A Well Deserved win for a great documentary


A good story, no matter how old or how local can have universal appeal. This has been proven by the recent choice of Conor Keane’s Shame, Love in Shame for an international award.

Here is what RTE says in its Facebook page;

We’re delighted to have just won 1st prize in the International Radio category (across all genres of radio) at the 65th Premios Ondas in Spain. Over 300 entries from across the globe competing in radio, Tv and music. Our winning documentary was entitled ‘In Shame, Love, In Shame’. Huge congratulations to Conor Keane (Narrator & Producer) and Liam O’Brien (Producer).
The awards ceremony takes place on the red carpet of Liceu Theatre in Barcelona in front of 2,500 guests on November 14th.
Listen back to our newest award winning doc!
https://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2018/0807/983666-shame-love-in-shame/

You may remember that St. John’s presented the documentary to us on Culture Night and we got an opportunity to hear from the people behind the retelling of this tragic story.

Brina Keane and Eileen Roche in St. John’s on Culture Night 2018. Both Brina and Eileen feature in the documentary.

On stage in St. John’s, Dr. Mary MacAuliffe whose balanced  in depth knowledge of the times in which this sad story is set gave us the historical context for the tragedy, Eileen Roche, first cousin of Peggy McCarthy, one of the two tragic victims in this story, Conor Keane narrator and producer of the documentary and Tony Guerin who fictionalised the story in his drama, Solo Run.

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All Ireland Wren Boy Winners




Majella McGregor shared this lovely old photo on Facebook. It evoked many happy memories. Wouldn’t it be great is someone could name them all.

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Is This The Saddest Poem Ever?


I didn’t do a great job of photographing it from the newspaper

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The Charming old Building that houses Ballybunion Library







The Ballybunion Library building was once St. Augustine’s (Church of Ireland), a single-storey Gothic Revival style church. The walls are of snecked limestone with Portland stone dressings. The entrance is through a projecting porch.

What’s interesting is that St. Augustine’s was originally built at Rattoo, near Ballyduff in 1879. However, after the Church of Ireland structure at Ballybunion was knocked down in the 1950s, it was decided to move St Augustine’s to Ballybunion. It was actually dismantled stone by stone, transported and reconstructed on the current site in its exact original state.  

(Source; Ballybunion.ie)



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………In with the New




At Listowel Writers’ Week AGM in The Seanchaí on Tuesday, Oct 23 2018, Catherine Moylan (right) took over the chair from outgoing chairman, Elizabeth Dunn.

Catherine described herself as “a child of Writers’ Week” Since childhood, Writers’ Week has been the highlight of Catherine’s year. She loves books.  She loves reading.  She loves Listowel. Above all, she loves the festival that is Writers’ Week. She will be a great chairman.

Hay and Tae in Bromore in Summer 2018, Ballybunion and Smores

Life’s a Beach…Ballybunion July 2018

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Hay and Tae in Bromore


Every year Michael Flahive organises a unique event at his farm near Ballybunion. This year in ideal weather his meitheal saved the hay the old fashioned way. A man who posts on Facebook as Salva Tore took these priceless photos.

This is the meitheal gathered for the photo when the work was done.

This is how they took the photo from that angle. No drone here.

Here the men are piking the gathered hay on to the wynn and Michael is spreading it and shaping the cock. There is a special skill in that job. You do not want to peak too soon. My poor dead mother would have a heart attack if she saw that man in bare feet with so many pikes about.

This haymaking was done to musical accompaniment.

You’ve heard of piping the captain on board his ship or piping the bride into the wedding breakfast but this is a new one, piping the farmer on to the wynn.

 What a lovely picture as Michael holds the next farmer who may make hay in a different way.

Sliding off the wynn can take a bit of skill too. Dried hay can be very slippery.

All the loose hay is combed down from the wynn and the whole lot is secured with a súgán. A súgán is a rope made from twisted hay.

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Late Evening Ballybunion July 2018


 My young visitors were playing in the sea until late evening every evening.

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Sunny’s Hair and Beauty, Church Street

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Please sir, may I have s’more


Here are my grandchildren and friend roasting marshmallows over a disposable barbecue to make smores.

I never heard of this delicacy until last week but its amazing what you can learn from children.

s’more is a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a fire-roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker.[1] National S’mores Day is celebrated annually on August 10.[2] The Guinness World Record for number of people making s’mores at one time was 423, set April 21, 2016, in Huntington Beach, California.[3  



That last is not from the children. It’s from Wikipaedia. We didn’t have Graham crackers so we 

improvised with digestive biscuits.


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John B. Keane Festival



As part of the festival to celebrate John B. Keane on July 19 to 21 2018, there will be an 

exhibition of photographs at

The Seanchaí. Here is one from the Seanchaí’s collection


Some of the founders of Listowel Writers’ Week with Marie Keane of RTE.


Seamus Wilmot, John B. Keane, Bryan MacMahon, Marie Kean and Tim Danaher

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