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: Lyreacrompane Page 3 of 6

Holy Well in Coolard, The Ball Alley, the Vincent de Paul shop and Michael Healy Rae in Woulfe’s

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On December 3, 2018

In Uncategorized

Sunday Morning Walk



Childers’ Park, Listowel Co. Kerry November 18 2018

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Well in Coolard  (Dúchas Collection)

There is a holy well in Coolard and many people visited it on certain days. The same prayers are said at every well and whilst saying it they make nine rounds. When people visit the well they take a bottle of the water home with them and some moss. The water of the above well cures sore throats and rheumatism. The water of the well is never used for any domestic purpose. There was a scarcity of water and the people took the water from the blessed well. They couldn’t get it to boil.

Rinn Tuirc School collection 10 5 1938.

St Bartholomew’s Well, Coolard, Lisselton

Collector Nancy Hanrahan-Informant- Michael Hanrahan, Age 60

The blessed well is situated in a thick wood near Coolard. The well is shallow and a stream of fresh water flows from it. Many people in the district visit the well three times a year, to pay rounds. They go around the well nine times and they say three rosaries. If they have not the rosaries finished when going around, they kneel by the well and finish them. When they are going home they leave money or holy pictures or pieces of cloth on the tree beside the well. Anyone having sores washes them in the water. They also take three sips of the water and also some water with them. The people living near the well use the water for household purposes. It is said that the well was situated farther up on the wood once. A woman washed clothes in it. Then it moved down to where it is at the present time.

Holy Wells 17 – 11- ’38

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Woodford Pottery Nativity



I love my Woodford Pottery crib. I will light a tea light in it every evening from now to Christmas.



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The Ball Alley



Listowel men of a certain age remember the ball alley with great fondness. There have been essays and poems written about the exploits of Listowel’s handballers. I don’t know if the Sheehy brothers who are commemorated on this seat were among the champions but they would have certainly enjoyed being reminded of the days when the ball alley was the centre of young men’s social calendar.




Some years ago in a project undertaken by the young people of Xistance Youth Café the walls of the now disused alley were decorated with graffiti. Over time the pictures have taken a battering from the weather but most are still intact and looking beautiful.



These Pictures are on the side walls. The end wall has had to be replastered.




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Second Time Around




One of my favourite Listowel shops is Second Time Around, the St. Vincent de Paul shop on Upper William Street. It is always staffed by smiling friendly volunteers and there are always great bargains to be had from the stock donated by some really kind  (and stylish) donors.



On Wednesday week when I called in I met these two lovely ladies, Ingrid and EileenR looking after the shop.



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A Booksigning at  Woulfe’s


Michael Healy Rae signing John Hartnett’s copy of his book, Time to Talk



Michael with John and the shop staff, Fiona, Mary and Brenda



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Lyre Postman Retires



(Photo and text from Joe Harrington on Facebook)




Our Postman, Seán O’Connell, on his last day as Lyreacrompane Postman delivering the mail to Norrie Connell, Carrigcannon on Friday November 30 2018. Seán has been the postman in the Lyreacrompane district for 38 years! Happy retirement Seán.


Winter Chills, Lyreacrompane, Sr. Aidan Quinlan, Sive at the Everyman and afternoon tea in The Arms

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On October 23, 2018

In Uncategorized

Rough Seas in Ballybunion

The wind was skinning as well.

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Lyreacrompane Mass Walk


Photo: Joe Harrington

This was the scene at the recent official first walk on the refurbished mass path walk in Lyreacrompane.

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Sr. Aidan Quinlan, A Martyr with a Listowel Connection

The extraordinary story of this exceptional lady was told to me by Mrs. Ella Corridan, née Quinlan. Mrs Corridan was a first cousin of Sr. Aidan and she is justifiably proud of her cousin’s achievements.

Sr. Aidan was born Elsie Quinlan, in Cork. She studied at UCC and obtained a Science degree. She entered the Dominican convent and, after further study, qualified as a medical doctor. She served in the Dominican mission in South Africa until her death.

Mrs. Corridan will never forget hearing of the death of her cousin. She remembers her mother’s awful distress on reading the account in the paper. 

It was a death that shocked the world.

Sr. Aidan was 37 and had been in South Africa for 14 years. She loved the people and they loved her in return.  These were the days of the very repressive apartheid regime, when black people lived in horrendous conditions of poverty and disease and they had no rights. Sr. Aidan lived among them and ministered to them. There are lots of stories of her kindness and her medical interventions which saved many lives. On the day of her death, her car was filled with food and clothes that she was taking to the poor people of her mission.

On November 10 1952, a mob had gathered in Duncan Village , a township in South Africa, to protest against the repressive regime. The ANC was organizing a campaign of defiance and these riots were happening frequently all over South Africa. Sr. Aidan had no reason to fear for her safety because she was on the side of the rioters. But when her car drove into the view of the rioters they saw only a white woman and not their friend. They attacked her car with stones and, while she was still inside, clutching her rosary beads, they set her car on fire. Then came the worst part of her vicious death. They took knives and cannibalised her body. This act shocked South African people and they were thoroughly ashamed of it, apologizing for years afterwards to the family and community of Sr. Aidan.

The police killed many black people in that Duncan Village riot. The killers of Sr. Aidan were subsequently prosecuted, tried and executed. Luckily all of her fellow sisters escaped before the rioters attacked and burned the convent.

Sr. Aidan is not forgotten in South Africa. A community centre in her name has been set up in the township where she worked. She is also remembered by her Irish family and especially by her Listowel first cousin, in whose home a framed picture of this brave lady has pride of place.

Sr. Aidan Memorial Centre in Duncan Village, South Africa

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Sive at The Everyman



When I lived in Cork in the 1970’s two of the greats of Cork drama, James N. Healy and Dan Donovan were treading the boards at The Everyman Theatre. I was lucky enough to see them in their prime.

Dan Donovan passed away earlier this year and a blog follower sent me these photos from his biography.

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Afternoon Tea in The Listowel Arms






On Saturday afternoon October 20 2018 I was at afternoon tea with some seriously stylish ladies. Here is how that lovely invitation came about.

There is a cohort of ladies in this country whose hobby is putting beautiful outfits together and wearing them to Ladies’ Day events. It is cheaper than golf or skiing, it helps the fashion and retail industries and it adds colour and enjoyment to so many events.

These ladies come from all different parts of the country and from all different backgrounds and over the years of repeatedly meeting up at these events and sharing a common interest in lovely clothes, a friendship has formed.

Where do I fit in? you ask

These ladies come to Listowel Races for Ladies Day and one of them, Anne Leneghan is a lady I know since she was  a child growing up next door to me in Kanturk. I used to take her to school in my old Anglia when I was a teacher and she a pupil at Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk more years ago than either of care to remember. 

Maria Stack and Anne Leneghan at Listowel Arms on Ladies Day 2018 (Photo; Listowel Arms)

Through Anne and her friend, local fashionista and milliner, Maria Stack, I have also got to know another seriously stylish Dublin lady (with a few Kerry connections) Mary O’Halloran.

Mary O’Halloran at Listowel Ladies’ day 2018

At the 2018 Listowel Harvest Festival of Racing, the Listowel Arms held a best hat competition on the evening of Ladies Day at the Races. 

Photo; Listowel Arms on Facebook

Mary O’Halloran won and her prize was afternoon tea for 12 in the hotel. 

Mary invited me to join her, when she cashed in her prize on Saturday last. We had a lovely afternoon. The food was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. 

Mary in the hotel with her daughter, Louise and friend, Caoimhe.

I had a lovely afternoon in lovely company.

Launch of Spoilt Rotten, Culture Night 2018 and The Songs of Joe Harrington

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On October 2, 2018

In Uncategorized

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Sept 19 2018 in The Seanchaí for the launch of Spoilt Rotten


Here are a few last photos from the launch of Jack McKenna’s memoir

Sales of the book were brisk. All profits of sales on the night went to Áras Mhuire.

Two people who know a lot about books

The star of the show, Jack McKenna

Two proud daughters

Music in the foyer was provided by John McKenna.

Some familiar faces in the audience

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Culture Night 2018 at St. John’s


I was in town on the afternoon of Sept 21 2018 and I met Paul O’Connor and Joe Murphy setting up for Poetica Illumina, a first for Listowel.

This light show involved projecting a recorded image of local poets reading their work on to a tree outside St. John’s.

But first we had a playing of the RTE Doc on One; Shame, Love in Shame and a chance to talk to the participants.

Two of the ladies whose voices we heard in the programme were Brina Keane, friend of Breda McCarthy and Eileen Roche, Breda’s cousin and friend.

St. John’s was full for this and the following performances.

On the stage was Dr. Mary McAuliffe, the historian who gave us a context for the whole sad story. Dr. McAulliffe told us that, contrary to popular belief, the ladies who were in Magdalen laundries weren’t all unmarried mothers. In fact the majority were orphans or wayward girls who were a bit too much for their families to handle or who were, due to their behaviour, in danger of becoming unmarried mothers.

She told us that mother and baby homes and laundries weren’t an exclusively Irish phenomenon. They existed in lots of countries. What made Ireland different was that they were still operating in the 1960s. She was loathe to lay all the blame for what happened at the door of the church. This was also Conor Keane’s stand in the documentary. The state had  responsibility for the health care system and was only too happy to hand it over to religious orders.

Eileen Roche reassured us that Breda was well and happy and that through Eileen and Tony Guerin’s intervention, when she dies, Breda will be brought home to be buried with her mother and grandparents in Listowel.

Tony Guerin spoke of his dismay at how such a thing was allowed to happen in Listowel in 1946. He is proud of his father’s part in securing a Christian burial for Peggy and for challenging the domineering power of the parish priest. He is also glad that he got to make the story public, in fiction form, in his play, Solo Run and he is grateful to the Lartigue Players for staging it and to Conor Keane for taking the story to a wider audience with his documentary.

Next on the stage at Culture Night 2018, three members of Listowel Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann played us a few tunes.

The national treasure that is Sonny Egan told us a dirty story and a clean story and played along  to a few well known songs with the audience giving him a helping hand.

We had drama from young and a little older and then we finished the evening with the showing of a film tribute to Jerry Molyneaux, master dancer. All in all, a great evening of cultural entertainment.

Outside Poetica Illumina was in full swing.

A goodly crowd had gathered in The Square to listen to poetry from a tree. This spectacle was a taster for our biggest newest festival, Féile an tSolais which will take place on November 2 to 4 when there will be lots of light events including a spectacular installation in the Town Park.



Do you recognise him?



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If you feel like singing, do sing an Irish song.


Joe Harrington and Kay O’Leary are  two of Lyreacrompane’s best known citizens. They are always busy at some project, organising the Dan Paddy Andy Festival, producing an annual parish magazine,  keeping the Lyreacrompane webpage, touring with a troupe of musicians, dancers and entertainers, or presenting an internet radio show.

In the midst of all these, Joe has found time to write songs. Now he has gathered his compositions into a cd. Like everything he does, Joe’s cd is a tribute to North Kerry, to Ireland and to Irishness.

A look at the song titles will tell you  that this album will appeal to everyone who loves North Kerry.



It is a mark of Joe’s civic spirit and generosity that he is donating proceeds from the sale of the album  towards another  local project close to his heart.

The proceeds from the album go towards the Fund for the renovation of the old Glen Schoolhouse in Lyreacrompane as a Heritage Centre for the general Stacks Mountains area. This community project aims to preserve and highlight the Heritage, Culture and Environment of the Stacks Mountains and involve the community in a manner that will lessen social isolation. Our fundraising efforts have gone well to date and we have set ourselves a further target of €10,000. Sales of the album will be part of meeting this goal, so we are hoping that people will rally round and buy the Album. More information on the Heritage House Project can be found on the Heritage page of www.lyreacrompane.com 


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Irish American Blog




Mark Holan writes a regular blog about things of interest to Irish and American Irish people. He includes Listowel’s Tidy Town’s win in his September round-up.

Mark Holan’s Irish American blog

Ballylongford, The Price of a Bodhrán, Crubeens, Phone Boxes and Memories of Two Papal Visits

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On August 28, 2018

In Uncategorized

Ballylongford by Ita Hannon

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Lyreacrompane Honours Kay



Pat McCarthy, Duagh and Dublin, makes a surprise presentation to Kay O’Leary, who initiated the Dan Paddy Andy Festival twenty-one years ago, for her role in the community, especially for her work in building the Festival over the years.

Photo and caption from the Lyreacrompane website

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The Price of a Bodhrán


The late, great John B Keane was a Limerick Leader columnist for more than 30 years. This column first appeared in the edition of November 24, 1973

Awful price

“SEVENTEEN pounds is an awful price for a bodhrán,” writes Drummer of Sirand, who does not want his name mentioned but is a familiar face at wrenboy competitions all over Limerick and Kerry.

The remark was prompted by Sonny Canavan’s statement in last week’s Leader that he was charging £17 apiece for homemade bodhráns.

“I can walk into any shop,” Drummer continues, “and buy a span new drum for twelve pounds, a drum that will last.”

I showed his letter to Canavan and asked him to reply.

“Tell him buy the drum,” Canavan countered, “and let them that wants bodhráns buy bodhráns.

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Cork Heritage


Cork is doing its best to hang on to its distinctive vocabulary.

On August 18 2018 I had a langerload of Cork heritage.

This is a statue to the shawlies in The Coal Quay. The Coal Quay is the Moore Street or Covent Garden of Cork. It’s nice to see the tradition of outdoor stalls continuing although most of them were not selling foodstuffs or, if they were, they weren’t native Cork food stuffs.

One tradition The Cornstore revived for Heritage Day was the eating of crubeens.

They were serving them to us with a dollop of mustard sauce.

I did try one but there was nothing to eat, just skin, fat, gristle and bone.

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In Cork, A Spire and Phone Boxes


I spotted this along the quay before the Clayton Hotel. It looks like a kind of a crooked spire.

There is an old fashioned phone box on the pavement outside the mobile phone shop on Patrick Street.

The streets were very quiet. It was early in the morning but I think this no traffic lark is biting a bit.


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Knock Apparition




P. J. Lynch painted the mural depicting the apparition at Knock. Pope Francis visited and prayed there on August 26 2018.

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Just a Thought



Here is the link to my most recent set of Thoughts for Radio Kerry.

Just a Thought

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Listowel People who saw the Pope in Ireland



Lots of Listowel people went to Dublin to attend  the pope’s mass. Members of the Listowel Folk group went to sing.

Eileen, Catherine, Mary, Tina and Mike were in The Phoenix Park in August 2018

But Junior Griffin was in Limerick in 1979. He took these photos as the pope landed by helicopter at Limerick Racecourse and took a jaunt in his popemobile before saying mass.

Lyreacrompane, Carnegie Hall on Bridge Road and a Tralee Mural

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On May 11, 2018

In Uncategorized


Photo; Chris Grayson

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They’re Up and at it in Lyreacrompane



The Lyreacrompane Heritage Group proposes to renovate the Old Glen Schoolhouse in Lyreacrompane, Co. Kerry – a protected structure. Planning Permission has been granted to develop a multi-purpose facility that will showcase the unique history and heritage of the area along with creating an intimate community space for a range of activities. Lyreacrompane is located in an upland region of North Kerry approximately 15 km from Listowel and Castleisland, 18km from Abbeyfeale and 22km from Tralee. Find out more at www.lyreacrompane.com

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Listowel’s Carnegie Library

This story is still rumbling on.

Denis Quille found this old photo of The Bridge Road. In it, on the right hand side, you can see the remains of the old library.

Quick recap on the history of that building.

In 1910 local leaders recognised the need for a library in town. They passed a motion at the UDC meeting to approach Lord Listowel for a site. They proposed to approach The Carnegie Trust for money to fit it out and then to pay for the upkeep from an extra penny on the rates.

The story dragged on a bit with approaches to Crosbie, Lord Listowel’s agent, to the Carnegie trust, a bit of a local kerfuffle when a Cork firm got the contract etc. until 1915 when the library or Hall as it was known was finally opened.

Listowel’s own Carnegie Hall was the town hall, a concert venue, a classroom and meeting room as well as a free lending library.

It thrived and served the people of the town well until one Sunday night in 1921 at the height of The Troubles, the building was gutted by fire. Fearing that the dreaded Black and Tans, who were on their way to town, would set up headquarters there, the local IRA burned the building. The UDC records as well as the books and equipment were all lost. A notice posted on the burned out shell claimed that the IRA had saved it from “the army of occupation”.

The ruin of the building remained on Bridge Road, a grim reminder of a troubled time until it was eventually levelled to make way for a store.

Now back to the old photo which Denis Quille found in an old album. I mistakenly thought that the photo was taken while the building was intact. Not so.

Derry Buckley who knows Bridge Road well has done a bit of research for us.

Derry has circled the houses which were built by hisgrandfather.

“Jerry Buckley, my Grandfather built a house, and then lived in it while he built another. He moved home to the next house as he went along, Dad was born in 37 Bridge Rd. in 1932. The twins who died were born in another then Beatrice and Toddy in the corner house 51 in 1938. The end houses which are in the photo 53 and 55 were built after this so pic is about 1940.”

Another piece of evidence that the photo is younger than I thought is the presence of electricity wires. Listowel had electricity before rural electrification. The below quote is from the ESB archive


  • ·      Listowel Electric Light and Power Co. Ltd. was in operation before 1927. It supplied 336 homes and businesses in 1929, and was acquired by ESB in September 1929. 

     Derry has also circled in blue, Junior Griffin’s old home which was built in the 1930s.

    So until anyone else comes along to tell us otherwise, we’ll take it that this great photo dates from the 1940s.

    By the way, wasn’t Gurtinard Wood massive?

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    Tralee Rose Mural




    Just off the Square in Tralee

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    The Boys have a new Strip



    Boys from Scoil Realta na Maidine with Jennifer Scanlan of Coco Kids who designed and sponsored their new match strip.

,cquirIby ES

InB in September 1929. T

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