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: Michael Dowling Page 1 of 2

Michael Dowling Memorial bench

By

On April 21, 2023

In Listowel, Schools

Sunny Sunday in Listowel in April 2023

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Remembering Michael Dowling

This is the Darren Enright sculpted seat in the grounds of Kerry Writers’ Museum aka The Seanchaí.

Darren’s clever and very apt design features an exact replica of Michael’s bodhrán, perfect in every detail, even the studs on the rim.

The bodhrán from the back.

Michael’s life was selflessly entwined with his Listowel community. Music was just one string to his bow.

Here is Michael front and centre among a group of Kerry Diocesan young people in Knock to see Pope John Paul II in 1979.

Michael with Derry Tatten and Gerard Lynch on a Gorta Walk in the 1980s

Members of the Listowel Mission Bazaar group making a presentation to Michael Dowling, Listowel , second from left, to mark his 44 years of service to the Bazaar committee at Scoil Realta na Maidne. L-R : Julie Gleeson, Michael Dowling R.I.P., Brendan Behan, Billy Moloney, Mary Hanlon & Kay Hanley R.I.P.

Michael was a great entertainer as auctioneer at these annual bazaars. If you have never been to one of these legendary events you have missed an iconic Listowel treat.

The night consisted of raffles for hampers and vouchers donated by local businesses. While the ticket sellers were wandering among the crowd selling the raffle tickets the auctioneer entertained everyone by selling items which have been donated. These items may be a Christmas cake, a bottle of spirits, a box of biscuits, a picture, or a set of ware. Michael, as auctioneer, would have no idea what was next for sale until he saw it in front of him.

A great source of amusement was Michael’s lack of familiarity with intoxicating drink. He was a lifelong pioneer and all wine to Michael was “a lovely bottle of table wine”. Before you put in a bid you had to strain to see if you were buying Cork Cream Sherry from the back of someone’s drinks cupboard or Chateauneuf de Pape from Galvin’s off licence.

He bantered continuously with the audience, commenting on their shrewd judgement in making a purchase or jokingly inviting himself to tea to sample the just purchased cake.

Michael was happy as long as he was raising money for a good cause.

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In Vincent’s

I met the lovely gentle Eileen O’Sullivan in Vincent’s recently. She was accompanied by her son who had come to Listowel for a while to look after her.

Eileen had surgery recently, but like the trooper she is, she is making a great recovery. She was delighted to be pampered by her sons but now ready to get back into the driver’s seat, literally and metaphorically.

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A Fact

Elvis Presley wore a cross, a star of David and the Hebew letter chi as jewellery. When questioned about this strange mix, he replied

“I don’t want to miss out on heaven due to a technicality.”

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Looking Back and Forward

By

On April 19, 2023

In Listowel

April 2023

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Thirty Years as Listowel’s Saint Patrick

Photo; John Lynch

Photo; Danny Gordon in 1980s

Photo; Mary Cogan 2007

Michael Dowling contributed enormously to Listowel in his lifetime. St. Patrick was just one of his easier roles, which he undertook with enthusiasm. He was an exceptional entrepreneur, a man of vision. He gave unstintingly to every cause he involved himself him, never asking anything for himself. He was a born leader. Listowel owes him a lot.

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A Changed and Changing Language

This relic of another age is still intact on a wall in Ballincollig. Young people are puzzled by it. It is clearly a notice prohibiting something but the word bills now has evolved so that this meaning, as in posters or notices, is lost in the mists of time. The sign forbids the attaching of posters to this wall.

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Listowel Writers Week 2023

Lucy Caldwell will be in town for Listowel Writers Week 2023 on Sunday June 4.

I haven’t read this yet. It’s in my teetering “to be read” pile. I intend to have it read by the time Lucy Caldwell joins Claire Kilroy for their event at 6.00 on June 4. I loved Kilroy’s All Names have been Changed. I’m looking forward to this event.

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A Fact

Winston Churchill superstitiously feared January 24. His father died on that day and he had a morbid premonition that he himself would die on January 24. Churchill did indeed die on January 24th 1965.

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Then and Now

By

On April 18, 2023

In Listowel

The Square in April 2023

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Then and Now

Lower William Street

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Coming to Listowel Writers’ Week 2023

In the wake of President Biden’s visit we may be lured into thinking that the USA Biden’s ancestors emigrated to was the land of opportunity for every emigrant. Not so. This book explores the lives of women who were forced by circumstances to turn to crime. It’s a fascinating eye- opening read.

Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick will be at Listowel Writers Week 2023. Their event is appropriately taking place in The Courthouse on June 1 2023.

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Remembering Michael Dowling

Photos; Listowel.ie

Crowd gathered for the unveiling of the Michael Dowling Memorial on April 9 2023

Above is a brief summary of Michael’s achievements in is well lived life.

The picture is from an old magazine. A young Michael and the love of his life.

Vincent Carmody’s picture of Michael in his footballing days.

Players in the photo,

Front L to R

John (Nobby) Canty-Connell, Pat Whelan, John Murphy, Thomas Grogan, Timmy Walsh (capt) Michael Dowling, Bert Griffin, John Healy.

Back,

Tom Fitzgerald ( between supporters), Phil Healy, Celestine Stack, Andy Molyneaux (behind Cel. Stack), Bob Murphy ,Jim Guerin, Paddy O’Connor,  Jim Harmon, Fr. Teddy Molyneaux, Billy Kelly.

Supporters included and identified, 

Front,

Denny Carroll, Mossy Walsh, Canon Peter O’Sullivan, Patsy Leahy, (Trainer)

Back,

Sean O’Sullivan, Jack and Jim Galvin, Chuck Roche, Michael Carey, Toddy O’Connor (Chairman).

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A Fact

Spam now means an unsolicited email.

But where does the word come from.?

Answer; Shoulders, Pork and hAM

Spam was a kind of tinned luncheon meat. If kept in the tin it would last for years. Since it was so resistant to spoilage it became a staple of the diet of soldiers, hikers or others who spent long times away from base without access to fresh food or refrigeration.

It was originally promoted as a health food.

I’ve tasted it. Not bad. I’ve definitely tasted worse.

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The Days of the Video Shop

By

On April 17, 2023

In Listowel, Poem

Schiller in The Garden of Europe in April 2023

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Now and Then

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A Different Kind of Lending Library

Do you remember this?

Uptown Video on William Street was just one of many video lending shops in Listowel in the 1980s.

They had members like any book library and you had a membership card and a membership number.

The library was stocked with VHS tapes. These you played on a machine connected to your TV. There were hundreds of films available, classics and new releases. The children’s section was oh so popular. The challenge when you were organising a youngster’s birthday party was to find a title that not everyone had seen.

VHS tapes were not at all as sturdy as DVDs. They wore out from constant playing. Then there was the problem of dirty players and you had to run a cleaning tape regularly to keep your player in working order.

Technology overtook the tapes. First there were dvds and then everything was overtaken by the streaming services.

Another point of social interaction was removed from the entertainment industry.

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Michael Dowling Commemorated

Darren Enright, local artist in stone, was commissioned to make the commemorative seat. Now we can all rest our weary bones in this beautiful and functional piece of public art. The Michael Dowling seat is located in the grounds of Listowel Castle/ Kerry Writers’ Museum, looking towards The Master, Bryan MacMahon. The seat features a bodhrán, an exact replica of the late Michael’s preferred instrument.

The memorial was unveiled on Sunday April 9 2023 by Labhrás ÓMurchú of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann.

Labhrás ÓMurchú and Jimmy Deenihan, who spearheaded this project, with Michael’s family, Imelda, Anne and Muriel. Thoughts on Sunday were with Geraldine, who sadly passed away shortly before the project reached fruition.

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Paul Muldoon is Coming to Listowel Writers’ Week 2023

Muldoon’s poem in Sunday’s Irish Independent is a realistic look at Northern Ireland post Agreement. It’s a great poem about perception and reality, about hopes and the realisation or not of hopes.

It’s a powerful poem, not about the “architects” of the agreement but about the essential workers who keep the ship of state afloat.

The poem ends with the thought provoking lines

“We think the plumber works in lead

when his medium is mainly water.”

You can see Paul Muldoon in conversation with Nick Laird at Listowel Writers’ Week (Friday June 2 2023)

On Saturday June 3 is a not -to– be missed event; Crazy Dreams, Paul Brady in conversation (and maybe a few songs) with Paul Muldoon.

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A Fact

The expression ‘to get his goat” comes from horse racing circles. Racehorses are notoriously highly strung and there used to be a custom of keeping a goat stabled with a thoroughbred to keep him calm.

If you wanted to scupper your rival’s chances in a race you could upset his horse by stealing his goat. The expression spread to humans and means to rile someone by jolting him out of his comfort zone.

St. Patrick’s Day 2023

By

On March 17, 2023

In Listowel

Statue of St. Patrick in Listowel

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Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a day of rest and celebration so I’m just going to check in with you here. I hope to go to the parade and to take a few photos which I hope to post here next week.

For the day that’s in it a few pictures;

Michael O’Connor’s beautifully illuminated copy of St. Patrick’s breastplate now in Kerry Writers’ Museum.

The late great Michael Dowling in Danny Gordon’s photo of a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Listowel in the 1980s.

A more recent picture of Liam Brennan as St. Patrick.

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