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
Grandchildren grow into teenagers and have their one interests and commitments so finding time for Nana is now a bit more difficult. Cora and her Mammy brought Molly for a welcome visit.
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Easter
First I must tee this up with a story.
A. C. Bradley is probably the most renowned Shakespeare scholar ever. He was required reading when I was in college and he was the absolute authority on Shakespeare’s tragedies. An anonymous student wrote the following;
I dreamt last night that Shakespeare’s ghost
Sat for a civil service post.
The English paper for that year
Had several questions on King Lear
Which Shakespeare answered very badly
Because he hadn’t read his Bradley.
Now I’m going to do a bit of Bradleying myself as I interpret for an artist I never met and read something into a work that the creator may not have intended.
This simple artistic installation on Olive Stack’s window says Easter to me. The stone is rolled back and the tomb is empty. Jesus is risen.
Thank you.
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Winner alright
Remember this:
Dave O’Sullivan, our super newspaper researcher found this;
Are any of them still with us and do they remember their win?
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A Fact
China has a population of over a billion. It has only 200 family names.
If you’ve never had a water leak you won’t know what this is.
I had a mains water pipe burst under my lawn. Phone call to Irish Water. Along comes an engineer with his detection gadget. He finds the source of the leak and this is how he marks it.
Next into the fray is Kerry County Council.
Hey presto, leak repaired and lawn in sh…
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Finished!
I made another visit to the Neodata carpark on Saturday November 5 2022. Garrett was putting the finishing touches to his lovely mural.
Muralist Garrett Joyce and admirer, Cora
You have to see it to fully appreciate it.
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True!
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When your Dog has to be stuck in Everything You’re Doing
Molly was back with her Cork family. She likes to make herself at home.
Eddie was a brother of our own late cinema owner, Kieran. Like Kieran he was passionate about cinema and spent his whole life working in cinema.
Those of you who saw A Window in Heaven’s Gable will remember Eddie. He was part of Kieran’s adventure into cinema ownership and the two were close, sharing a family love and great knowledge of cinema and movies.
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Molly Madra Returns
Molly came back for a short visit. She had been to the groomers and so was all shaven and shorn.
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When You Love your book so much you want everyone to read it….
I have only recently discovered Tadhg Coakley although he is practically a neighbour’s child from my own neck of the woods. His new book is just brilliant.
By the way, my grandson, Sean, brought me the mug from Normandy.
I knew Bobby would love The Game. He does.
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People I met
My lovely friends, Peter and Mary McGrath
Peter, who is in his mid nineties, danced in Main Street with a teenage visitor on M.S. Busking Day August 25 2022.
Peter is truly “among the very young at heart”.
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A Fact
Alexander Calder, a renowned American sculptor, rigged the front door of his Paris apartment so that he could open it from his bath.
You’ve heard the song Follow me Down to Carlow. Well, you’ll have to follow me now to Kanturk and Kildare on my holidays.
Before I could head off myself I had to return my canine visitor to her family. Molly and I had a bit of an adventure. About 5 miles from my brother’s house in Kanturk, where we had made a pit stop, an ominous yellow light started to flash on the dash.
I did the sensible thing. I stopped and consulted the car’s manual. It was about as helpful as an inflatable anchor. It told me that I had an engine malfunction. I made 2 phonecalls. I rang Motor Rescue and I rang my sister in law. Breeda had me sorted in no time.
The kindly Mr. Duggan lived very nearby and he towed me to Paul Buckley’s garage. Paul is a good friend of my Kanturk family. As soon as he got back from holiday (Oh, did I say it was a bank holiday Monday?) he had my car fixed in no time. An injector had gone. The good news was that this is such a common fault in my type of car that the garage actually had the part. The bad news is that the car has three more injectors!
Id like to say that Molly was a model of calm and composure during all this. She wasn’t. Here she is having climbed into the child’s carseat in the car that was driving us back to my brother’s.
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Tech. Teachers
This is the staff of Listowel Vocational School 1981/82. Maria Stack shared it online. Past pupils have had great fun remembering their old teachers and their time in “the tech.”
Not many recognise the lady second from left in front. She was Miss O’Sullivan, later Mrs. O’Connor and she and I lived together and soldiered together in UCC. She only spent a year or two in Listowel before being transferred to Killorglin. Sadly, Noreen passed away in 2018. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.
It is sad to see so many of her then colleagues have also passed away. R.I.P.
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Out and About in Listowel on August 9 2022
Lesley and Theresa were hoping for an ice cream from The Square Cone but they were too early.
The MacElligott/ Mulcahy family were enjoying breakfast in Lynch’s in The Small Square. John, John, Gillian and the newest Mulcahy, Robert were enjoying the sunshine.
At Lynchs I met Mary and friends out for a morning coffee.
I may have said this before but its worth saying again. Someone should photograph the commemorative seats and trees in town, should write up a little bit about the people they commemorate and put it into a booklet or online. Many of these people will be forgotten if we dont make an effort to remember them.
I’m including this one especially for Mossie’s brother, Derry. Derry and Nancy were due home for a holiday this year but due to ill health will have to postpone til next year.
This seat in the corner of the park commemorates an extraordinary Listowel family. Three of the Sheehy brothers are remembered on the seat.
Martin, Michael and John Sheehy were the three of the five Sheehy brothers who emigrated to the U.S. They all did well in their adopted homes but their hearts never left Listowel. Martin and Michael came back more often than John and I met both men more than once. Yet John Sheehy is the Sheehy I knew best,
If it were not for John Sheehy there would be no Listowel Connection. He encouraged me and defended me against trolls when we didnt even know what they were. We were on Boards.ie back then. I checked just now (In truth about an hour ago) to see if the Listowel Thread was still there. It is and if you have an hour or two to spare and you love Listowel I’d highly recommend it
I’m now going to perform an act laced with the sweetest irony. I’m going to post a link to the Listowel thread on Boards.ie When I started my blog I used to post a link to it on Boards. The administrator threw me off because I was driving traffic away from Boards. So here I go driving traffic back to Boards. All is forgiven.
Most of the photos are gone and some of the links are broken. Many of the contributors, including all three Sheehys and my own husband, Jim, have passed away. May they rest in peace.
We all had pen names on Boards. John Sheehy was Sandhill Road.
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Turas Nua
This lovely premises on Church Street is the home of Turas Nua. I think it is the new Intreo.
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Traffic Disruption
If you feel that there are always roadworks somewhere or other in Listowel, you’ll be sad to hear that the situation is only going to get worse. Here is what is planned.
Information from the Kerry County Council website
N69 Listowel Bypass Proposed Road Development
Works scheduled between July 2022 and Christmas are as below:
Proposed Traffic Management on JBK Road
Phase 1. Works on John B Keane Road between McKennas and Clieveragh Roundabout.
One way traffic E-W between Mckennas and Clieveragh Roundabout. Ballybunnion traffic diverted down Market St (No left turn onto John B Keane Road). Works to commence on the 25th July with this phase being completed for the Races on the 16th September 2022.
Phase 2 – Works on Ballybunnion Road/Market St junction
Phase 2 will commence after the races. Two way traffic between McKennas and Clieveragh Roundabout. One way Traffic in Market St. (N-S). The Contractor has requested Road Closures at the Ballybunion junction in late November to allow surfacing to be completed.
Phase 3 – Works on Ballygologue Junction
At the same time works will be happening on Ballygologue Junction. One way traffic W-E between Clieveragh Roundabout and Ballygologue. The south side of Ballygologue Rd will be closed, with a closure sought from end September to mid – November. The Contractor’s programme has this work scheduled for completion by the end of November.
January 2023 through to June 2023 will see works progress for the remainder of the John B Keane Road. Traffic management for these sections will be finalised in the coming months and having regard to the experience of the works in 2022.
