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
Seats and kneelers at the front of the church have now been upholstered. Tried one out and I must report that they are very comfortable indeed.
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Irish Traditions
by Kathleen Jo Ryan and Bernard Share
Below is an extract from an essay by Bryan MacMahon on the Irish people he knew.
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Book Launch
We had a great time in St. John’s on Saturday, November 11. Vincent’s latest book is probably his best and most important book yet.
Kathy Buckley, a humble Listowel girl, daughter of Lar, the local cooper, ran the White House kitchen under three US presidents. Vincent has done a marvellous job of research on this one and the beautifully presented book is full of information, photographs and interesting stories from behind the scenes.
Finbar and Cathy Mare were in charge of sales.
Some of Vincents old Listowel friends gathered for the launch
John Cahill, Anne Crowley, Owen MacMahon, Elizabeth Moriarty and Kay Moloney Caball.
Katie Hannon launched the book for her childhood postman. She caught up too with Canon Declan O’Connor, a fellow Duagh native.
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Our Wonderful Tidy Town Team
Photo; Tidy Town
Just some of the Tidy Town stalwarts at the presentation of local prizes last week.
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Fact of the Day
With delight I bring you today’s fact, sent to us by Vincent Doyle
This beautiful stained glass window in St. Mary’s is in the aisle on the left as you face the altar. It is a fabulous depiction of The Last Supper.
This is the window on the other side. The panel on the right and the rose window at the top have been restored. They too were blackened by harsh weather and the grime of urban living. The panel second from the right will be restored and refitted before the end of the year and the other two are a project for 2024. A job well worth doing.
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Dan Keane, Poet of North Kerry
I came across this treasure during a bit of a clearcut recently.
A lovely lament for The Races and “that canvas village of fun” gone for another year.
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Gaeltarra Eireann
This lovely presentation package comes from my friend, Margaret’s treasure trove.
“Gaeltarra Eireann was an Irish state industrial development agency set up in 1957 specifically for the Gaeltacht areas. It had the twin fold aim of preserving the Irish language and bringing industrial employment to Irish speaking areas. The scheme had limited success. It was replaced by Údarás na Gaeltachta in 1980.”
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No Words!
Photo; Joe.ie
Ardie Savea showing Johnny Sexton the ultimate respect as he finishes his rugby career.
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Fact
There is a town in Texas called Earth. It is the only place on earth called Earth
Some things in The Square have remained the same for centuries. Somethings are very new.
We have free Wifi.
We have a defibrillator
We have an outdoor public seating and dining area.
And we have 2 EV charging points.
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St. Mary’s at Eastertime
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Shortlist announced
These are the novels shortlisted for the prestigious award of Kerry Book of the Year at Listowel Writers’ Week 2023. The Kerry sponsored prize is a very generous €20,000. The winner will be announced on the opening night of the festival on May 31st 2023.
You can pick up a quick taster of this year’s programme in shops around town or on the website. The full programme will be available shortly.
Visit the website to book tickets for events or to volunteer to be part of this year’s festival.
My Aoife’s grandad is a gardener and an outdoor person. He found a new use for his wheelbarrow recently.
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Coming to Writers Week 2023
Joseph O’Connor’s latest book tells the story of a Kerry World War 2 hero, Fr. Hugh O’Flaherty.
At 3.00 p.m. on Sunday June 4th you can catch Joseph O’Connor in a Writers’ Week 2023 event with Richard Ford.
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A Fact
In 1945 a computer at Harvard malfunctioned while it was being tested. When the lady who was working on it at the time investigated she found a moth had got into one of the circuits and she removed it. Ever since, when something goes wrong with a computer, it is said to have a bug in it.
Office of The Revenue Commissioners Mill Lane Listowel Feb. 2023
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Some Public Seating in The Park and Garden of Europe
This bench under this massive tree which has obviously lived a long time is a memorial to those whose lives were cut short by suicide.
I don’t know who Liz was but I know she was loved.
I knew Hugh. He helped me publish my book, Listowel Through a Lens. He was professional, kind and gentle with a complete novice nervously dipping her toe in the book publishing waters.
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The Shop on the Corner
Horans Healthstore today has an interesting history, as told to us a few years ago by Vincent Carmody.
(Remember you can hear more Listowel stories from Vincent in Listowel Library today Feb. 17 2023 at 11.00 a.m.)
From the late 1800s and running well in the 1900s William and Florence (Haughton) Woods had a drapery shop. William put his name up before the people on the occasion of the 1899 local U.D.C.elections. It must have been a lonesome experience for him as he only received 14 votes and came last of 26 candidates fighting for one of 12 seats.
For a short time after the Woods the shop was taken over by Tom Walsh from Lyreacrompane. He operated there until he moved across the street and opened his new drapery in what had been Gibsons. Tom Walsh went forward was elected several times as a member of the Listowel Urban Council. In this regard it is worth recalling an unusual occurrence in the local elections of 1928. Up to closing time for the acceptance of nominations, the then Town Clerk and Returning Officer, Mrs Annie Gleeson had received no nomination.
The Council which at that time have consisted of 12 members had since the previous local election of 1925, through resignation, disqualification and other causes dwindled down to only three members, i.e. Thomas Walsh, Edward J. Gleeson and Patrick Brown. So in 1928, Mrs Gleeson in accordance with her powers, published a notice stating that as no candidates had been duly nominated for election, Messrs. Walsh, Gleeson and Brown would be declared elected. They afterwards became known as the Holy Trinity. None of the three put their names forward in the 1934 or subsequence elections.
Michael Fitzmaurice was next, having served a hardware apprenticeship in the town, after which he got married to Bridget Buckley and they had a stationary and newsagency in the house.
The house had a new tenant in the 1920s, John Scanlon opened it as a grocery and hardware establishment, also catering as a cycle agent. His billheads advertised it as ‘The Corner House’.
The house reverted to a drapery establishment again during the 1930 and 1940s when it was occupied by a Stack family.
In the 1950s it converted into a shoe shop when it was bought and run by Paul Shanahan.
Today it’s Horan’s Heathstore.
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Mosaics in St. Mary’s
Mosaic art is absolutely fascinating. The firm who did the beautiful work in St. Marys were Oppenheimer.
The firm of Ludwig Oppenheimer was founded in Manchester in 1865 and operated until 1965. Ludwig Oppenheimer was born in 1830 in Brunswick in Germany. His family were merchant bankers in Hanover and he was sent to Manchester to improve his English. He lodged with a Scottish couple and fell in love with their niece Susan who was from Montrose. He was an orthodox Jew but converted to Christianity and his family cut their ties with him. He spent a year in Venice studying mosaics as an apprentice. On his return to England he married Susan and started the mosaic workshop.
They had six sons, five of whom eventually worked for the firm. The eldest Lehmann was born in 1869 and went to art school and won a scholarship for a year’s study in Florence.
On his return he married a fellow student, Edith Newton, in 1892. He worked in his father’s firm from a boy and was the main designer. On his father’s death in 1900 he took over the firm and ran it with his brothers.
His younger brothers Louis, Albert and William all worked in the business. They travelled in Europe and Ireland seeking and gaining commissions including many prestigious projects.
In Ireland their main work was done in conjunction with the architect George Ashlin. Between 1856 and 1860 he was articled to E.W. Pugin whose sister Mary he married in 1860. In 1859 Pugin received a commission to build the church of SS Peter and Paul in Cork and he made Ashlin a partner with responsibility for their work in Ireland a position he retained until 1870.
The most important Irish commission they received was Cobh Cathedral. You can see their work there to this day.
Source: L. OPPENHEIMER LTD AND THE MOSAICS OF ERIC NEWTON ROBERT FIELD online essay.
The following mosaic pieces are in St. Mary’s Listowel. They are only some of the many mosaics in our church.
This thatched house at Acres was formerly owned by Trinity College, Dublin, who were granted extensive lands in north Kerry in the 17th century .Trinity College were granted extensive lands in north Kerry after the 9 Years War (1594-1603). Most of this was in the Ballylongford/Tarbert areas, but they held lands in Clanmaurice too.
At the same time as the College was granted the lands, there was a transplantation of Gaelic families from Laois & Offaly and it was then that that the Moores, Lawlors, Dowlings, Kellys (etc) came to north Kerry. This suggests that north Kerry had by then been devastated and the local population decimated. In a later transplanting into the area, many families from Clare arrived and you get the Carmodys, Finucanes, McMahons etc.
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Mrs. Crowley, ice cream and a snake
An extract from Keane’s Kingdom in Saturday’s IrishIndependent
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Building Works in Sept 2022
I took these photos in town on Sept 13 2022
Dowlings Bar in The Square
The Ivy Clinic, The Square
Mulvihill’s on Church Street
Old Pharmacy on Church Street
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Getting Ready for The Races
Holidays
In the time honoured tradition of Listowel people, I’m closing for business for Race week. I intend going to The Island and having a break (I’ll bring the camera.)
