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

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Last One before my Easter Break

A mix of mature and growing trees in Listowel Pitch and Putt course

Tralee link to The Titanic

(pic and story from the internet)

Today April 15  we remember Dr William O’ Loughlin from Ashe street  Tralee .who was the doctor aboard the ill-fated Titanic  .which sank 113 years ago today  For a man who was heralded for his actions on the night of the sinking of the worlds greatest known ship as yet does not even have a plack at his place of birth .. yet we have a street named after Neil Armstrong.. because he visited once to open an exhibition for a day in the museum….   .He is glorified in Dublin .and New York . When will he finaly be remembered officially in his home town by the powers that be?

Link to my latest Thoughts as broadcast on Radio Kerry last week

Just a Thought

Some of these reflections are inclused in my latest book

One Hundred most Common Irish Surnames

Some of these will surprise you. They certainly surprised me…apart altogether from the fact that neither my birth name, my married name, my mother’s maiden name nor my grandmother’s maiden name make the list. The nearest I came was a Connor relative a few generations back but she must have taken the soup as Connor is only there with an O.

Summer Entertainment

From this week’s Kerry’s Eye

No programme yet but there are a few goodies promised.

Today’s Fact

The Boomtown Rats are coming to Revival. That’s a promise and the fact is that I have a family connection to the Rats. My sister-in-law, Liz Cogan, is a sister to Pete Briquette and a first cousin to Johnny Fingers.

Dancing and Music

Entrance to The Garden of Europe from path by the town park

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Dancing in Killarney

My niece, no. 633 on the podium, having won the under 40 Reel competition at the World Dancing Championships in the INEC last week.

I was at a feis for the first time in years, and boy! was this a feis. There were dancers from all over the world with all age groups covered.

This lovely lady is Mary Jones. She was the oldest competitor at age 73.

The feis was a miracle of organisation, with 4 stages operating at once and then another room announcing winners and distributing medals. There were lots of stalls with all the dancing merchandise, and of course all the catering.

My niece has, like a lot of these adult dancers, returned to Irish dancing after a lull since her teens. They are like kids with all the gear, Tshirts and tracksuits as well as the performance dresses etc. Dancers were supported by husbands/partners and family as well as all their dancing friends. It’s a huge industry. Admission was a steep €20 for a spectator.

Here is a Listowel Connection. These ladies each has a Listowel aunt; in Christine’s case, me, Mary Cogan, and in Mairead’s case, Margaret O’Sullivan.

The “dance moms’ discovered a family connection.

Meanwhile back at the ranch….

The “Dance Dad ” was happy with the odd text update.

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Then and Now on Church St.

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Michael Dowling Remembered

Michael Dowling was one of the founders of Kerry Writers Museum.

Michael front and centre of the 1970 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann Committee

Photo and names from Betty Stack

Front Row: Mairead Walsh, Eamon Hartnett, Jackie Walsh, Michael Dowling, Geraldine Hartnett, Joan Curtin, Maria O’Gorman
Middle Row:
Pat McAuliffe, Michael Stack, T. Dillon, Maureen Nolan, Betty Stack, Patricia Cronin, Helen Leahy, Peggy Gleeson, Patsy Kennedy, Jack Molyneaux, Christy Stack
Back Row: Ben Landy, PJ Kirby, ? , Mossie Molyneaux, Timmy Brosnan, Sean Broderick, Ian Nugent, Paul Nolan, Vincent O’Sullivan, Joe Gleeson, Peter O’Sullivan

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A Sunny Day and a pleasant meeting

John and Kathleen Reidy were out and about in Listowel this week. Wasn’t I brave to ask a photographer to pose for my phone photo?

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A Fact

The Titanic sank on April 15 1912.

No one actually said it was “unsinkable”. That is a myth.

The band did play on though. That is a fact.

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Community Garden

By the River Feale Aug 2022

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The Other Side of the Wall

Our apples are ripening nicely.

This area will be beautiful when the flowers and climbers grow a bit.

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Meeting a Former Pupil in Ballylongford

On my visit to the traditional crafts farina Ballylongford I ran into my friend, Bridget O’Connor and then together we ran into a former pupil, Dora Mulvihill. Dora and I are in a framed picture in Presentation Secondary School Listowel, celebrating Dora’s gold medal for achieving the highest marks in Irish at her Leaving Cert.

Dora’s lovely son took the picture for me.

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From 2015

When browsing through Boards recently I came across a link to these old photos.

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Bet you Didn’t know this

Fourteen years before the Titanic sank, a novelist Morgan Robertson published a novel called Futility. The story was about an ocean liner that struck an iceberg on an April night.

The name of the ship……….Titan

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From Kanturk to Ballybunion

a poem

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The Time of the Cuckoo

Athea Church at Easter 2022

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A Few Hard Cuckoo Facts

Cuckoo by bird.org

This parasitic bird is usually associated with this time of year.

The striping on the underside of the cuckoo’s body mimics the sparrowhawk. This frightens the sugar out of smaller birds. They abandon their nests long enough for the cuckoo to lay her eggs.

The eggs take 12 days to hatch. From day one these nestlings are bullies and they chuck the legitimate hatchlings out of the nest.

Cuckoo chicks grow quickly and are known for their voracious appetites. They often grow to several times the size of their adoptive parents. These parents are usually worn to a thread trying to feed their ever hungry offspring.

Wait for this bordering on incredible fact!!!!!!

A female cuckoo may visit and lay eggs in up to 50 nests in a breeding season.

By September they all clear off to Central and West Africa where they rest and gird their loins for another onslaught on the unsuspecting little Irish birds.

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From Pres. Listowel 1983/84 Journal

The journal opened with this kind of mission statement.

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History and NFTs

Photo; Jesuit photo archive

In 2015 I posted the Titanic story of this man. He is Dr. Francis O’Loughlin, formerly of Tralee, who drowned with The Titanic.

Here is the story I borrowed from a Facebook page called Historical Tralee and surrounding areas:

Bravery of Titanic Surgeon Dr. William Francis Norman O’Loughlin

New York Herald

Monday 22nd April 1912

In accounts printed about the Titanic and the bravery of her officers little has been said of one who probably was the most widely known and best beloved of all classes. He was Dr. William Francis Norman O’Loughlin, senior surgeon of the White Star Line, who perished with the ship.

During the forty years Dr. O’Loughlin has been a surgeon aboard ships of that line he gained the close friendship of innumerable men and women of prominence. Known as one of the most upright and kindly men, he also was regarded as a leader in his profession and a student of the highest order.

Survivors say they saw Dr. O’Loughlin on deck going from one to another of the frightened passengers, soothing them and aiding them in getting into the lifeboats. As the last lifeboat left the vessel he was seen standing in a companionway beside the chief steward, the purser and another officer swinging a lifebelt. He was heard to say: “I don’t think I’ll need to put this on.” He was in the companionway when the vessel went down. From those who knew him well statements were obtained yesterday regarding the fine character of the friend all were mourning. All agreed he was one of the kindest men they had ever met. Many incidents showing his unselfishness were related. One of the friends said: “He was the strongest personal friend of every officer and seaman he ever left a port with, and he was a most thorough officer. He would give his last dollar to charity and was never known to speak ill of anyone. He was the most tenderhearted man I ever met.”

One of Dr. O’Loughlin’s intimate friends in the profession was Dr. Edward C. Titus, medical director of the White Star Line. He said: “Dr. O’Loughlin was undoubtedly the finest man that I have ever known. Kind at all times, his work among the persons he met endeared him forever to them. Always ready to answer a call for aid at all hours of the day and night, he would go into the steerage to attend an ill mother or child, and they would receive as much consideration from him as the wealthiest and mightiest on board. “He was one of the best read men I ever met. Dr. O’Loughlin was always doing some charitable act. Of his income I believe it will be found that he left little, having distributed most of it among the poor. There is no doubt that he died as he wished. Once recently I said to him that as he was getting on in years he ought to make a will and leave directions for his burial, as he had no kith or kin. He replied that the only way he wanted to be buried was to be placed in a sack and buried at sea.”

Dr. O’Loughlin was a native of Tralee co kerry in Ireland. Left an orphan he was raised and educated by an uncle. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. When twenty-one years old he went to sea because of ill health and followed the sea continuously thereafter. Prior to being transferred to the Titanic he was surgeon on board the Olympic.

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Fast forward to April 2022 and I have an email from Lorelei Llee whose job title is

 Titanic Content Developer for E/M Group & Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. 

In her research she has come across my blog post about the good doctor and she wants to use it. I have to inform her that it’s not my story anyway and I certainly didn’t take the photo. Im old but….

So, of course, I look up her company. They are e/m group “an experiential media group”

https://www.emgroup.com

And here is the gas part. You know the way you have never heard of something one day and the next you are seeing it everywhere.

So it is with me and NFTs.

Enter to Win!

Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of history! RMS Titanic, Inc. is offering a select lot of NFT’s available for download and purchase.

The above is taken directly from this group’s website

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Poetry Day 2022

On Poetry Day 2022 I got a present of an anthology of modern Irish poetry.

Thank you, Nancy

Here is a short poem from my new book

It’s a lovely poem about the great human family, the tillers of soil and cutters of turf.

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Belfast, 1916, and the 1977 North Kerry fleadh committee


My Trip to Belfast



Recently I travelled north of the border for the first time in ages. I spent two days in Belfast and found it a lovely city. Belfast people are among the friendliest in the world. Every time I and my traveling companion were standing puzzling over our map, invariable someone would come over with an offer of help. On one occasion, a lady who was obviously on her way from work stopped to offer help. She turned our map the right way round and walked with us until we got our bearings. This was typical of the kindness and helpfulness we encountered everywhere in Belfast.

I thought I’d pose with one of my beloved pillar boxes. That’s my ever present map in my hands.

I took this to entertain you with this rather amusing sign.

Belfast City is divided in quarters. Our hotel was in The Queen’s Quarter which was very central to shops and restaurants. It was near the university, as the name suggests.

We were just a short train ride from the Titanic Quarter where we went to visit The Titanic Experience.

The iconic cranes

This is Clíona outside the Titanic Experience. It is a marvelous visitor attraction. One is not allowed to take photos so you’ll have to go yourself to see what it looks like inside. As a museum it is not like any other I’ve visited. There was lots of reading but there was also lots and lots of interactive experiences. We were there at a quiet time and it took about 2 and a half hours. The time flew and we both agreed that it was super.

We had planned our visit before the euro fell to an all time low due to the Greek crisis so we had a good excuse for not buying the overpriced souvenirs.

Clíona looks a bit worried by these two. The Art piece is about women in the workforce. What drew me to it first was the crochet bombing. On closer inspection, the ladies are weighed down with telephones and typewriters, ladles and rolling pins. The statues are outside the main bus station.

This artistic piece is in the City Hall in Belfast.

There are some lovely stained glass windows in the city hall. The lower one is called the Famine window.



I was there in the week after the Berkeley tragedy and people were queueing to sign a book of condolence.

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1916    2016


Here is a link to the complete list from the military archives of the rebels who fought in 1916

1916 Names

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North Kerry Fleadh Cheoil 1977

Committee of the 1977 N K fleadh includes; 

L-R, Christy Stack Joint Treasurer, Matt Mooney Secretary, Michael DowlingChairman, Tim Brosnan Joint Treasurer,

 Second row, Babe Jo Collins, Collette O Connell, Maureen Dowling, Betty Stack, Babe Hilliard, Elizabeth O Reilly, Josie Molyneaux, Helen Leahy

 Back, Jack Flavin, John Enright, Tom O Connell, Maurice Molyneaux, Tom Murphy and Jack Larkin MCC.

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A More Recent photo of people planning for the upcoming Munster Fleadh


Photo; Listowel/Duagh Comhaltas


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Tripadviser’s list of things to do in Listowel



This list 

Twelve Listowel Attractions

is doing the rounds of Facebook. The list is not at all exhaustive. It’s just the list of places people have reviewed for Tripadvisor. We all know that Listowel’s Military and History Museum, Teampall Bán, Listowel Cinema, Craftshop na Méar, Listowel Emmetts’ Sportsfield, Listowel Community Centre, Listowel Pitch and Putt Course, Olive Stack’s Gallery, The River Walk  and so many great shops are part of Listowel’s attractiveness to visitors. We all need to get reviewing!

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On the Street




Noreen Queally and Marie Moriarty out and about last week

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+ R.I.P. Val Doonican +


The rocking chair is empty. Tá laoch ó laethanta m’óige ar lár.

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A Rarity




Stephen Smyrl posted this photo on Facebook of a very rare post box spotted in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary.

“George V continued to reign until his death in 1936, but generally after partition postboxes ceased to bear his initials. After him, his son George VI reigned until the “Free State” declared itself a republic, outside of the Commonwealth of Nations.”

It would appear that the door alone was replaced with the Saorstát Eireann (Irish Free State ) logo someone time around 1922.

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