Listowel Connection: McCarthy's Cuckoo Clock, O'Connells Avenue and wheelchairs

When Duagh last won the North Kerry Football Championship the captain of the team was one Bill MacCarthy R.I.P.

Bill Murphy

Bill Murphy of Lyreacrompane and New York remembers him and all the McCarthys with great fondness.
Bill writes ;
"I got the words of the song composed by the late John Joe Sheehy about the excitement of the Cuckoo clock that was acquired by Johnny and Agnes McCarthy and hung in the sitting room off their shop at Glashnacree. People came from near and far to see and hear this rare clock. The shop/home was located half way between our home and Lyreacrompane N.S. on the banks of the Smerla river.

McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock

John Joe Sheehy

If ever you travel along the road from Lyre to Glashnacree

There Johnny McCarthy’s neat abode you cannot fail to see

And if you’ve got some time to spare I advise you to take stock

Of that elegant contraption McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock.

Tis on the wall with weights and chains a swinging cheek to cheek

Tis fashioned of mahogany, oak, sandlewood and teak

The hands are bright with Chinese white, the brass wheels go tick-tock

And a bluebird calls the passing hours in McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock

I invited Patrick Edgeworth up to Roches for a pint

And sure enough I thought at first that he was well inclined

But when we came to Dorans Cross he gave me quite a shock

For he said so long I must go to see McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock

I met with Patrick Buckley in the middle of my rhymes

Says I to Patrick Buckley we’ll talk about old times

The Volunteers the Black and Tans the old Master and his flock

I’m sorry says Pat, I must proceed to view the Cuckoo Clock

You all know Robert Sullivan at the plough he can’t be beat

He was invited up to Dublin with the champions to compete

But Dublin saw no trace of Bob his ploughshare or his sock

He was taken up with staring at McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock

I met with Martin Curran and I said we both aspire

To start a Labour Union in Glanderry or in Lyre

He stood stock still and stared at me I got another shock

When he said I’ve no time for unions now I must see the Cuckoo Clock

Flor Healy said to Jerry Long I’ve a bull to suit you now

Got by a double dairy Charley and a half bred Jersey cow

Come and view this taurine wonder from his horns to his hock

Not me says Jer I must go to view McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock

Oh the Pyramids of Egypt are of great antiquity

And the Eiffel Tower in Paris is a wonderous sight to see

Fair is Manhattans skyline when viewed from Brooklyn dock

But I’d give them all to get one peep at McCarthy’s Cuckoo Clock

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A teacher friend asked me to look at this.

http://youtu.be/2KSg_uvN0CI

I think it is great. Check this out for yourself and click 'like" it if you think it is a good invention. These kids are just 16 and they have worked very hard on their Young Entrepreneur project.
Mol an óige...... ( an old saying ; Praise youth and it will blossom)

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James Scanlon recommends this site to us:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21534215

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If you grew up in Listowel and would love to have a picture of your birthplace hanging on your wall, John Kelliher is your man. He is mounting his beautiful photographs of town in all different formats.

Why not contact him here https://www.facebook.com/john.kelliher.79
to see what he can do for you. He does weddings, birthdays and occasions as well.

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This an early self propelled wheelchair in 1955

Last week we had a bit of a wheelchair problem in this house and it necessitated a trip to our friends in the CRC seating clinic in Limerick. Wheelchairs have come a long way since 1955. They are now sophisticated pieces of machinery. People are no longer "confined" to wheelchairs. They are liberated by them.
My photo shows my heroes, my husband Jim with Eoin and Daniel, occupational therapists at CRC Limerick who, yet again saved the day and restored everything to working order.

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Leo Varadkar officially opened the Great Southern Trail on Saturday