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The Harp that once.....
On my walk through town last week I saw a scaffolding outside the Harp and Lion and men at work, restoring this iconic Listowel stucco work to its former glory.
Day 2, the scaffolding down and all is revealed.
Lots done, lots more to do.
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Grape and Grain repainted
This premises looks splendid with its new paintwork.
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A Stroll along the John B. Keane Road
Listowel Fire Station is located on John B. Keane Road.
Planting along this road adds to the beauty of Lovely Listowel, Ireland's Tidiest Town 2018.
The roundabout and the cinema in the background.
John B. Keane Grove beautifully replicates the look of the old railway buildings which stood here.
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Pat McAulliffe's Plasterwork in Abbeyfeale
(from Echoes of Abbeyfeale)
Pat McAuliffe was born in 1846 and before his death in 1921 he had left an extraordinary, exotic and fascinating legacy of exterior plasterwork. There are several superb examples of McAuliffe’s work in Abbeyfeale. Outstanding is the house once owned by the O Mara family egg and dart and a further design of circles penetrated by arrows. Some would say that McAuliffe’s work at its best can be seen at the shop on Main Street, presently owned by Paudie Fitzgerald and formerly owned by Patrick O Connor. Here McAuliffe uses a variety of scene and language, including a Biblical scene and words in Latin, French and Irish. It is doubtful
if he was familiar with these languages. One inscription reads “Vita brevis. Ars Longa”
(Life is short. Art is forever). An Anglo –Saxon agricultural fertility charm has the following invocation:
“Hail to thee Earth, Mother of Man.
Be fruitful in God’s embrace,
Filled with food for the use of men”
Another scene, a Biblical one, depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. At one time people knew this O Connor house as “Angel House” as Pat McAuliffe had designed a plaster angel and placed it aloft on the outside of the building. Our rainy Irish climate, however, ensured that the Angel was frequently dripping water. In an effort to conserve the building
and diminish the constant drip, the Angel was removed from its perch. Thus also, one further example of McAuliffe’s work has vanished forever. Various other designs on the front walls of Abbeyfeale buildings can be seen on the houses presently owned by Damian Daly and Caroline
(Life is short. Art is forever). An Anglo –Saxon agricultural fertility charm has the following invocation:
“Hail to thee Earth, Mother of Man.
Be fruitful in God’s embrace,
Filled with food for the use of men”
Another scene, a Biblical one, depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. At one time people knew this O Connor house as “Angel House” as Pat McAuliffe had designed a plaster angel and placed it aloft on the outside of the building. Our rainy Irish climate, however, ensured that the Angel was frequently dripping water. In an effort to conserve the building
and diminish the constant drip, the Angel was removed from its perch. Thus also, one further example of McAuliffe’s work has vanished forever. Various other designs on the front walls of Abbeyfeale buildings can be seen on the houses presently owned by Damian Daly and Caroline
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