Ball Alley, Mike O'Donnell Cartoons and A Little Known Fact

Blue tit photographed byChris Grayson

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Listowel Ball Alley Remembered

Memories of the ball alley in Listowel

When school was o’re, our hearts would soar,

At meals we would not dally,

With homework done, to seek our fun,

We’d wander to the alley.

To toss that ball against the wall,

And combat every rally,

With pouring sweat we’d play‘til death

Those games within our alley.

With left hand or right we’d try our might,

Until the grand finale,

But win or lose, how we’d enthuse

On those games played down the alley

Each game was fought, the prize was sought,

The marker counts his tally,

The match was won at twenty one,

‘Twas victory in the alley

But time moves on, the youth now gone,

No more do young men sally

To toss that ball against the wall

Of my beloved alley

Yet, memories hold of comrades old

Until the last reveille,

Of times gone by which brought such joy

Those days spent down the alley

Junior Griffin

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 Mike O'Donnell Cheers us in Lockdown

We are familiar with Mike O'Donnell's artwork in murals all over Tralee. During the Covid 19 emergency he is confined to his desk but he is continuing to entertain and enthralling us with daily cartoons on Twitter. When the book of this unprecedented time in our history is written, Mike's illustrations would be the ideal accompaniment, telling the story in sketches.

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A Bit of Home Schooling

I intend to tell you a fun fact or two while we're all in isolation.

 Can you test if a "gold" coin is fake by biting into it?
The answer is no.

The theory behind this old trick in pirate movies is linked to the fact that gold is a soft metal.

Gold, indeed, is a soft metal but gold coins are never pure gold. All gold coins minted in the U.K. and the U.S. since 1538 contain copper.

Bunclody and The Lartigue Experience, New Maps and Revival 2019

Róisín taking a photograph in the wildflower garden in Ballincollig Regional Park.

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Bunclody, Co Wexford

"Oh, were I at the Moss House where the birds do increase

At the foot of Mount Leinster or some silent place
By the streams of Bunclody where all pleasures do meet
And all I would ask is one kiss from you sweet."

The streams of Bunclody actually flow down the middle of the street. Cliona and I had a lovely trip to this beautiful picturesque village.

They still have working phoneboxes.

Who fears to speak of '98?  They still remember their history in this fair town.
I took the below photos in the lovely church which is at the heart of the town.

The church interior was cool and airy on a very warm Sunday. It is beautifully appointed in the modern style.

The Stations of the Cross

The adoration chapel

Our Lady's Altar

This crucifixion window is rather unusual in it's depiction of the Good Friday

This is the view from the church door

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Today's Fun Fact

from The Second Book of General Ignorance

Vision is by far the most important of the human senses. 30% of our brain's activity is used up processing visual information. Smell, the directional aid used by most mammals, accounts for only 1%. Birds, however, are as visually dependant as we are. But birds have one huge navigational advantage over us. It's called 'magnetoception' i.e. the ability to plug in to the Earth's magnetic field. We may once have had this gift too but we've lost the ability to use it.

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The Lartigue Monorail Museum

Every Listowel person should take a trip on The Lartigue. I loved my trip last week and I learned so much Listowel history.

The whole station was looking in tip top condition with colourful flowers everywhere.

These were three of our volunteer rail workers on the Wednesday we visited.

It was a busy day on the train.

We all got a chance to climb into the driver's section and we got to toot the horn. Our driver, Michael Guerin, offered to take everyone's photo .

There is a saying that has survived from the days when the original Lartigue travelled between Listowel and Ballybunion. When the train reached a bit of a hill, first class passengers were asked to get out and walk and third class passengers were asked to get out and push.  In the case of the replica Lartigue in August 2019 it was the volunteer workers who had to get out and push. And there is quite a bit of pushing involved as there is a complicated system of to-ing and fro-ing at turntables to get the locomotive facing in the other direction.

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New Signage

Kerry County Council has installed these lovely new maps by local artist. Amy Sheehy.

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Revival 2019

The weather was not so kind to Revival on the Saturday night but the concert goers didn't mind a bit. The Coronas, Delerentos, Thanks Brother and Hermitage Green lifted the clouds over The Square and everyone had a ball.

Early Sunday morning in The Square and everything nearly back to normal.

William Street, Sunday morning Aug 11 2019


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Meanwhile in Killorglin

Puck Fair is in full swing.

Photos by Chris Grayson