A Year of Happy Blogging

On Sept 25 2011, I started this blog.  NKRO had just been set up. I said that I would do a blog until the website was up and running. Once started, the blog took on a life of its own and here I am, one year later, still at it.

The first post was short. It addressed what was happening in town on the day.

 I never intended to blog every day but, as the community of followers and collaborators grew, I soon realized that putting something up every weekday was a possibility. I decided on a mix of the modern and the old. I realized  that there was an appetite out there for news from home ( Home= Listowel) and for stories of Listowel in the old days.

Recently I have taken to adding the odd quirky photo or amusing story. These titbits are usually sourced on the internet.

Kind people send me stories, poems and photos. Others send encouraging emails. Still more meet me on the street and tell me how much they were enjoying the blog.  It all helps to keep the show going.

Nowadays I take my camera everywhere with me. I am constantly on the lookout for any stories with a Listowel connection. I know that there is lots more material out there. If you are reading this and you have something you would like to share, I would be most grateful for any help.

A big big thank you from us all in the Listowelconnection community to all the people who helped me this year.

Now a few facts for you:

To date I have posted 313 posts.

The most popular post  is “Nunday and Writers’ Week” followed closely by “Nunday Through a Lens”.

“ Jonathan Sexton and his gran, Brenda Sexton of Listowel” is the third in order of popularity.

The most popular posts in the past week are “I know the Kerry Rose” and “It was Roses Roses all the way….”

The most commented on picture is Tom Fitzgerald’s one of The Listowel Marching Band of the 1980s.

The most popular video clip is Noreen and John O’Connell leading off the dancing in The Listowel Arms at NKRO’s St. Patrick’s Day Tea Dance.

People who read my blog are located in countries as far apart as Australia and Canada. Palau with a population of 20,000 is the most unusual country to visit listowelconnection.

My audience is divided half and half between Ireland and the rest of the world.

A constant source of surprise is a steady cohort of regular followers from Russia.

Audience figures  now range from 200 to 300 per day and are usually highest on Mondays.

The highest one day total was 458 unique pageviews.

I have been contacted by journalists and  TV and radio reseachers.

The most interesting contact was from Ben Naylor who is posting the Gleasure letters here:http://gleasureharberletters.blogspot.ie/

Among the  best stories are tales of the Races long ago, St. Patrick’s Hall, the Crowley family of Greenlawn and the handball alley.

Some of the most interesting people are Kathy Buckley of William St., The Mc Elligott family of William St., Bridget Ryan from Listowel workhouse, The Gleasure family from The Square, Horgans in Pittsburg And Colin O’Donoghue, Lacrosse player.

The most colorful character with a Listowel connection is Prince Monolulu.

The most surprising celebrity connection was Canon Declan O’Connor P.P. and the family of John F. Kennedy.

The most unusual item was Horan’s missing cat. Puisín was never found.

“To copy from one source is plagiarism, to copy from several is research.” 

Research for listowelconnection brings me into contact with many interesting people, reading lots of interesting material and trawling through many many webpages. So far I have enjoyed all of my “work”. listowelconnection has brought my life in a whole new direction and so far its all good.

Happy anniversary, listowelconnection.