Friday, 21 September 2012

Listowel Races 2012, Clery's and old wren boys


Calendar boys! I met Pat Healy and Sean Moriarty on Tuesday. They were both fully clothed!
 By the way, I hear that the calendars are selling like hot cakes.



I had my money on this fellow No. 13, Western Passion who just beat Western Star at the post.


Can you see the rainbow over the town? No pot of gold for their punter anyway.



The fence builders were taking a rest between races.


Love at the races!


This is the newly revamped Captain Christy's Bar. Below is the interior.


The Parade Ring


 You could bet on the Tote without ever leaving your comfortable vantage point by the bar window. Tote employee, Mairead is seen here taking a bet from her former teacher. It did not win on this occasion.

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Clerys

Much talk and much reminiscing about this iconic Dublin store this week. I took the following from Wikipaedia

The history of Clerys began in May 1853 when Mc Swiney, Delany and Co. opened ‘The New or Palatial Mart' on the site of the present store in what was then Sackville Street. In 1883, the premises was taken over and renamed by M. J. Clery (d.1896), a native of Bulgaden, Co. Limerick.[1] William Martin Murphy was also involved in the business.
Clerys was bought out of receivership in 1941 by Denis Guiney (1893-1967)[2] for £250,000. (Denis Guiney came from Brosna. ) The receivers were Craig Gardner & Co. Denis Guiney died in 1967 and his widow, née Mary Leahy, continued to be Chairperson until her death on 23 August 2004 at the age of 103 years.[3]
 Clerys also owned Denis Guiney's original business, Guineys at 79 Talbot Street, and operates three home-furnishings stores under the brand name "Clerys Home Furnishings" - in Blanchardstown, Naas and Leopardstown. These stores are now closed as of Sept. 18 2012.
Clerys was placed into receivership on 17 September 2012.  It is to be taken over by U.S firm, Gordon Brothers who have promised that all existing staff will be kept on.

Clerys Clock
A large clock with two faces hangs above Clerys' central doors on O'Connell Street (opposite the statue of Jim Larkin). "Under Clerys' clock" is a well-known rendez-vous, both for Dubliners, and visitors from the countryside,[5] and is famous in the city's culture as a place where many romances begin.[6][7] In 1990, on the fiftieth anniversary of Denis Guiney taking over the store, a new clock was installed.

The following is from the blurb of Denis Guiney’s biography. A remarkable Kerryman indeed!
Denis Guiney
Denis Guiney (1893-1967) was one of the most remarkable Irishmen of his generation, who exerted through his business career a significant influence on the development of the economy and lifestyle of modern Ireland. As a draper, he rose from working in small country shops to become the owner of one of the country's biggest enterprises, the largest private company then in Ireland, the successor to part of a commercial empire created by a series of earlier Irish entrepreneurs, which he transformed to serve the ever-increasing and ever-changing needs of the population of a new kind of Ireland. He is one of those whose lives have materially contributed to the creation of the country's modern prosperity. Many talked airily of a 'New Ireland'. Denis Guiney helped create it.
It is sad to see the Talbot Street shop that bears his name close its doors. It sold everything "from a needle to an anchor" and was a very popular shopping emporium until recent times when  it was eclipsed by multi nationals.
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Robin O'Connell of the Kilkissan Wrenboys in Listowel in 2001. Here he is on Jer's video telling stories to Ned O'Connor. He is very proud of his 4 in a row at Listowel.





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