Teampall Bán, Calf Sale and the Burning of Ballylongford remembered

Moonlit Ballybunion

Photo; Bridget O'Connor

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 Listowel's Tribute to the Memory of our Pauper Ancestors

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Tuesdays were Calf Market Days

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Lovely Old Photo

Nonie Flaherty aged 100

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A Hundred Years on from The Burning of Ballylongford

(from North Kerry blog)

100 YEARS ago Ballylongford; Michael Moore, Quay Street, who was an American citizen, and who gave an eye-witness account in a letter which was published in the Manchester Guardian newspaper; ‘The shop of Jeremiah McCabe, a baker, (Bridge Street) was set on fire and the children had to be roused from the bed and flung out a back window. Several people had to rush from their houses in scanty attire.

Several houses not burnt were looted and wrecked. The house of John Kelly was one, the house of John Moran was set on fire and his wife has since died, the result of shock. Several efforts were made to set fire to the shop and public house of Mrs. Kennelly (Quay Street), but this brave woman defied their efforts, quenching the fire each time with brine from the salting tubs.’ The Ballylongford girls school attendance book reported; 23rd February 1921, attendance 0 out of 83.  24th February 1921, attendance 5 out of 83; 25th February 1921, attendance 6 out of 83 – policeman shot – town burned – children afraid to come to school. On the 19th of March, the “Kerry People” reported: The Dublin White Cross Society have forwarded a sum of £50 towards the relief of the poor recently

Scaraveen, Beale, Ballybunion and an old ICA photo and Sean O'Sullivan, Tailor

Dawn in Beale

Photo; Ita Hannon

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Entrance to The Garden of Europe, Listowel

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Scaraveen

(from a Facebook page called Biddy's Day)

Scaraveen

The Scaraveen has commenced. From the Irish, ‘garbh shíon na gcuach’ (the rough month of the cuckoo), it is the period between Apr 15 and May 15 when weather patterns are often changeable and cold snaps common. In folklore it is said the Scaraveen is natures revenge on the newly arrived cuckoo for it’s appalling habit of supplanting its eggs in other birds nests.

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Whit weekend 2016

 

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Looking forward to a Great Summer

In this glorious weather there is nowhere else to be.

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An ICA Drama

I'm hoping someone will help me with the names.

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The Man's Shop

Last week I published a black and white postcard of Market Street looking towards William Street. 

It prompted Ned O'Sullivan to remember this;

Moloney’s Garage was owned by FF TD Dan Moloney. The shop in the centre of the photo was owned by Paddy Finucane, Independent TD. 

My late father Sean bought it from Paddy and opened the Mans Shop in 1963.

Ned's contribution prompted Marie Shaw to remember this;

Hi Mary,

In reference to Ned O’Sullivan’s memories of his father’s shop. I clearly remember Sean from when he had his business on Market St. and then on William St. He made a suit for my husband during a trip to Listowel in 1968. It came with a vest and two pairs of pants and cost £60. I honestly believe that someone somewhere is still wearing that suit, he just couldn’t wear it out. He eventually outgrew it and passed it on to a friend who wore it for years. Joe Shaw’s Irish made suit was the talk of the Brooklyn neighbourhood where we lived at the time

and as you can gather from this, my husband still remembers how much he paid for it.

Regards,

Marie

The old sign still over the shop

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Good News in The Kerryman

The Kerryman can reveal that a division of the Remcoll Group has bought the old site of the Listowel Livestock Mart - once slated for a development that was to have transformed the economic fortunes of the town in the boom. The Remcoll Group, which owns and operates a number of Direct Provision centres in the State, is not looking to locate a Direct Provision-style premises in Listowel, Remcoll CEO Paul Collins insisted this week.

Instead, the company envisages a complex focusing on the delivery of social homes - for the elderly in the main - based on what he said was the demographic needs of the North Kerry area.

Pitch and Putt, return of Outdoor Socialising and old Tarbert

Wild garlic and public bench in Gurtinard Wood

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People, at Last

Now that I'm vaccinated it's lovely to get out and about and meet people again. I've even taken to bringing my camera when I go for a walk...the new normal?

Here are some folk I met in Childers' Park last week

Meeting up with old friends is such a simple pleasure.

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Fitting Memorials

Whoever thought of the idea of commemorating founding members of Listowel Pitch and Putt Club with sponsored tee boxes was inspired. It's lovely to see the people who gave so much to the club remembered in a place they loved well. Here are a few of those boxes and some of the magnificent trees those men planted in full bloom in the beautifully presented course in summer 2021.

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Tarbert on Facebook

The people at Tarbert Development Association at Tarbert.ie have been posting some great old photos lately. Here are a few from the days when the humble ass and cart was one of the preferred modes of transport in town.

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Praying for my former colleagues

Deceased sisters from the local Presentation convent are buried in a big grave at St. Michael's graveyard. I called there last week.

 

Listowel Pitch and Putt, A Tarbert Car, Tim Kennelly Roundabout and A Titanic Story

Groundspeople of Listowel Pitch and Putt Club have been very busy during lockdown. The course is looking superb, ready for opening to members only today, April 26 2021. Here are a few pictures taken last week.

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First Motorcar in Tarbert

(From Tarbert on Facebook)

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Tim Kennelly Roundabout

The Kennelly family taken at the official opening of the Tim Kennelly Roundabout, Cahirdown, Listowel in December 201l.

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Memories

 This is Cathy Dunne in the convent garden on her wedding day, August 23 1963. 

She writes today of her Titanic connection.

Mary I was interested in your Titanic connection. My mother’s uncle, my great uncle died in the Titanic disaster. His name was O’Connor from near Armagh. .My mother spoke of him quite a lot and how difficult it was to get news. The local headmaster used to give my great grandmother his copy of the newspaper, which was a couple of days old. Unfortunately she never survived the shock of losing her little brother.

Postal Service, Sr. Kate McCarthy and Drama Memories

A Hare in Connemara

Photo: Ben Whitley, Irish Wildlife Trust

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A Sign of Things to Come?

The post box in Upper William Street where the old Post Office used to be, April 2021.

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An Exceptional Person you probable never heard of

In WW2, Cork’s Sr. Kate McCarthy, worked in the war hospitals in Europe, helping to smuggle Allied soldiers home.

When caught by the Gestapo, she was tortured and held in a POW camp.

In her daily task there, of having to make belts for paratroopers, she intentionally skipped every 5th stitch meaning when the parachute cord was pulled, the soldier would fall to his death.

In this role, it’s estimated she killed up to 40 Nazis per day.

 Photo and text from Oran OHalloran on Irish Folklore and History's Facebook page

Sr. Kate was from Drimoleague.She was the eldest of nine children.  She joined the Franciscan nuns in 1913. She was only 18 years old, and she took the religious name Marie-Laurence. She spent the first of her years as a young nun in the Great War nursing soldiers and civilians in a little town north of Paris called Béthune. 

She soon joined the Resistance. The little group and sister Kate McCarthy was instrumental in freeing 200 British officers and soldiers. In October, 1940 they amalgamate with a very important group in Paris, the Musée de l'Homme resistance group. As well as moving escapees to Paris, Kate now began to get intelligence information. She also translated information she gleaned from the British soldiers.

Kate was arrested on June 18th 1941. She was held in solitary confinement for a year. She was tried in Lille and condemned to death. She moved from Pow camp to camp in a movement  known as Night and Fog.

She was interned in the only all female concentration camp, Ravensbruck where she escaped the gas chamber on four occasions. When the camp was liberated she was on the last bus out, exhausted and ill. She weighed only 4 stone. She eventually returned to Cork.

Sr Kate was decorated by both the French and British governments for her role in the war.

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Memories of Great Days with the Lartigue Players

Good Afternoon ,

(My name is Danny O Connor from Listowel 
I currently live in New York but come home to Listowel very frequently . 
I thought you may be interested in the following:)  . 

I found some Newspaper cuttings from the Evening Press dated March 1992 .
I was a cast member in a play called The Country Dressmaker by George Fitzmaurice .
It was directed by Danny Hannon .

I still remember it very well . When we performed in St. John’s Danny Hannon had a ramp erected up the front of the stage to use as an exit and stage entrance . There were couple bales of hay to make it look like you were walking up a country road outside the house .
What a magnificent production and an amazing crew . Anyhow following our sold out performances in St. John’s we were going to perform a couple of nights in Tralee . 
Danny Hannon created some of his magic and suddenly we were in the Evening Press on March 17th 1992 . The Lartigue Theater Co.  was and still is an amazing group of people .

In 1993 we performed The Year Of The Hiker and on top of our performances in Listowel and Tralee we also got to perform in Boston and Kansas USA.  Such great memories . 

(Thank you for your time . I have attached a couple of photos of the Newspaper cuttings which I took with my I-phone .) 

I Remain 
Yours Sincerely ,
Danny O Connor