Bridge Road, Listowel children, A Christmas Stccking in the 1940s and a Fire at The Races in 1959

Millenium Arch and Bridge Road

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The Good Old Days?

From Patrick O'Sullivan's A Year in Kerry

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Listowel Children

These are children  (and a few adults including Michael Dowling R.I.P. )  photographed by John Lynch at parades in 2003 and years after to 2007

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Christmas Lights in Dublin

 When I was in the Big Smoke to see the Haunting Soldier they already had their Christmas lights up even though it was only mid November.

And in Listowel

On Saturday Dec 1 2018, Listowel Tidy Town Committee switched on the very colourful lights on Listowel's Christmas tree.  (Photo; North Pole Express 2018)

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Fire in the Stands

Do you remember this from 1959?

Photo from The Kerryman

Ballybunion Cliff Walk, Lartigue Monorail and Museum and Dublin in 1946

Mother love on the cliff walk in Ballybunion. Her little boy is a bit big now for that kind of attention. Remember when your mother spat on her handkerchief to wipe you face?  There comes a time when mammies have to accept that you're too old for that.

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Ballybunion Cliff Walk, Sunday Sept. 23 2018

The pictures speak for themselves.

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Lartigue Monorail and Museum

This visitor attraction is closed for the winter but they open by appointment for special events. I dropped in shortly before they closed.

I learned at the launch of his memoir, Spoilt Rotten, that Jack McKenna donated the site for the railway and museum and gave €250,000 towards the setting up of the visitor attraction.

It was late September when I called in but there was still a steady flow of visitors.

This model was a new addition since I was last here.

Looking down the line

These seats on Platform 1 were donated in memory of Anna Grimes.

The locomotive and carriages always look in perfect nick.

Pat Walsh was one of the volunteers on duty. He was giving a tour to these Austrian tourists.

The stationmaster, Martin Griffin, told me that they had a good season. They have plans for some planters on the  pavement for next year.

You'd never know where you'd see a milk churn.

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I Remember That Summer in Dublin

Dublin 1946; photographer unknown

Fruit sellers in O'Connell Street, Dublin 1946. Unknown photographer

In the Summer of 1948, an English travel writer named John Wood went on a backpacking trip around Ireland. Wood walked most of the 1,000 miles with a few unsolicited lifts and bus trips along the way, he managed to visit seventeen counties in one of the wettest summers on record for the time. He later wrote a travel book called ‘With Rucksack round Ireland‘. The book offers a fascinating snapshot of Ireland, from tourist sites, accommodation, transport and general everyday life. Wood was originally from Yorkshire and had served in the army. He had visited Ireland on a few occasions previously and describes himself as pro-Irish.

A Sunday in Dublin

Dublin in Summer 2017, Craftshop na Méar and St. Michael's

Phlox in summer 2017

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O'Connell St. July 2017

I never travel without my camera. On my recent trip to the capital, I snatched a few quick snaps as I waited for a bus on O'Connell Street.

The GPO, historic building and symbol of our struggle for independence.

 Love it or loathe it, the spire is a symbol of the new Ireland.

In a doorway nearby, another potent symbol of modern Ireland.

And they laugh at us in Kerry when we mention fairy forts.

The Luas, modern transport in a modern metropolis

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Craftshop na Méar

I haven't visited this lovely craft shop in Church Street for a while now. When I went there last week it had a Kerry's green and gold theme going on.

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How Football eclipsed hurling

(Con Houlihan)

When Michael Cusack founded the GAA in 1884, his big ambition was to revive hurling. He invented a game from the the best elements of soccer and rugby and cleverly called it Gaelic football, giving the impression that it went back a long way. The ironic outcome of this was that Gaelic football almost wiped out hurling. It was a simple game to understand and, above all, it caused little injury. This was in an age when a man's hands were important to him. Hurling can be hard on the hands.

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An Taoiseach in St. Michael's

Fine Gael and the GAA were very much to the fore in the turning of the sod ceremony in St. Michael's on Friday Sept 1 2017.

Photo: Radio Kerry

Leo was in Kerry for the tribute night to Jimmy Deenihan in Tralee. Earlier in the evening he turned the sod for the new technology room in St. Michael's.  The school threw a little party for him with some excellent singing and dancing by some very talented  pupils.

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Red Hurley in Duagh

Michael Dillane met Red Hurley at the very successful concert in Duagh Community Centre.