Commemorative Benches, Woody Estates, Rats and The River Walk

A practically deserted Church Street, early morning on a July Sunday in 2019

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There was an old woman who lived in the woods....

Have you noticed that so many Listowel housing estates take their names from trees or woods? It might look to an outsider that Listowel is one big forest.

Below are just a small few examples.

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Commemorative Seats by the River Feale

Three new seats have recently been installed by the river. I would really appreciate if someone would tell me a bit about the men who are commemorated on the benches. Wouldn't it be a lovely little project and a service to us all in town if someone would put together a little booklet with the locations of the seats and a little bit about the people they commemorate.

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Monday Washday in Kerry

Bridie O'sullivan posted this photo of her washing line last Monday, July 15 2019

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Today's Fun Fact

You are never more than six feet away from a rat!

Wrong, wrong and utterly wrong, by a factor of about ten.

Rentokil, and they should know, estimates that most city dwellers are about 70 feet from the nearest long tailed one.

Here are a few rat facts;

• In the UK rats outnumber people by about 10%.
• Rats carry about 70 infectious diseases.
• They eat a fifth of the world's food supply each year.
•  Rats' teeth never stop growing.
• A quarter of all electric cable breaks are down to rats gnawing through the cable.
• " Ratty"in Wind in the Willows is not a rat. He is a water vole.

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A River Walk

I took Molly for a walk along by Gurtinard Wood and on to the River Walk on one of last week's lovely summer mornings.

The level of the water was very low.

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Poignant Sight Yesterday on the John B. Keane Rd.

The flag at the Lartigue was flying at half mast as a mark of respect to Jack McKenna who passed away on July 20 2019.

Jack volunteered at the visitor attraction until he was in his nineties and he was a huge supported of the project from day one.

I took this photo of Jack and his late wife, Sue with Jimmy Deenihan and the German ambassador at the official opening of the project in 2013.

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It Doesn't Get any More Irish

Saturday night mass next weekend moved to the earlier time of 5pm to give mass goers a chance to watch Limerick beat Kilkenny in the All Ireland Semi - Final ( please god)  From Athea Tidy Towns.

The Slate House, Sinn Féin in 1919,St. Patrick's Day Parade 2019 and a Marconi Centenary in Ballybunion

Ballybunion March 17 2019

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The Slate House

This Ballybunion house recently featured in the TV programme Home of the Year. It didn't win but it came close.

It is a luxury architect- designed house with stunning views.
I saw it recently advertised on Air B and B at a rate of €700 per night.

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A Rabble Rousing Speech from 1919

Kerryman  Saturday, January 11, 1919
Nationalist Meeting in Listowel (Edited)

.....The speaker then proposed the resolution to the meeting which was seconded by Mr. T. J. Walsh, and passed with acclamation.

The Rev. Father Charles O’Sullivan, C.C., then came to the front of the wagonette and was received with a perfect storm of applause. The cheering having ceased, he said—Men of this young and unconquerable Ireland, the weather has put a serious strain upon our endurance this morning, but it is as nothing in comparison with the discomforts of soul and body suffered by those fellow-countrymen of ours those men of the breed and stuff of heroes who are enjoying the cold plank beds and the comfortless fare of British Imperial hospitality (cheers). 

Our first word to-day is congratulation to Cathal Brugha (hear, hear). He is not a Polish Jew, nor a Russian Bolshevist, nor a German spy (laughter). He is the elected representative of Waterford County who was arrested the other day for the crime of bearing and using his father's name (laughter). Surely Johnbulism in Ireland has long since become a laughable farce, and if it had not been a stumbling block in the way of human liberty it would be a laughing stock indeed (hear, hear). We thank John Bull for this now piece of stupid buffoonery, and for this fresh bit of merriment in these serious times (laughter). 

Our second word is to offer to our own Sean McKenna our most hearty congratulations (loud cheering, which continued for some minutes). He appears with us to-day—(cries of he is welcome and cheers)—invested with a now title to our honour and esteem (hear, hear). Everybody in Kerry—yea in Erin knows what this title is. On this deathless combat between the Celt and the Saxon which is now in its last throes—in this strife between two forces divergent in their ideals and purposes as Columkille and Luther (laughter). In this combat John McKenna became a prisoner of war, he fell into the clutches of a tyranny as has never been conceived by Prussian, Russian or Turk to outrage the spirit of liberty and to extinguish that sentiment of racial self-respect, self-dependence and self-reliance, which is the very foundation of free national community life. How like and how familiar is the monster tyranny in all climes and ages the same old maws and the same old paws; (laughter). The old dragonheaded monster known abroad as Prussianism, Russianism, Turkism has for long centuries been seeking to devour this noble land of ours under the name of Saxonism. They never will (cheers). Now is the day, now is the hour for us to rise from slumber and to be up and doing, and watching and guarding from the hill tops of Gael-land (cheers). All Ireland asked to-day was to be allowed to take her place in a league of free peoples, in equal rights and equal chances in the pursuit of prosperity and peace (hear, hear, and cheers).

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More from St. Patrick's Day 2019

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Rescue Services

On the day of the Marconi celebrations Radio Kerry provided live coverage of the whole event and a great account of the Marconi story.

Marconi

On March 19 2019 at the Marconi centenary celebration in Ballybunion, as well as wireless station memorabilia and early wirelesses there were many of our rescue personnel and rescue vehicles on display.

Jed Chute is here chatting to Liam OHainnín of Beale who is an expert in all things wireless and he had some of his many wireless related artefacts on display on the day.

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There were lots of children there when I was there and they were very interested in the rescue vehicles and the work of the rescue people.

Launch of Spoilt Rotten, Culture Night 2018 and The Songs of Joe Harrington

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Sept 19 2018 in The Seanchaí for the launch of Spoilt Rotten

Here are a few last photos from the launch of Jack McKenna's memoir

Sales of the book were brisk. All profits of sales on the night went to Áras Mhuire.

Two people who know a lot about books

The star of the show, Jack McKenna

Two proud daughters

Music in the foyer was provided by John McKenna.

Some familiar faces in the audience

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Culture Night 2018 at St. John's

I was in town on the afternoon of Sept 21 2018 and I met Paul O'Connor and Joe Murphy setting up for Poetica Illumina, a first for Listowel.

This light show involved projecting a recorded image of local poets reading their work on to a tree outside St. John's.

But first we had a playing of the RTE Doc on One; Shame, Love in Shame and a chance to talk to the participants.

Two of the ladies whose voices we heard in the programme were Brina Keane, friend of Breda McCarthy and Eileen Roche, Breda's cousin and friend.

St. John's was full for this and the following performances.

On the stage was Dr. Mary McAuliffe, the historian who gave us a context for the whole sad story. Dr. McAulliffe told us that, contrary to popular belief, the ladies who were in Magdalen laundries weren't all unmarried mothers. In fact the majority were orphans or wayward girls who were a bit too much for their families to handle or who were, due to their behaviour, in danger of becoming unmarried mothers.
She told us that mother and baby homes and laundries weren't an exclusively Irish phenomenon. They existed in lots of countries. What made Ireland different was that they were still operating in the 1960s. She was loathe to lay all the blame for what happened at the door of the church. This was also Conor Keane's stand in the documentary. The state had  responsibility for the health care system and was only too happy to hand it over to religious orders.

Eileen Roche reassured us that Breda was well and happy and that through Eileen and Tony Guerin's intervention, when she dies, Breda will be brought home to be buried with her mother and grandparents in Listowel.

Tony Guerin spoke of his dismay at how such a thing was allowed to happen in Listowel in 1946. He is proud of his father's part in securing a Christian burial for Peggy and for challenging the domineering power of the parish priest. He is also glad that he got to make the story public, in fiction form, in his play, Solo Run and he is grateful to the Lartigue Players for staging it and to Conor Keane for taking the story to a wider audience with his documentary.

Next on the stage at Culture Night 2018, three members of Listowel Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann played us a few tunes.

The national treasure that is Sonny Egan told us a dirty story and a clean story and played along  to a few well known songs with the audience giving him a helping hand.

We had drama from young and a little older and then we finished the evening with the showing of a film tribute to Jerry Molyneaux, master dancer. All in all, a great evening of cultural entertainment.

Outside Poetica Illumina was in full swing.

A goodly crowd had gathered in The Square to listen to poetry from a tree. This spectacle was a taster for our biggest newest festival, Féile an tSolais which will take place on November 2 to 4 when there will be lots of light events including a spectacular installation in the Town Park.

Do you recognise him?

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If you feel like singing, do sing an Irish song.

Joe Harrington and Kay O'Leary are  two of Lyreacrompane's best known citizens. They are always busy at some project, organising the Dan Paddy Andy Festival, producing an annual parish magazine,  keeping the Lyreacrompane webpage, touring with a troupe of musicians, dancers and entertainers, or presenting an internet radio show.

In the midst of all these, Joe has found time to write songs. Now he has gathered his compositions into a cd. Like everything he does, Joe's cd is a tribute to North Kerry, to Ireland and to Irishness.

A look at the song titles will tell you  that this album will appeal to everyone who loves North Kerry.

It is a mark of Joe's civic spirit and generosity that he is donating proceeds from the sale of the album  towards another  local project close to his heart.

The proceeds from the album go towards the Fund for the renovation of the old Glen Schoolhouse in Lyreacrompane as a Heritage Centre for the general Stacks Mountains area. This community project aims to preserve and highlight the Heritage, Culture and Environment of the Stacks Mountains and involve the community in a manner that will lessen social isolation. Our fundraising efforts have gone well to date and we have set ourselves a further target of €10,000. Sales of the album will be part of meeting this goal, so we are hoping that people will rally round and buy the Album. More information on the Heritage House Project can be found on the Heritage page of www.lyreacrompane.com 

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Irish American Blog

Mark Holan writes a regular blog about things of interest to Irish and American Irish people. He includes Listowel's Tidy Town's win in his September round-up.

Mark Holan's Irish American blog