Shops and Signs, A Poem a Recent Snap or two and a To Let Sign

KDYS /Old Carnegie Free Library

This lovely old building is at the top of Church Street where it joins Dowd's Road

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Listowel shops and their signs during Lockdown 2020

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Carroll's is Open

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At the AIB

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Carroll's Yard

The River Walk

After a long dry spell the level of water in the river is very low.

There was a funeral in progress in the church.

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The Dawn above the Dark

John Fitzgerald has written a poem for those who have forgotten what a pulled pint is.

The Dawn above the Dark
Out of a gold grained silvered font the dark stream seeks the light The gargoyle bows its ugly head To flow it out of night
Into a steady downward plunge that surges up the dawn
and takes it o’er the ticking glass to let the pint take form.

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Snapped in Town

Jimmy Deenihan was having a socially distant chat with a friend.

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First Covid Business Casualty ?

I am so sad to see a To Let sign on one of my favourite coffee shops.

Clean shops, Stag employees in Germany , A Clown poem and a photo of 2 clowns

Photo; Liam Downes

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Our Shops were never so clean

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Stag employees trip to Germany with Dan Moloney T.D.

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Tralee clowns, Ronaldo and Giogo Fanzini meet Michael Lynch during Listowel Writers' Week a few years ago

The Clown

by John Fitzgerald

John has another circus themed poem for us today.

The Clown

Who is this one I call the clown, 
Comes in and out of every town? 
You take a child of tender years, 
Fill with laughter, touch with tears. 
You live inside a sawdust ring,
A peg on which the circus clings; 
A whited face, a button nose, 
What is beneath, who is to know. 
A comic look of tragedy?
A tragic look of comedy?
Wise enough to know the fool, 
Kind enough to not be cruel;
A mask that ever hides your face, 
A shining light, a saving grace?
Who is this one I call the clown,
Comes in and out of every town?
Who is this one, what is your role,
When touching hearts, you touch the soul?

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A Spiral Staircase

That which we call a spiral staircase is not actually a spiral at all. It is helical. A spitral is two dimensional, a helix is three dimensional.

At a rough estimate, 10% of the population are left handed solo called spiral staircases were usually designed to favour right handed so that a deciding swordsman could fight off right handed attackers. Listowel castle has such a staircase.

There is a chateau in the Loire valley in France which has a double helix staircase so that people coming down dont bump into people going up. Sounds like good sense to me.

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A Covid Listowel Limerick

During Lockdown diversions we seek,

Of Zoom and of Facetime they speak.

On Liveline, a prude, while Trump talks of Jeyes Fluid.

And worse, no Listowel Writers' Week 

Mattie Lennon.

Lost in Lace, The Ball Alley and Royal Ascot

Photo: Chris Grayson

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Lost in Lace

This was one of the loveliest of the exhibitions that was on view during Writers' Week 2019. The exhibition was opened by Madeleine O'Sullivan in The Seanchaí on Thursday May 30 2019.

The lace pieces on display were all the work of local lacemaker, Nora Moriarty. Nora, who passed away in 2018, was a native of Listowel. She lived in Church Street before her marriage to Tadhg Moriarty. When Nora retired from teaching she pursued her dream of a life in craftwork, particularly lace making.  She studied at Mallow College of Design and Tailoring. She received a City and Guilds Diploma in Dress Design. Carrickmacross lace was her passion and she became a member of the Guild of Irish Lacemakers.

Mary Shields from that guild told us a bit about lace in general and Carrickmacross lace in particular. Two of the characteristics of this lace are its scalloped edge and its shower of hail design. Nora was a master craftswoman and took great pains over design and execution of her lace projects. She produced a huge body of lacework in her lifetime. On display were dresses that could be worn from the cradle (a Christening gown), a wedding dress and many handkerchiefs and presentation pieces.

Nora's son, Eugene told us of the family's pride in his mother's work. He drew our attention to some of the pieces that told the story of Nora's involvement with local organisations. She was the first honorary secretary of Listowel Writers' Week and she belonged to three different drama groups. She was a member of the Listowel Singers and the church choir. Members of all of these groups testified to Nora's generosity in making logos, pin cushions and keyrings for them.

I brought my friends to view the exhibition on Saturday. Friends and neighbours of the late Nora helped the Moriarty family to mind the displays. When we visited, Joan and P.J. Kenny were the caretakers.

Many friends of Nora's came to the launch of the exhibition.

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The Ball Alley

This is how the ball alley looks today.

This is how John Fitzgerald remembers good times in The Alley

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Listowel well represented at Royal Ascot 2019

Edaein O'Connell wearing a stunning Aoife Hannon creation at Royal Ascot this week.
Photos from Aoife Hannon on Facebook