St. Patrick's Day 2019, Death of a Rev. Mother, Pres. footballers and a poem for Mothering Sunday

Ballybunion in March 2019

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Some Stalwarts of Listowel Parades

Seán Moriarty provides a running commentary in The Small Square.

Charlie Nolan recording it all from the viewing platform.

Listowel 2019 Parade by Charlie Nolan

Denis Carroll records the day for us on the street. His lovely video of this year's St. Patrick's Day  is at the link below.

St. Patrick's Day 2019 in Listowel

Billy Keane was back on the stand in 2019 doing his MCing.

Tim O'Leary and Donal O'Sullivan

Liam Brennan as St. Patrick blesses us all.

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St. Patrick Joins in The Fun

 St. Patrick dances with Mary Twomey  on St. Patrick's Day 2019

 Meeting and greeting

And we all head home, St. Patrick's Day done and dusted for another year.

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Death of Rev. Mother in 1919

Kerry News, Friday, August 01, 1919
(An Appreciation by a grateful patient) Condensed

DEATH of Rev Mother Michael, Superioress of St Bridgid’s Convent of Mercy, Listowel. Requiem High Mass was celebrated on Sunday 13th at the lovely little-church attached to the Mercy Convent, by the Most Rev. Dr. O'Sullivan, Lord Bishop of Kerry, with the Very Rev. Fr. Breen, S.T.L., President St Brendan's Seminary, Killarney, and the Rev. T. Trant, P.P.,Ballymacelligott, her nephew, as deacon and sub-deacon ; Very Rev. Canon O'Riordan, P.P., V.F., Boherbee, as Master of Ceremonies. There was also present in the Sanctuary the Very Rev Dean O'Leary. P.P.. V.G.. Tralee, and the Rev. Fathers , Ferris, Behan and Conlon, O.P. Several members of the Christian Brothers from the Industrial Schools were also in attendance.
Amongst the chief mourners were- Sisters Benedict and Catherine (nieces) Rev. T. Trant, P.P.: Dr Trant. J.P. : Mr. P. Trant, J.P., and Mr Michael O’Connell, Clerk of the Union (nephews) Miss Danagher, Mrs O’Connell (sisters) Miss M. A. O'Connell, Miss B O’Connell, Miss N O’Connell, (nieces); Miss Nora Trant. Mrs. S. Fuller and the Misses O'Connell (grand nieces); Messrs P. Trant. junr., and D Trant (grand nephews} : etc.. etc. A full list of the general public is out of the question.

Rev Mother Michael came to Listowel some 36 years to take over charge, of the Union Hospital and let it be said that from the very start her work was cut out for her, for the Hospital Buildings though large enough were anything but sanitary or comfortable. Uninviting, rough, whitewashed, walls, straw beds, small apertures in the Walls instead of windows a room only fit for a stable to hear mass in were only a few of the many unsightly objects that met the view of Rev. Mother Michael and her faithful little band of nuns when first she entered the then unhallowed walls of the Listowel Workhouse. The change for the better which she wrought in this establishment would if described fully read like a chapter from Fairyland. The sisters transformed the place.

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Presentation Secondary School Team

I think this is a football team back in the day

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Richard Moriarty sent this poem home to us for Mothers' Day

MY MOTHER

DEDICATED TO MOMS EVERYWHERE

WHILE WE’RE TOLD IN SONG AND STORY

OF PEOPLE OF RENOWN

BE THEY WRITERS, POETS OR CONGRESSMEN

OR KINGS WHO WEAR A CROWN

IT’S INSCRIBED THERE IN THE PAGES

THEIR NAMES AND WHERE THEY’RE FROM

BUT I BELIEVE THE UNSUNG HERO

IS THE PERSON KNOWN AS MOM

SHE’S THE ONE WE ALWAYS TURNED TO

WHENEVER THINGS WENT WRONG

THE GENTLE HAND THAT DRIED OUR TEARS

WHILE SHE HUMMED SOME SILLY SONG

SHE WAS ALWAYS THERE TO GREET US

AND HELP US ON OUR WAY

WITH THAT SPECIAL TOUCH

THAT MEANT SO MUCH

AND A GENTLE WORD TO SAY

AND THERE WERE TIMES WHEN

WE CAUSED YOU PAIN

AND TREATED YOU UNKIND

BUT ALL THE WHILE YOU’D SOFTLY SMILE

OH, HOW COULD WE BE SO BLIND

BUT YOU ARE THE ONE WE DO ADORE

AND LOVE LIKE WE COULD NO OTHER

WE THANK YOU GOD FOR GIVING US

SUCH A SPECIAL CARING MOTHER

Richard G. Moriarty

St. Patrick's Day 2013 and Peat Briquettes and new genealogy website

The very last of my St. Patrick's day photos........... for now.

Martin Stack

Liz Healy

Judges

Maurice Hannon AKA St. Patrick

Matt Mooney

Liam Brennan AKA St. Patrick

St. Patrick's sandals....and it was skinning cold!

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Briquettes

There is much talk of winter fuel and fuel shortages during this cold snap. Bord na Mona has had one of its worst peat harvests on record and is currently witnessing unprecedented demand for briquettes.

Did you know that peat briquettes as fuel are an Irish thing?

Here is a sequence of archive photos from  Bord na Mona Heartland  from the briquette factory in Croghan.

Croghan Briquette factory opened in 1961, 62 years ago. It closed around 1999. This shows a delivery of peat to the factory.

After the briquettes were made they were extruded on runners to help them cool down before baling. The runners extended for 75 meters into the baling house. When baled the core temperature of the briquettes was 78 degrees C.

Eventually the briquettes were loaded for transport.  At this time some 22 million bales were produced each year between Lullymore, Derrinlough and Croghan.

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Jimmy Deenihan T.D.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

 launched the new Genealogy Website

at Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin 2

on Tuesday 26 March 2013 

www.irishgenealogy.ie is a new Irish Genealogy search portal

This portal will make it possible for users to search records from a number of genealogy records sites including:

·         Census 1901/19011 records, Irish Census of populations for all counties of Ireland.

·         Griffiths Valuations, the first full scale valuation of 19^th Century property in Ireland, published 1847 to 1864.

·         Tithe Applotment records, Compiled 1823-1837,

·         Soldiers wills,

·         Military Archives,

·         National Library of Ireland,

·         Ellis Island records, passenger lists and other records of U.S. immigration through Ellis Island, New York.

·         Ireland-Australia transportation database,

·         Women in 20^th Century Ireland 1922-1966, a database of almost 20,000 entries on a set of records relating to central government.