November's butterfly, Unveiling a Famine Plaque and a Famine window in St. Marys'

Photo: John Kelliher


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 A Timely Poem; November's Butterfly  by Larry Belt

Sometimes in November

When the sun is sitting high

An Autumn breeze will steal the leaves

And cause the trees to cry.

Sometimes in November

A butterfly will appear

A cherished thought, a battle fought

For one you loved so dear.

Sometimes in November

Loved ones pass away

You wallow in grief, seek relief

And then you learn to pray.

Sometimes in November

An angel gets its wings

It's good and bad, but always sad

the joy and pain this brings.

Sometimes in November

A family says goodbye

as Heaven waits

To open its gates

To November's butterfly.

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A Photo from 1975

The occasion was a presentation to Bryan MacMahon by the teachers of Scoil Realta na Maidine

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A Famine Commemoration in November 2017

The plaque was unveiled.

We took a few photos of the dignitaries.

Then we repaired across the way to Ard Churam  for a cup of tea, a chat and a few talks about Listowel and The Famine.

First up was historian and genealogist, Kay Caball. She took us back to the dark days of the 1840s when sending your 14 year old daughter to Australia seemed like the only hope for her future.
I heard a quote recently when someone was referring to today's awful refugee crisis.
"No parent puts his child into a leaky boat on rough seas unless he believes that he is safer there than he is on land."
Listowel in the 1840s and 50s was similar. Parents sent their daughters to the other end of the world and an uncertain future in order to save them from the horrors at home.
Kay's talk was laced with anecdote and human interest stories. The Earl Grey girls came to life before our eyes.

Bryan MacMahon of Ballyheigue has recently published his history of The Famine in North Kerry. He too brought the story to life for us, giving us some insight into the hard task of the relieving officer who had to decide on admissions to the workhouse. His job was at stake if he made a wrong decision.
Bryan told us a story that sent me searching in St. Mary's as soon as I could. According to Bryan's research, the parish priest of Listowel, Fr. Darby OMahoney was particularly kind and caring to his flock during their harsh time. He told us that there is stained glass window in St. Mary's depicting Fr. O'Mahoney ministering to the sick and dying.

The window is in a fairly inaccessible place, in the sanctuary on the right hand side. It depicts Fr. Darby O'Mahoney who was Listowel's parish priest anointing the sick during the Famine. Behind him are some nuns with their mouths covered to prevent infection. In the forefront of the picture is a dead child.

Beside the window is this plaque saying the window and plaque were erected by the people of Listowel.


On Saturday the last  speaker was John Pierse who told us of his desire to see the flower of the lumper on a postage stamp as a fitting memorial of those who were lost when this crop failed in successive years.

All in all, the Listowel Famine commemoration was a very worthwhile event that I am glad to have attended. Well done to all those who made it a success.

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Listowel Garden Centre, November 2017

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Some More Polar Christmas Windows

Here are some more polar train windows from Christmas 2017

Chic's magnificent window with Olive Stack's Christmas scene is a striking first impression for motorists entering town this Christmas.

Vanity Case

Every Woman

Flavins

Footprints

Gentleman Barbers

Horseshoe

Lizzy's Little Kitchen

Lynch's

Mc Gillicuddy's

O'Connor's Pharmacy

Olive Stack's

Woulfe's Bookshop

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McGillicuddy's Toys; A Listowel Institution

McGillicuddy's Toys shared this lovely family photo on Facebook. Seeing it, I was whisked back in time to the days before Facebook and online shopping when Jackie McGillicuddy's was an integral part of a Listowel Christmas.

In the 1970s when I was in the market for toys, Jackie's was a Santa's workshop. He had every toy the heart could wish for and he was so so kind and obliging. He operated a credit scheme for those who found it hard to come up with all the money at once. He also offered free storage until Christmas Eve.
Once, when we had a Christmas disaster and the stylus of the Magna Doodle got thrown out with the wrapping paper, Jackie was the soul of patience and understanding and even borrowed another stylus until the lost one was replaced.

Mary Gore R.I.P. used to be his right hand woman. I remember the year of Polly Pockets. Mary predicted that they would never sell, overpriced and so small that a child might feel thy had got a very poor present. It was one of Mary's few mistakes. She had her finger on the pulse of the children's   toy scene long before we had The Late Late Toy Show to tell us what was a "must have."

Happy days!

Mary Gore, Centenarians in Limerick, and children enjoy a day off school

St. John's Arts and Heritage Centre, Listowel in October 2017

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The Late Mary Gore

Some time ago I posted a small tribute to Mary. I couldn't for the life of me find the few photos I had put together to accompany such a tribute when I got round to doing it. As often happens, I came upon them when I was searching for something else so here they are.

Mary with a beloved granddaughter, Leigh in The Square at the Friday Market some years ago.

Mary chats to Eileen Greaney at a book launch in The Seanchaí.

Mary's daughter, Helen and Mary's lovely husband, Cliff

Three generations of Kellys.

Mary with her neighbour of many years, Georgie Molyneaux.

Fond memories of a lovely Listowel lady.

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Some Limerick People who lived to a great age

Old age in Limerick

First, Archdeacon Patrick Lyons was born in Kilmallock on 16 March 1893 to Jeremiah Lyons, a farmer, and Bridget O’Keeffe. In 1911 he was a boarding student in St Munchin’s College, which was on Henry Street at the time. He was ordained as a priest nine years later. He has served as the parish priest to Ballingarry for 42 years. Patrick passed away on 1 January 1999, aged 105 years and 291 days. Next, Bridget O’Malley was born in Cappamore on 24 May 1883. In 1905, she entered St Leo’s Convent in Carlow as a postulant and was professed as a nun, becoming known as Sr Bernardine two years later. She spent over eighty years in the convent, passing away in 1989 aged 106 years 196 days. Finally, Bridget Cagney was born in Croom on 2 July 1876, the second youngest of Patrick Cagney and Ellen Irwin’s twelve children. She joined the Presentation Order in Listowel, Co. Kerry in 1895 when she was only 19 years old and became known as Sr Berchmans. She became a teacher in the convent primary school and taught music into her eighties. Two of her sisters and a brother had also taken religious orders. She passed away in 1981, aged 105 years and 160 days.

Get Fresh Air!

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A Warning to Anglers in The Feale

I photographed this sign on the river walk. It is warning about the dangers of the spread of crayfish plague.

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Schools Out for Ophelia

Last week schoolgoers had two days off due to Hurricane Ophelia. Day 2 of the hurricane, October17th was a balmy summer like day and it was lovely to see families making the most of the unexpected holiday.

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At the NeoData Car Park

I snapped this yesterday. I don't know what's happening here. Are they extending the carpark?

End of summer and Remembering Mary Gore R.I.P.

In Listowel Town Square

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Norella prepares for the Pannisieres celebration

On Sunday Sept 24 I was strolling through the Square when I ran into Norella, weighed down with flowers, balloons and baked goods. She was on her way to The Seanchaí to decorate the dining room for the party to take place later in the evening. Listowel has been twinned with Pannisiers for 25 years and the families who travel to France and who host the French families when they come to Listowel were getting together for a little celebration.

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Requiem for Summer

By Ann Power

Is this the last summer

Never again to hold

The expectant morning between my hands

Sure, as in childhood, of the strength of noon?

I woke in the night

And, turning to you for comfort,

Suddenly heard the echoing dead, the marchers,

Remembered again,

The flame- spirals, vicious,

In a summer lane;

Turning to you for comfort,

Remembered that you were gone.

The soft mist, deluded, hangs in the valley,

Promising meadow-sweet, blackbirds and sun,

And the fields lie waste. We are children no longer

And summer is done.

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Mary Gore R.I.P.....her contribution to her hometown should never be forgotten

This is a photo of Mary(seated) with a group of her old school pals who gathered in The Listowel Arms for a reunion in 2015. It was the first of these reunions that they had to organise without Mary's help.



I was ill when my friend, Mary Gore, died and I didn't get to attend her funeral. Here I am publishing her family's tribute to her which was read at her funeral mass.


Mary was one of the first people I got to know in Listowel. She was a human dynamo. She seemed to be stuck in everything and running many things. She had an enviable ability to keep many plates spinning at once.

Above all though, she was devoted to her family. She counted it a privilege to live so near to her parents and siblings. In time she became the family historian and she liked nothing better than to trace Curran or Kelly relatives and keep them all in touch. She is a huge loss and had left a massive legacy to her family and to Listowel.


Below is the eulogy;


Mary Gore (née Kelly) 10th March 1947 - 2nd June 2016 

On the 4th June, Girl Guides and leaders, past and present, stood to attention for Mary Gore. It was fitting that she receive a final salute from some of those who she taught and worked with for nearly twenty years. Accompanying her from church to cemetery, singing 'Day is done', the song that closes a Guide's day, this was their thank you for her service. 

Mary was surrounded in her final days - family, friends, colleagues, former Guides - they were her nurses, her doctors, her visitors, they helped her family  .... all giving back to a woman who quietly gave so much to so many people. 

Having attended the Presentation Convent she moved to Enfield, North London where she qualified as a nurse at Chase Farm Hospital.  Here she met a widower with a small daughter, who became her husband. They soon returned to Charles Street, Listowel and expanded their family to four. 

Mary continued to nurse in St Catherine's Hospital Tralee, in private homes, as a nurse with the medical referee and at the Presentation Convent. Friday nights, she and volunteer friends could be found leading a group of the Listowel Girl Guides, as well as bravely taking them on a week-long annual summer camp. Many people in Listowel can make a great fire out of nothing, thanks to Mary Gore! She discreetly helped new couples during her time with C.M.A.C (now known as Accord), was involved in Tops of the Town shows, the Lartigue theatre and was passionately interested in gardening and genealogy, with a remarkable ability to remember stories from the past. It was poignant that Mary passed away during Writers' Week, having been one of the festival's secretaries in its infancy. Many locals will also remember her from her many years in Jackie McGillicuddy's shop.

Mary was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in her early forties.  Not long after this she was diagnosed with cancer, which she went on to beat.  In her typical style, she set up, and was secretary to, the North Kerry Parkinson's Association and was involved in fund-raising events for as long as her health allowed. She, Cliff and her medical team defied the odds for many years, finding solutions to allow her her independence and to allow him to care for her as much as possible.

Mary was happiest surrounded by family - her romance which started in London, continued to her last days, her devoted husband Cliff, always by her side. She lived next door to her beloved parents, Agnes and Denis Kelly, near her siblings Michael and Una and her nieces and nephew and revelled in their visits and those of her children and grandchildren. 

She loved to meet with friends, dressing up and painting her nails for the occasion, refusing to be limited by her illness. Her ability to make and maintain friendships throughout her life was evident from the numbers who turned out to say goodbye. She had an innocent sense of fun, a quiet, determined manner and was a lady to the end of her days. 

She is survived by her husband Cliff, her sister Una, her children Michelle, Helen, Denise and Aidan, her grandchildren Leigh, Ciara, Isabelle, Maya, Elliot and Noah, all of whom will miss her dearly.

“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” ― Voltaire

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