St. John's, New Kingdom and a 1965 Guide to Listowel

Morning in Gurtinard Wood

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Stained Glass Windows  in St. John's

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New Kingdom July 2018

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Aileen Skimson remembers her Roots

Aileen Skimson, Née Greaney, lives in a  small town in Canada. Her father grew up in Listowel and Aileen remembers with fondness her three visits to his hometown. She kept the "official Guide" she bought on her very first visit at age 12 in 1967. She is now downsizing and came across the brochure in her clearout. She thought of us and she sent me the pictures to share with you. 

The story then got a bit more complicated. Aileen sent the pages as pdfs and i cant manage them for the blog so I asked her to take photographs of the pages but that didn't work out either . So the following photos and the others I will be sharing in the next while are brought to you thanks to the kind offices of Dave O'Sullivan who is a great friend of our blog.

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Sunset from Cnoc an Óir

liam Enright took these in July 2018

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Trees,  Penfriends and Schoolboys

Yesterday I told you about the absolutely magnificent trees on Listowel Pitch and Putt Course. I often walk by the course and I am always in awe at the beautiful trees. 

Neil Brosnan got in touch with a story about the trees. This is what Neil wrote on Facebook;

"I recall our St Michael's and St Mary's classes planting some of those trees, along with our counterparts from Listowel, Ontario, C1971. The Canadian red maples were to mark our pen-friendship since fifth class in primary school."

According to Neil, Dick O'Flaherty, their fifth class teacher at Scoil Realta na Maidine in 1965/66 got a letter from his counterpart in Listowel, Canada asking if they could initiate a penpal friendship with the boys. Neil himself was a bit miffed because he got a boy penpal.

A delegation from Listowel in Canada came to town in 1971 and among the many events that were organised for that visit was a tree planting in the Listowel Pitch and Putt course.

I wonder does anyone have a photo of that or even a story from the pen friendship days.

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Replacing the Street Lights

When a street light  in Listowel blows now they replace it with an LED one.

Listowel Pitch and Putt Club, a quilt and a new location for our vaping supplies shop

What a Beauty!

Tree near Listowel Pitch and Putt Clubhouse

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Listowel Pitch and Putt Course

This part of Listowel's Town Park is a tribute to all  the people who have taken care of it over the years. There has been some magnificent planting done here over many years and the course is always beautifully presented. I have heard that the definition of unselfishness is planting a tree under whose shade you will never sit. Listowel has reason to be grateful to many many unselfish men.

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The E Smoke Store has moved

On Lower William Street

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Pat Del Savio's Irish quilt

Pat had a greeting card that she liked so much she decided to use the design to make a quilt. Isn't it lovely?

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A Highlight of Seán McCarthy Festival

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Molly has Gone Home

All good things come to an end. Molly has gone back home after her Kerry holiday.
Of course I miss her company on my walks, her sweet little face welcoming me home, her companionship in the house and garden.

But then there was the same Molly who ate the first 2 chapters of the book I was reading and the brat who got into my knitting bag.

So I don't think I'll be getting a puppy. I am assured that Molly is allowed to come to Kerry for holidays whenever I want her.

Dorans Then and Now, Patrick Keough walks the Kerry Way and a Station Cat

1916 commemorative Garden, July 2018

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Crowley's Corner now Doran's Pharmacy

Photo: The John Hannon Archive

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Hiking The Kerry Way

A friend recently sent me a link to this blog post

Trecking The Kerry Way

Read this account of Patrick Keough's walk and you will want to "arise and go there"

Here are just a few snippets.

The Kerry Way Trail takes you over some of Ireland’s highest mountains, majestic coastlines, remote valleys, native forests and breathtaking scenic vistas.

The terrain along the Kerry Way is much more extreme and remote than the Camino to Santiago, however the scenic views are magnificent and awe inspiring. I also got myself lost a few times hiking the mountain ridges in dense fog. It was a frightening experience not being able to find the trail markers then looking at my phone and realizing I had no service. Luckily after about 4 km of searching and some praying I found my way back to the trail. It was an introspective trek, in addition to a great personal challenge.

After a week of hiking over rugged deserted terrain I started thinking what it must have been like for the Irish people 200 years ago. No creature comforts, no cars, phones or electricity. I can’t even imagine how hard life must have been just traveling from town to town by foot or horse cart.

It’s difficult doing justice with words describing the majestic beauty of the Kerry landscape. It’s the same as it was thousands of years ago. Towering rocky hillsides, flowing dark rivers and miles and miles of wet boggy grass and yellow gorse. I feel very blessed and a little overwhelmed hiking in this timeless unspoiled environment. Looking upon my surroundings this morning bathed in crisp dawn light I feel Gods presence in nature.

This is just a small taste of this marvellous blogpost. Here is the link again. Read it all and look at Patrick's marvellous photos. If you don't have the energy to undertake it, this is the next best thing to being there.

The Kerry Way

All photos and text are copyright  to Patrick Keough

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Summer Visitors

When I called in to Listowel Writers' Week office last week, I found Máire and Eilish entertaining Jim and Liz Dunn and their visiting grandchildren.

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This Cat is going nowhere

Member of staff at Tralee railway station

the Blaket Islands, ducks on The Feale and some local images

Cycling home with the newspaper through Childers' Park,  Listowel in July 2018

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A Date for the Diary

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West Kerry Islands

Last week I posted this photo from Seán Mac an tSíthigh of An Fear Marbh. I told you that this island is also called The Sleeping Giant. Well, this prompted Denis Quille to write to tell us that the same island is also called An tEaspag (the bishop). It's proper name is Inis Tuaisceart  ( The North Island)

Denis says;

The old people at the tip of the Dingle Peninsula knew Inis Tuaisceart (The Sleeping Giant) as "An tEaspag" (The Bishop), it is also easy to see why. 

On a family boat trip on 30 June we went into the island (some of my family with my brother Bryan's living in Listowel) and I'm attaching a few of the numerous photos taken by my daughter Neassa and nephew Micheál for you. We also landed on other outlaying islands but could not land on An Tiarach due to the spring tide swell. The landing/climb on to Inis Tuaisceart is dangerous and we had a very calm day, it not advisable for all ages should any of your followers be contemplating a visit. There is no ferry.

This is the Great Foze Rock (An Fós = Rage) taken on 30 June. This is the most westerly landfall in Europe and is situated quite a distance from An Tiaracht. 

The families had a swim here but in hindsight was probably foolish as there was a very strong drift in the direction of the rocks.

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Ducks on The Feale during the summer drought of 2018

There are several families of ducks in the river. I photographed these by the Big Bridge.

Peter McGrath collects some stale bread from a local shop and he makes his regular trips to feed the ducks.

These were further downstream

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Look who I met on my Sunday morning walk

Fred Chute is a man who loves Nature. On this lovely Sunday morning July 22 2018 he was enjoying a stroll by The Feale with his dog.