Nora Moriarty's Lace, People at Opening Night LWW 2019 and Cheese and Wine in Newbridge

Listowel Town Square in Summer 2019

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Nora Moriarty's Lace

Tadhg and the Moriarty family spared no expense in mounting the beautiful display of Nora's beautiful lacework at Listowel Writers' Week 2019.

The room was decorated with floral displays. The lace pieces were beautifully mounted, framed and lit.

Wine and food was in plentiful supply at the opening.

A beautiful catalogue of the pieces had a photo of a particularly lovely and appropriate lace piece on the cover.

 A huge crowd of family, friends and Writers' Week visitors admired the work and were left in awe at the magnificence of the pieces. We all marvelled that such a talented lady could have lived in  our midst and we were unaware of the beautiful work that was being produced in Luachra Road.

Writers' Week chair, Catherine Moylan visited the exhibition. She is with Eugene Moriarty, international cyclist.

On Sunday when I called  in again I met Tadhg and Eugene as well as Sr. Una Harman and Gerald O'Carroll


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Listowel Writers' Week; The early days

`Because the late Nora Moriarty was the first secretary of Writers' Week they included a photo of the 1971 committee with her lacework exhibition.

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A Few more from Opening Night LWW 2019

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Cheese and Wine in Newbridge

I had a great night recently at a cheese and wine tasting event in The Wine Buff in Newbridge.
Every cheese (they were all Irish) had its own story. I loved the story behind Fifteen Fields. This cheese is made from the milk of Eamonn Lonergan's cows in Knockanore (not to be confused with our Knockanure) and it is only produced from May to October because it is only made when the cows are out in the fifteen fields. It is a cheddar and it's delicious.

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

Liam O'Connor, Opening Night LWW 2019, Harnett reunion and Brona Chocolates

Listowel Town Square in Summer 2019



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Liam O'Connor at Writers' Week 2019

Liam O'Connor is the very definition of a virtuoso musician and he brought his A game to Listowel on Opening Night 2019. He had the audience in the palm of his hand as he 'worked the room" and set the scene for a great night.

Liam had many many fans in the audience. I took photos of a few of them.

Liam grew up not far from me in North Cork and he cut his teeth playing with his father in the family band. It was lovely to see Liam following in his late dad's footsteps as he was joined on the stage by his daughter and son.

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Some More People snapped on May 29 2019

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Calling all Harnetts

HARNETT REUNION: 

Carina Prendeville is currently working on their magazine and is looking for family pictures, stories, histories.  You can contact her on harnettreunion2019@gmail.com 

 A full programme organised for our visitors but it is also open to anyone to join.  Free admission on Friday, July 12 to the Genealogy workshops and the Patie Boy Historical Collection in the Devon Inn.  Tickets for the variety concert in Tournafulla on Friday, July 12 will be available on the door. Brian Harnett Tenor has confirmed that he will be performing.  Tickets for the Gala banquet and bus tour available from Batt Harnett or Ann Lyons. There will be genealogy, bus tours, a concert, a gala banquet and a memorial Mass, all at different venues around West Limerick/North Kerry.

The event is open to everybody.

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North Kerry Chocolate...Brona

I have met these chocolatiers at several fairs. Here is their story.

Brona Chocolate is produced on the banks of the river Feale in North Kerry which is in the beautiful south-west corner of Ireland. We are a family-run artisan chocolate producer dedicated to producing the highest quality chocolate products from the best available ingredients.

My wife Noreen and our three highly skilled team of tasters Tadhg, Harry and Brona, after whom the business is named, all help out.  We use as much local produce and as many local suppliers as possible.

The idea for Brona Chocolate initiated from running our shop, Mr Duffy’s Traditional Sweetshop in Tralee. Though we were stocking Irish chocolate (and there are many brilliant Irish chocolatiers) we felt that nobody was producing a large range of bars such as we were having to import from the UK and Europe. So began an incredible journey into research and training.

Little did I know that chocolate is the most complex compound known to science with over 1500 identified flavour components (compared to 500 in wine).

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So Sad

When they were students together at UCC and for their 50 years of happy marriage, Anne and Jimmy Moloney were inseparable. Sadly they passed away less than a year apart.

I took this photo at Writers Week in 2013

Guím leaba i measc na naomh dóibh beirt, mo chairde agus mo chomarsanna.