Hilser Brothers, Jewellers, The Oil Lamp and a Knockane story

I know a dog who loves Ballybunion.



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Pana

Photo; Chris Grayson

This photo fascinated me because it tells of Cork's long multicultural history that continues to this day.

On the ground floor of this Patrick Street premises is a Turkish barber shop. The upper floors still have the branding of the last tenant, Hilser Brothers Jewellers who sold rings and other pieces of jewellery to Cork clients for generations.

Hilsers have now relocated to Bandon . I found this account of their family history on the page of Miriam Hilser Foley who now runs the business

Miriam’s great-great-grandfather from Germany, Richard Hilser, was sent to Belfast to further his study in clock making (which was the original Hilser business). 

“Richard returned to the Black Forest region in Germany and fell for a local clockmaker’s daughter but in an attempt to secure the father’s blessing, he was instead directed to a different daughter. We then became the first family to introduce grandfather clocks to Ireland. They also had a son, Henry, who was six or seven when Richard died.” 

While his mother Josephina held fort, a young Henry took trips to the Black Forest region to follow in the line of his father’s profession. 

While there he made a pen pal of another clockmaker’s daughter and over time they became close. In the 1860s they settled in Cork. 

Thankfully, Henry’s mother Josephina rented the Grand Parade property for Henry and the Bandon shop for Henry’s brother, Frank, creating the Hilser Bros. Jewellers name. Frank then moved to England leaving both shops to Henry. This began a decline in the Hilser name. 

Henry had five daughters, who of course, took their husbands’ surnames, ending the Hilser family name’s lineage. With a gap nearing a century, Miriam has bridged both names: “Before she died, my grandaunt Ursula Hilser asked me to continue the name. In her and my family’s honour I took the double barrel name, Miriam Hilser Foley.”

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Reality for Dublin Commuters

This picture was posted on Twitter by Eye On Dublin. This is the daily reality for so many in January 2020. It's 835 a.m in Heuston. The person taking the picture is on the Luas that just went past, full. The next Luas will be along in 11 minutes but it is also likely to be full.
Thank your lucky stars if you live in Kerry.

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The Light of Other Days

Junior Griffin who worked for years at McKenna's Hardware told us a bit about this lamp the last time I posted this picture. I mistakenly called it a 'tilly lamp and Junior set me right.

To me it looks like an ordinary oil lamp. The oil lamp would be lit by a wick and raised and lowered by hand. Both the Tilley and Aladdin (which I have one of) were later versions but were lit by a mantle and were worked by a pump. 

 Thinking back, I would have repaired  hundreds of those, with my mentor, the late Mikey O'Connor, in my days at McKenna's before the rural electrification. Fitting a washer in the pump and fitting a new mantle, which were as tender as a cobweb, after they were lit were the main repairs to be done. "

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Some More Photos from the Launch of A Minute of Your Time

Friends from my college days, Peggy and Assumpta

Robert Pierse

My grandsons, Killian and Sean

Kildare friends, writer, Sinead O'Neill and her husband, Andrew

My old boss and good friend, Sr. Consolata

Sr. Margaret

Teresa Culhane

Tim O'Leary

Vincent Carmody

Former Pupil and now Radio Kerry presenter and writer, Elaine Kinsella

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An Cnochán

Noreen O'Connell sent an email when she read about Knockane in the School's Folklore piece last week. Her husband told her what was a true cock and bull story relating to that place.

Mary, reading Bernie Holyoakes story of the “Cnocán “, John tells me he knows the place so well, having hunted it with his greyhounds and where you always got a good hunt off the “Cnocán. There was a quarry there, surrounded by bogland. Its on Driscolls farm. A story he always heard was that one of the Driscolls had a dream that there was gold buried there. So one night a few of the family went there, carrying a lantern and cock with them. They began to dig a hole but were chased away by a bull. The cock died that night. There is a hole of 4 or 5 feet deep there. I suppose because the cock is a symbol of bravery and alertness is why they took him with them. 

Asdee, West Clare Railway and Memories of a Book Launch

Lower Church Street Listowel in January 2020

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Asdee from the air

I found this photo on the lovely Asdee website

Asdee Village 


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On This Day

Today is January 27. On this very day in 1885 Charles Stewart Parnell turned the first sod for the West Clare Railway.

You may talk of Columbus's sailing

Across the Atlantical sea

But he never tried to go railing

From Ennis as far as Kilkee.

The train ran from Kilkee to Moyasta and from there the traveller could go  west to Kilrush.It was the last operating narrow gauge passenger railway in the country . It closed in1961.

The train was notoriously unreliable. Percy French who wrote the famous satire about the line sued The West Clare Railway for loss of earning because he arrived  four and a half hours late for an engagement in Kilkee on August 10 1896. He won £10 plus costs.

The Railway appealed the case and lost. French arrived one hour late for the appeal and he explained to the judge that he came on the West Clare Railway.  In the course of his submission in the case French famously said

"If you want to go to Kilkee

You must go there by sea."

At the same court on the day of French's appeal Mary Anne Butler from Limerick sued the railway alleging that she had been attacked by a malevolent donkey on the platform at Ennis.

If you're not familiar with the Percy French song here are a few verses.

Are ye right there, Michael, are ye right ?

Do ye think that you can get the fire to light ?

Oh, an hour you’ll require

For the turf it might be drier

Well it might now, Michael, so it might

Are you right there, Michael, are ye right ?

Do you think that we’ll be there before it’s light ?”

It all depends on whether

The old engine holds together

And it might now, Michael, so it might, so it might

And it might, now, Michael, so it might

( information from On This Day Vol. 2 by Myles Dungan)

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Generosity in Lyre

Garda Sgt Jim Foley Tralee, a trustee of The Irish Pilgrimage Trust accepts a cheque for €1,910 proceeds of the hampers raffle at Christmas. Hampers sponsored by Lyreacrompane Community Development. €955 raised through your generosity and matched by Lyreacrompane Community Development.

Photo and caption from Lyreacrompane Community Development on Facebook

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Memories of  great Night

On October 19th 2019 we launched A Minute of Your Time in St. John's Listowel. Lots of friends came and we had a mighty night. Breda Ferris took the photos.

Helen Bambury and her husband, Aidan

Alice Moylan and my nephew, William Ahern

Barbara Walshe

Betty and Maria Stack

Billy Keane

My son, Bobby and his wife, Carine

Robert Beasley

Brenda Enright

Bridie O'Rourke

Canon Declan O'Connor

Caroline Reynolds

Catherine Moylan

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Revival 2020 Planning Meeting

I spotted Aiden and Gerry in Thew Horseshoe last week planning another super music festival.

Turf

Slea Head

Photo credit; Graham Davies on This is Kerry

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If today you are complaining about your job, take a look at this turfcutter. Bord na Mona employed men on a casual basis to harvest the turf. They were paid, not by the day or the hour, but by the amount of turf they cut. I don't know if this man was in Lyreacrompane. I doubt he was as most of the photos seem to come from the bigger bogs in the midlands where there were villages of Nissan huts set up during the turf cutting season and the men (there were no women allowed) slept and ate in these huts and spend every waking hour turf cutting.

Men of the Travelling Community used to come to Lyreacrompane for the turf season and these men were a significant cohort of the Lyre workforce.

This photo, also from the great Bord na Mona Archives shows a mountain of turf in the Phoenix Park Dublin sometime during the war. Turf was exported to Britain, as there was as s shortage of coal due to the war.

Tralee, Coming Home from Oz. Race in the 1990's and old Killarney

Listowel Town Square before the reconfiguration

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Tralee, Co. Kerry

These Sculptures are in the Town Park Tralee.

This door in Day Place is on a house thought to have been lived in by Daniel O'Connell.

Ogham Stone at Rath Cemetery

 This is one of many old mills in Tralee. The metal structure at the top was a pulley which lowered the bags of milled flour on to the waiting carts.

This is a Tralee church, unfortunately closed on the day I visited but I am assured it's well worth a visit.

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Barman's Race

One day during the 1990's we had great fun in Listowel Town Square at a fundraiser for People in Need. These photos were taken by Tom Fitzgerald and they show some well know bar people taking part in the Barman's race.

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Coming "Home" for Good

Weather events in Australia have added to the factors that are constantly turning the thought of our emigrants in Australia towards home. Coming back is not always as easy as you might think.

The following article from Stephen Palmer's Irish Abroad site is well worth reading.

Irish Around Oz.

After 14 years in Oz and with dual citizenship, I decided to give living in Ireland a go in May 2016 and ended up staying.

I see so much misinformation on this page that I thought I would share some real experiences from my move; both positive and negative:

1. Decide what is important to you and what is not important to you. Having lived abroad, if you decide to stay there you will be giving up some things, if you decide to move home, you will always have to give up some things. What will you regret on your deathbed?
2. The weather is shit. It always was, and it always will be. Accept it and buy some decent rain gear.
3. There are some annoying things about living in Ireland, just like there are annoying things in every country. Likewise, when you move countries, there are things to sort out and paperwork to do. It doesn’t just magically get sorted because you are an Irish citizen returning.
4. Some things haven’t changed; there is still a certain amount of cronyism, and who you know, e.g. it is ridiculous how much power things like county councils have over planning permission. It can still be a case of who you know, not what you know.
5. There is serious under-regulation in certain things… e.g. there appears to be no regulation of real estate agents who act like total cowboys. It can be seriously frustrating. You WILL find yourself saying “did this country learn nothing from the recession?” many times.

6. Car Insurance is genuinely ridiculous, expensive and challenging for newcomers to the country and returning expats.

7. No, you are not being unfairly treated as a returning expat when it comes to buying a property. They are not “out to get you” or make it impossible to return. The rules are the same – usually 20% deposit, 3.5 times salary, you need to be 6 months in your role and made permanent after a probation period.
   This is the exact same for people who never left the country, so it is not just because you are a returning expat. I keep reading people on here talking about unfair it is, but those rules are the same for everyone, and the controls are there for a reason given how lax the banks were in the past.
   If buying is a priority, make sure you come back with the deposit saved. And expect that you will have to show bank statements etc. from abroad.
8. Salaries in Dublin are lower than in Sydney or London. Fact. And outside Dublin are much lower again. Of course you can’t get the same roles or career opportunities in the West of Ireland as you can in Sydney or New York, so be realistic.
   If you work in the corporate world, and your career is important to you, then chances are the opportunities are mostly in Dublin.
9. Rents are ridiculous in Dublin (especially relative to salaries), but still very low in other parts of the country.
10. Buying property is very affordable relative to other major cities, and relative to rent.
    But be realistic – the recession is over, and prices in Dublin are rising. I see so many people on here comparing the costs of buying in Dublin to small towns in Australia or the US. You are not comparing apples to apples.
    Personally, I could never afford to buy a house in Sydney even though my salary was twice what it is in Dublin.
    Here, I bought a 3-bed house in a lovely location for what I could have bought a 1-bed apartment in Sydney. Don’t compare the cost of a house in rural QLD with a house in Dublin.
11. If you want to pay similar prices to country towns in other countries, you can absolutely do the same here. There are some bargains to be found, but you won’t find the same career opportunities, or you may have to commute – that is not any different to other countries.
    Also, don’t look at a house for sale online an hour outside Dublin and expect it to take an hour during rush hour. Like buying property anywhere, you will have to figure out your priorities – size of house and garden, vs location and commute.
12. People here are lovely. Moving back from Sydney I found people so much nicer, more open and more welcoming here, and that has continued to be the case.
13. Dublin is a much more cosmopolitan and diverse city than it was when I lived here 15 years ago. Some things have changed, and some haven’t. Don’t expect it to be the same, but embrace all the wonderful changes if you decide to move back.

14. There is a much stronger sense of culture here than there was in Oz, and I love that.

15. You can also jump on a plane and be immersed in a completely different culture anywhere in Europe in a couple of hours. You can get cheap flights and accommodation and have an amazing long weekend for cheap as chips.
16. If you lived abroad for a number of years, you can’t just return and expect the same as people who never left and have paid tax the whole time. Yes, you will have to do some paperwork and may not be entitled to the dole. Yes, if you raised your children abroad, they may not be entitled to free 3rd level education. That is the price we all paid for leaving and seeking opportunities elsewhere, so accept it instead of feeling hard done by and entitled.
17. The major lesson for me, back to point number 1; I have no regrets about moving home. For me, family and a sense of belonging couldn’t be replaced in Sydney, and with my eye on those things, all the negatives outlined above were worth it.
18. You have the choice to focus on all the negatives or look for the positives.
19. Nothing is forever. Give yourself options and get your citizenship etc sorted in case you ever want to move back.

I am sure I have missed lots of things as this was just a brain dump. But hopefully, it paints an even picture of the real pro’s and con’s, based on real experience.

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Killarney Street

This is an old postcard picture of a Killarney street

Glenteenassig, Europe on William St. and Listowel Primary Care Centre and Knockane

Glenteenassig

Photo Credit:  Gosia Wysocka on This is Kerry

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Clounmacon GAA

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Polish Restaurant

Sometimes I regret not putting dates on photos. Listowel people will recognise this as Lower William Street and the premises that is now Lizzy's little Kitchen. For a short time this restaurant was a Polish restaurant called Europe.

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Entrance to new Primary Care Centre

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Hidden Treasure

This is from the Dúchas folklore schools collection. I'm including the original manuscript because the handwriting is so beautiful.

This is what it says in case you are finding it hard to read. Cnochán is Knockane.

There is a hill in the townland of Listowel and it is called the Cnocán. This is a fairly large hill and it covers about two acres of ground. It is composed of a mixture of sand and clay. It is supposed to have been drawn in bags by the Danes. The hill is situated midway between two Rivers - the Feale and the Gale and according to local legend the Danes drew the sand from both rivers on their backs. At the south end of this hill which is about twenty feet high there is a beautiful well continually overflowing with clear water and which never runs dry even in the most prolonged periods of drought. But the most remarkable thing about this hill, is that it was raised up in the middle of a flat boggy plain and was supposed to command a view of the River Feale and the River Gale.

COLLECTOR

B. Holyoake

Gender

male

Address

Listowel, Co. Kerry

INFORMANT

Michael Holyoake

Gender

male

Address

Listowel, Co. Kerry