My Silver River Feale on RTE

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1118552

I hope the above link works. It is the  RTE player link to last night's lovely documentary about the river Feale. The name of the programme is Abhainn and it's the third in a series on Irish rivers.

The Irish DNA atlas

Noreen O'Connell has shared this very interesting link with us

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/10/announcing-the-irish-dna-atlas-

The following announcement was written by the Genealogical Society of Ireland and the Royal College  of Surgeons in Ireland: This afternoon at the Back To Our Past show at the RDS, the Genealogical Society of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland launched an important All-Ireland project to create a collection of DNA samples from individuals of Irish origin,  which will be used to explore human genetic variation in the Irish population. Over the past decade or so genealogists from around the world have become increasingly intrigued by the possibilities afforded through the advances in genetic genealogy to...

And now for something completely different...

This is a typical shop bill from a Listowel shop in 1921. Note the dependence on tobacco!!!

Listowel people would have had their own meat, vegetables and fruit and, of course, there was no processed food available then.

Irish Orphan Girls

Julie Evans sent me this lovely poignant poem by an Australian poet. She too had a female ancestor arrive in Australia on the infamous Earl Grey Scheme

Female Irish Orphans

By Pamela O’Connor

They came here in their thousands – little orphan girls,

Cast aside, like a string of imitation pearls.

Having no value and no worth,

Having no place, no purpose on earth,

Gouged from the heart of Ireland’s deathly blight,

No one cared or sorrowed at their plight.

When they landed on this shore the lonely men were there.

Waiting to choose a wife – the chance for this was rare.

The women were waiting to choose their servant girls,

Nobody saw the tears of the little imitation pearls.

Friendships made on the voyage out were lost,

As the pearls across the colony were tossed.

These little orphan girls became the mothers of this land,

Though heaven only knows, that wasn’t planned!

For fate had not destroyed their joy and song,

And God was kind because it wasn’t long

Before they rose above the fear and pain,

The ridicule of others - and disdain.

They taught that freedom of the spirit was just a state of mind,

That pride and love and laughter were first nature to their kind,

Each day and night their work and toil

Brought life into the barren soil,

And finally their roots were sown

And now their love for this great land had grown.

Their sons and daughters carried on their ways,

And many are the thoughts that take us back to those far days,

As Australians we can thank them for the heritage they gave,

For the poets, priests and larrikins – the identity we crave,

And sometimes one can hear their distant voices singing loud.

From these pearls I am descended,

And I’m proud.

Tramps and the workhouse

Since posting the story about Bridget Ryan, I have become fascinated by The Workhouse and life therein. Tramps and vagrants were frequent callers to the workhouse door. One fascinating little titbit, I'll share with you now;

Tramps' Signs

Tramps and other travellers are often said to make use of secret signs. Such signs, scratched outside houses along the route, are used to pass on information or warnings about the treatment to be expected at a particular house. Some of the signs reckoned to be most widely used ones are listed below.

	(Tick) "Yes" or "all right"
	(Cross in circle) "A Christian household"
	(Coins) "Money may be given here"
	(Table) "A sit-down meal may be on offer""
	(Loaf of bread) "Food only"
	(Interlocking squares) "Threats may produce something"
	(Box) "Spin them a tale" or "Eloquence may get a response"
	(part of X?) "No" or "Nothing doing".
	(Bars) "Police may be informed or called"
	(Dot in circle) "Police may be called"
	(Dot in square) "Possibility of violence"
	(Teeth) "Fierce dog!"
	(Sickle) "Work may be offered"
	(Triangle) "Too many have called recently"

Frank Gray, who became  well acquainted with tramps and their habits was rather sceptical about the supposed use of secret signs by tramps. In his view, tramps were much likely to keep their intelligence of a neighbourhood to themselves, particularly when it came to generous households.

A man named Pat Schillaci

Listowel people have a tendency to give people colourful nicknames. I have always wondered where Schillaci got his from. The mystery was solved last weekend when this great friend and adopted son of the Keane family was laid to rest.

Billy Keane has written a lovely piece about him in today's Irish Independent but it does not seem to be published in the online version of the paper. So I'm sharing with you the Kerryman obituary.

DÓNAL NOLAN

Wednesday October 19 2011

LISTOWEL buried a cherished character this week with the passing of Patrick O'Donoghue, affectionately known as 'Schillaci'.

A massive crowd turned out for his Funeral Mass in St Mary's on Sunday with friend Micky McConnell singing him out with The Parting Glass in a particularly poignant moment.

The 55-year-old Cobh native was found dead in his flat on William Street on Thursday. A regular of John B's bar, Mr O'Donoghue was indeed named as 'resident character' by the late writer many years ago.

"He was a lovely, gentle soul and had the freedom of 30 houses around town," Billy Keane — who gave Sunday's oration — told The Kerryman.

"Pat came to town in his younger years and married the love of his life, Mary Daly. The couple had two children, Billy and John, and two grandchildren and he was a hero to them. Pat had a hard upbrining in residential care in Cork and I think the time he spent with his own children and grandchildren was his way of reclaiming his lost childhood."

Very generous to his many friends, Mr O'Donoghue carried out work all over Listowel. "He was happy with lunch or the loan of a good book in recompense and was a voracious reader. He'd read three books a week and loved reading to his grandchildren."

Mr O'Donoghue had lunch with Mary Keane every Sunday and had a second home in the bar. Indeed, he earned his moniker there in the aftermath of the infamous goal. "He was so shocked he fell off his stool when Schillaci scored and my brother John called him after the Italian player from then on. It was a name that suited him perfectly."

- DÓNAL NOLAN

Quiz answers

From Vincent

Answers to our quiz, (1) What family occupied the Central Hotel before the Galvin’s? (A) The Potter family, who the Galvins married into. (2) Where could you see “a local Squire being entertained in Listowel ©1842 “? (A) The original painting is on view at the Urban Council Office, or anyone with       Listowel and its Vicinity, the colour plate is between pages, 256 and 257. (3) There were two hotels in Listowel, known as Commercial, where were they?       (not the Listowel Arms)  (A) (1) in 1867, James Collopy had a Commercial Hotel in The Square, where        Jimmy Deenihan has his office.         (2) O’Connor’s Commercial Hotel was in Market Street, where Pierces had         their veterinary practice. (4) There was also a commercial club, where? Who was the secretary? (A) Where ‘Footprints’ is now in Main Street, John Cahill was secretary. (5) James Butler was a watch and clock repairer, where did he live? (A) He lived and worked at 23 Upper William Street. (6) Where did the Young Ireland Society have their meetings? (A) At 63 Church Street, Tarrant’s or The Bon Ton (the name was painted on the      plinth in the overhead wall) (7) Where was Listowel’s last Private Hotel? (A) Lawler’s, afterwards Ashes in Church Street. (8) Two of Listowel Pharmacies and part of another one originally had something in       common, nothing to do with dispensing medicine, what were they? (A) 3 Public Houses. Wm. Keane Stack’s, (now Aidan O Connor’s) was a pub ran by        Jeremiah Foley in 1911. Broderick’s Pharmacy was a pub ran by Edward Cain in        1901. Thirdly, the William Street addition to McGuire’s Chemist shop (Justin        Stack’s) was a pub ran by a William McCarthy.       (9) Listowel residents, John McCrystall, George Rice and Gabriel Thorpe had                  something in common, what? (A) They were three Listowel physicians and surgeons in 1846. (10)  Listowel’s Royal Hotel was owned by whom? (A) Patrick J. Houlihan, 1880s       Miss Hannah Roche, 1890s (11) If I was to meet you for a drink in Listowel’s, Hotel Brendan, who’s home would         we have been in? (A) The home of Robert M Danaher, father of Tim Danaher (Gift of Ink). Afterwards        John Joe Kenny’s and the Castle Bar.   Thanks to all those who took the time to contribute, I got some very funny answers, nobody got them all right, even remotely near it!!, I suppose there will be some who will say,"I knew that" however having read the answers they would say that, would'nt they? Here to the next one, Vincent.