Willie Keane and William St. girls

Last night I went to see Dancing at Lughnasa in St. Johns. It was an excellent night's entertainment. It featured a brilliant ensemble cast, an amazing set and an enthralling play. If you can at all , do get to see it tonight tomorrow or Sunday nights.

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I got an email from Willie Keane telling me about his father's 100th birthday.

"We had a memorable day last Sat 3^rd for my Dad's 100^th birthday . We had mass at 5.30 pm at our family home 76 Church St., Listowel where my father is looked after with such love & care by my sister Norita and her husband Christy..    It was a great day for our family of three girls Mary, Josephine , Norita & six boys, Paddy , John , Willie, Michael., Donal ( deceased 1952, killed on the road outside our home) & James our baby brother now retired. Also present were a host of his grandchildren & great grandchildren. My son Bill  with his son Liam, my Dad & myself  made up  four generations of Williams celebrating his 100^th birthday. On the day I reflected on my great/ great Grandfather who was a child in the late 1840.  My Dad would have known him.

All I can say about my Dad is  told in one line from the Village Schoolmaster “ that one small head could carry all he knew”

My Dad is a very humble gentlemen."

This is a photo of William Senior as a young man. The photo was taken outside the family business.

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Willie Keane, Jr. is the same Willie who is organizing this:

XLChallenge 2012

This exciting event will take place on the weekend of April 27^th-29^th 2012. Participants will climb Ireland’s four highest mountains in just 3 days. The Challenge involves climbing

·       Mount Brandon, Co Kerry – 3,117ft

·       Carrauntoohil, Co Kerry – 3,414 ft

·       Galteemore, Co Tipperary/Limerick – 3,015 ft

·       Lugnaquilla, Co Wicklow – 3,039 ft

While this is a serious challenge, it is within the reach of any reasonably fit person. There will be a number of training events, including a climb of Purple Mountain in Kerry on March 10^th. Participants will pay their own expenses over the weekend. They are also asked to raise funds to build a new school in Tanzania, East Africa.

Willie Keane is a native of Listowel, Co Kerry now living in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. He is the main organiser of the challenge. Willie has successfully organised two previous challenges. In 2007 he led a 10 day, 200km hike around Lough Derg. The following year he organised the Munster Challenge which involved climbing to the highest point in each Munster county over one weekend. Through these events Willie raised over €100,000 which paid for a new Hospital Building “Ma Wa Hurma” (Our Lady of Mercy) in Tanzania. 

There are still a number of places left on the challenge. Full details are available on the website

www.XLChallenge.ie.

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I took this photo yesterday in Spar

Yes, it's shamrock. 

St Patrick's Day can't be too far away. Don't forget NKRO's dance in the Listowel Arms in the afternoon. 

And tonight the official launch of our website. Everyone is welcome in The Seanchaí at 7.00.

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Now the real story can be told.

This is a photo of the girls and babies of Upper william St. The photo was taken at the door of St. Patrick's Hall. St Patrick's Hall was a male bastion and an absolutely no go area for girls. The boys and men were inside playing billiards and cards while the girls were locked out. Ironically this photo is now displayed inside the hall.

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It seems we are out of step again. We can't get this Eurovision thing right. We go for youth when everyone else thinks its a contest for oldies.

"Russia has ignored established stars to choose a group of singing grandmothers from an obscure provincial village to represent the country at the 2012 Eurovision song contest."

Or could it be that no body wants to win!!!

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Today's laugh

Inch, Co. Kerry       photo:Ronan Casey

Dame St. Dublin and some convent girls

I took these pictures from Broadsheet.ie. Credit to Photocall.  This was the Central Bank on Tuesday. what do these Occupy Dame Street people hope to achieve with this? I know the building is absolutely horrible and dominates in its ugliness every other building within an asses roar of it. But these tigíns.....!
St. Patrick's Day is approaching and the eyes of the world will be on us. It is reported that this group of protesters are refusing Garda requests to dismantle their shanty town before the festival.

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Update: 7.15 a.m. They're gone! The Gardaí and Dublin City Council swooped during the night and removed this unsightly mess. No,not the Central Bank, that is too permanent a structure. They removed the temporary structures which had been erected by the protestors. They say that they'll be back though!!
I think I'll steer clear of controversial subjects for a while......

........

After the rant something more gentle.

This is a group of Listowel convent girls in 1943. The picture first appeared on the internet about 4 years ago when a man called Mark Hewitt was researching his wife's family tree. His wife's mother was one Mary Hannon from Listowel and he had a biscuit tin of photographs from her old home. This was among the treasures, no names, no date. Mark put it on the internet, I saw it and started my detective work. Anna Sheahan recognized a few, among them Beatrice Carmody. Beatrice enlisted the help of Louise MacDonagh, now sadly passed on, and with Madeleine Mulvihill they got the names for us.

Walshe		Mail Road
Louise O'Connell		Clieveragh
Ciss Walshe		Ballybunion Rd.
Maureen Browne		Bedford
Kathleen Keane		Clieveragh
Mary Relihan		O'Connells Ave.
Peggy Griffin		O'Connells Ave.
Mary Hannon		Ballygrennan
Patricia Carmody		Clontubrid
Noeleen Keane		Church St.
Terry Enright
Joan Costelloe		Beale
Peggy Sullivan		Derry
Terry Murphy		O'Connell's Ave
Mai Grogan		Charles St.
Pat O'Connor		O'Connell's Ave.
Margaret Keane		Clieveragh
Noreen James		O'Connell's Ave.
Annette keane		Ballygrennan
Mai Carmody		Clountubrid
Peggy Mangan		Bedford
Anne Keane		Church St.
Marie Murphy		Church St.
Beatrice Buckley		Bridge Rd.
Teresa O'Brien		Tanavalla
Mary Mahoney		Charles St.
Maureen Flaherty		Charles St.
Maura Perryman		Beale
Ina O'Sullivan		Inch, Lisselton
Anna Mai Foley		Lisselton
Madeline Power		Clieveragh
Joan Purcell		Woodford

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These are the names as Beatrice gave them to me . I think they are front to back but I'm not at all sure.

Church Street, Listowel

Church St. as it used to be in the bad old days.

It is a very different place today with some of the classiest shops in town.
One little gem is Flavin's,

This lovely little bijou is a throwback to a more relaxed age when you could buy a bit of this, a smackerel of that, have a chat with the shopkeeper and come back and do it all again tomorrow. It is very important that these little shops with their individual character are supported and appreciated by the people of town. It is difficult to be a sole trader in these tough times but I hope to be buying my newspaper in Flavins for many years to come.

97 Church St. is a very glamorous hair and beauty salon. Its proprietor, Danny Russell, is a very enterprising business man. I called last Weds. to have my tresses attended to before the photo shoot for the launch of NKRO's St. Patrick's Day post cards. When I told Danny about our Week of Welcomes and the 45 visitors we are hoping to attract to town, Danny immediately offered to give  a 20% discount to any visitor attending our WOW. So if you are planning your trip to our festival anytime between Aug 3 and 10th. and you feel like having your hair done in very swish surroundings Danny's new partnership with NKRO will see you get 20% off.

And the photo of the post card launch........

There we are; Maria Leahy, Grace Kelly and me in front. At the back Joe Harrington, Kay O'Leary, Ger Greaney and Tom Fitzgerald. We are officially launching the postcards on Friday night along with our website unveiling.

http://www.northkerryreachingout.com/

The website is a work in progress. We are adding new content  all the time. If you are reading this and you are in North Kerry, come and join us in The Seanchaí on Friday next at 7.00 p. m. We are having a bit of a hooley to officially launch our site onto the WWW.

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Back to Church St. where its oldest resident was 100 on Saturday.

This is a newspaper clipping from a few years ago of Willie Keane accompanied by his son,  grandson and great-grandson. 

Happy birthday,Willie.

Listowel rugby

Today's post is a shameless excuse for mentioning Jonathan Sexton again. He is the most searched for name in my whole blogging career so far.
.

The following information I gleaned from the Kerryman archives.

In 1948 a man called J.C. Daly helped Ireland to win the Triple Crown.

Ireland's JC Daly crawls from a ruck with the ball, Ireland v Wales, Five Nations, Ravenhill, Belfast, March 13, 1948

His grandmother was caretaker of Listowel courthouse. They lived in Charles St. J.C. was born in Cork but often visited his Listowel grandparents.

Donal Linehan played for Ireland in the 80s. His father, Gerald who was better known as a boxer was also an excellent rugby player.

Seán Scully played at interprovincial level. Johnny Walsh played for Trinity. Chips McElligott played for Garryowen.

Jonathan Sexton is a nephew of Willie Sexton who played for Garryowen, Munster and Ireland.

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This from Radio Kerry


5 Mar 2012

Heritage Council to hold next meeting in Listowel

The Heritage Council is to hold its next meeting in Kerry. A meeting at the weekend heard heritage projects around the country have the potential to attract 18,700 tourists. The group says investing in Ireland's built history could create hundreds of jobs as a result. Last year, the Heritage Council's grant funding maintained almost 450 jobs nationwide. The council's next meeting will take place in Listowel on April 21st.

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One for the diary on March 17
http://player.vimeo.com/video/37658263

Moloney's

Jimmy Moloney shared some more photos from the family album with us.

Gurtinard House

This is a group taken on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1954.

Jimmy's grandmother is in the middle of the first row.  I'm not clear if the rest are Listowel people.

This is a De Valera rally. Jimmy is not sure if it is in Listowel but thinks it is. Dev certainly has a lot of support.

This is an old picture of Moloney's garage.

The Big Bridge

The house in white beside the church was later knocked down in order to extend St. Mary's.

An old postcard of the river Feale

A date for the diary:
On Friday next in The Seanchaí NKRO will officially launch our website. Come along and see what we are at. Everyone welcome.

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The mood in town at the weekend was darkened by news of the untimely death of Dr. Louis O'Carroll.

Only one week ago he was one of the stars of this fundraising event for Writers' Week. By all accounts he was in fine voice as he held the audience enthralled with his renditions of  John B. Keane's Sweet Listowel and Bryan MacMahon's haunting My Silver River Feale.

Louis was known for his generosity to his local town. He launched his cd  in St. John's in a fundraising concert for Listowel hospice.

Here is a link to a youtube clip from that event

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiVBUT-oJe4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Go ndéana Dia trócaire air.

Posters, March 1 in town and 1989 soccer

Thank Crunchy its Friday!

A few more posters;

A few pieces of social history;

Once upon a time

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky... The combination would
sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking

 along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.
They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the
family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they
would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake".
> >
 When local folks started running out of

 places to bury people they would dig up coffins and would take the

 bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these
coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the
inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they
 would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the

coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would
have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to
listen for the bell; thus,someone could be, "saved by the bell" or was
 considered a "dead ringer"...
> > 

Yesterday was a balmy day in Listowel. Taking advantage of the unseasonal warmth, I and my better half took a stroll into town.

One lucky cat was still nestled in in her cosy bed in The Square.

She was casually ignoring all the attentions of passers by.

Notice the Eason bag? Yes it opened at 2.00 p.m.

Across the Square another cat was settling down on the window of The Listowel Arms for his afternoon nap.

I ran into this pair of happy newlyweds.

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Just for balance, I have an older photo for you as well.

1989! A few of them are still playing I'm told.

Eason opening,O'Quigleys and The Battle of Tea Lane

Eason, Church St. Listowel

The new shop interior

A new chapter in retail history in Listowel is opening today. This was the scene yesterday. Today it will be all ship-shape and Bristol fashion. If Mickey Kearney could only see his old place!

  Across the road, another premises is getting a face lift before its big birthday.

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This letter appeared in last week's Kerryman

Wednesday February 22 2012

Sir, I am writing from Alice Springs, Australia about my first visit to Ireland and Tralee at end of May/start of June 2012.

You must get many letters like mine but I hope you will assist me in my hope of finding descendants of my great-great-grandfather who was from Tralee.

He and two of his brothers were sent to Bermuda during the Great Famine, for stealing a cow. They endured great hardships and were released finally in Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania). I don't know what happened to Owen's brothers after they were released.

My great-great-grandfather was Owen (Eugene) O'connor, baptised at St John's RC church in Tralee on 26 May 1817. His brothers were Thomas, b.1810 and Cornelius b. 1828. Their parents were Denis O'connor and Ellen Doyle.

Owen married Mary O'hayes in Tralee and had a son Denis. Denis married Margaret Mcquin on 29 June, 1859 and had two sons, Eugene, b. 1859 and Michael, b. 1862.

I hope readers of The Kerryman will be to help me reconnect with members of my Irish family. I can be contacted at the email address: lyn.mcleavy@gmail.com

Sincerely, Lyn Mcleavy, Alice Springs, Australia.

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Ed O'Connor alerts us to another great resource for people In the U.S. researching their Irish roots


http://www.tiara.ie/

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Now a treat for you all.

John Fitzgerald, formerly of this parish but now residing in Dublin sends us this epic.

According to  Kavanagh, Homer's ghost said  "I made the Iliad out of such a local row."

I enjoyed this tale of boyhood tribalism. I'm sure you will too and especially
anyone who remembers any of the participants.

The Battle of Tae Lane

There’s a one eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,

there’s a cavalcade of cavalry lost in Death Valley too.

there’s the pharaohs in their pyramids and the Eiffel on the Seine,

but who of you remembers the famous Battle of Tae Lane.

Napoleon planned his sorties from a galleon out at sea,

and Hannibal crossed the Great Alps on an elephant you see,

Bush set his sites on Bagdad as  mighty Caesar did on Spain

and the Casbah planned new boundaries to encompass  sweet  Tae Lane.

‘Twas in the year of fifty nine, at the back of Sandy’s shed,

 long since Hitler went to Poland and Paddy to Hollyhead,

and of all the wars you’ll mention, there is none will hold a flame

to the fight fought by the Gravel Crushers defending their Tae Lane.

For weeks before the New Road was a tranquil place by day

as the boys played round the grotto and the old ones knelt to pray,

but at night behind the Astor, they gathered one and all

to plan their deadly battle and The Gravel Crushers fall.

The sally and the hazel were long stripped before the fall.

Nature played no part in this of that I well recall.

‘Twas the hand of Tarzan Murphy paring sticks both thick and tall

as he swung through trees and branches letting bows and arrows fall.

The signs were all apparent if only eyes would see.

Paddles Browne went round the town on an errand of mystery.

From Moss Scanlon’s up to Shortpants he gathered off cuts by the score,

leather pouches for the making of the deadly slings of war.

Bomber Behan scoured the backways, picked up bits from forge to forge.

Each scrap of steel, the point he’d feel, an arrow tip or sword.

‘Til at the back of Charles Street, as the last forge he did pass

he felt the boot of Jackie Moore go halfway up his ass.

His shouts and bawls off  backway walls went half way round the town

Mutts Connor and Gigs Nolan thought ‘twas the Bandsroom falling down.

But the ear of Tommie Allen, sharp as any corner boy

Heard the beans were spilt , they’d all be kilt , and he began to cry .

“The game is up”, he shouted from Scully’s Corner’s vantage point

“Poor Bomber he’s been captured as he was struggling to find

live ammo for the battle in the cold and p p pissing rain

Pat Joe Griffin must be warned to strike early on Tae Lane.”

Brave Victor of the Broderick clan defied the daring raid,

He called his troops together and ‘twas then this plan he made.

“We’ll meet them at the bottleneck” that went by the shithouse name

under Dan Moloney’s garage in the heart of sweet Tae Lane.

He marshalled troops to left and right, of the gushing sewer outfall.

No silver from these waters flowed of that I well recall.

 Half were placed on the market cliff and half on Dagger’s dump

and there they’d wait in soldier’s gait ‘til Victor shouted jump.

The Gravel Crushers ammo was got ready for the drop,

gattling guns and  gadgets from Fitzgibbon’s  well armed shop,

no trees they’d cut, no face they’d soot, yes, they’d face no blame or shame

those gallant lads from William Street who defended their Tae Lane

The butcher boys, the Shaughnessys were such an awesome sight.

Young Mickey climbed the saddle of the King’s Tree on the right

Titch  and Teddy ever ready,  pointed bamboos on the bank

As P.J. stood next to Victor, his brothers he outranked.

While Back The Bank they gathered just below the Convent Cross,

where Mickeen Carey taught us all the game of  pitch and toss.

John Guerin took no notice, no thoughts for God or man

only the rushing of those waters where the silver salmon ran.

Pat Joe was the leader of the Casbah’s fearsome band,

with the Nolans, Long John and Spats, he’d backup at his hand.

There were the  Reidys and the Roches, the Cantys and the Keanes

and they all set off together to capture sweet Tae Lane.

‘Twas a battle worth recalling, there were heroes more than few,

as the sky above grew darker when the stones and arrows flew,

and in the close encounters , it then was man to man

one a Gravel Crusher and one a Casbarian.

With blood flowing towards the river, it all came down to two,

the leaders of those fighting hordes, Victor Broderick and Pat Joe.

They wrestled in the nettles, in the rubbish they did fight

among stickybacks and dockleafs and Mary B’s pigshite.

The duel it was well balanced as they struggled on the grass,

a rabbit punch, an elbow  a kick in shin or arse.

No mercy would be given, sure the day would end in pain

such was the price one had to pay for lovely sweet Tae Lane.

The bold Mickey took a horsehoe  which he’d pinched from Tarrant’s forge.

No more in vain he could watch in pain his brother  poor Pat Joe.

The glistening shoe of steel he threw, it caught Pat Joe’s left grip.

“The odds have changed”, Eric Browne exclaimed “we’re on a sinking ship”.

Just then the sky above  them changed, the sun  shone through instead

as round  by Potter Galvin’s came the flash of Ollie’s head.

Mounted on a milk white stallion from Patrick Street he came

thundering to the brother’s rescue as he lay wounded in  Tae Lane.

There are mixed views of what happened next, but I was surely there.

No classic from the Astor or the Plaza could compare.

Mac Master or Mc Fadden could never stage the play.

Who won? Who lost?  What matter, all were Gleann Boys on that day.

That battle royal still lingers in the confines of my mind.

No time nor tide dare loose it as long as I’m alive.

‘Twas the battle of all battles  that held no blame or shame

fought fiercely by those boys of yore for the right to rule Tae Lane.