St. Patrick's Day in other places

After that flurry of activity over the weekend I am now returning to my normal pace of one post per day. I have lots of photos which I took over the weekend and I will share some of them in due course. But today I am sharing with you some stuff that people were kind enough to send us.

Our friend, Joanne Dillon was at the New York parade and she sent us this Smilebox of photos

Thank you Joanne. <<<<<<<<< I am posting Ed. O'Connor's email in its entirety For those from Listowel who may have connections to western Massachusetts, particularly Holyoke, check out the following site for reports of yesterday's St. Patrick's Day parade in Holyoke....just for information, Holyoke was once called Ireland's Parish....it is a small city of about 40,000 souls which dramatically increases in size during parade weekend....they crown a colleen who wins a trip to Ireland as part of the prize... Although Boston, New York and Chicago are much larger cities, the Holyoke parade is impressive especially if the weather is good as it was yesterday.....there can be up to half a million folks who watch the parade and the organizers always have a large number of floats and marching bands... Check out www.masslive.com Enjoyed watching your parade.... Ed O'Connor Ed. is a good friend of listowelconnection and NKRO and he is coming to our festival this summer. >>>>>>>>> I'm glad so many people are enjoying the video clips of the Tea Dance. It was a great success. Kay O'Leary, the driving force behind the venture has sent me some photos and I took a few as well on Saturday. I'll share them with you during the week. Meanwhile an old photo from a bygone St. Patrick's Day; Dublin 1939 I found the photo on the internet. The writing is indecipherable. I don't really know what is going on with those planes. >>>>>>> http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/2012/0320/sport/aussie-rules-hero-stynes-loses-cancer-battle-544124.html Very sad news breaking from Melbourne this morning. Jim Stynes, who blazed a trail for young Irishmen like our own Seán Whyte and Tadhg Kennelly has passed away at the age of 45. He is being awarded a state funeral, such was his status in his adopted city. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal dílis. http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/03/20/goodbye-jim/

St Patrick's Day 2012 Listowel

St.Patrick's day parade 2012 in Listowel.

Noreen and John lead the dancing

Jiving: This is how it's done

Dancing The Military Twostep at The Listowel Arms on St. Patricks Day 2010

Sorry dancers, I am reliably informed that the name of this dance is The Military Twostep. I was able to rename my post but not my video.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I was out bright and early with camera.

Danny made an extra effort for the big day. He was rocking the Jedward look today.

Evanna and Angelica made the effort as well and came in green.

I'm off now to the parade and later to the Tea Dance so I'll have lots of snaps for you on Monday.

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Meanwhile a little light reading for you:

I took this from CNN on the web in an article about Irish writers returning home.

Returning to a literary hometown

Although he now lives in England, poet John McAuliffe often returns to his childhood home in Listowel to visit family and to recharge his writing. On the surface a typical North Kerry market town, Listowel has a literary tradition inspired by the playwright John B. Keane and fiction writer Bryan MacMahon. Keane ran a pub where writer Michael Hartnett and other writers and townspeople would gather, now operated by his widow and son.

To a young boy, Keane and MacMahon both seemed of the town and outside it. "They were after something penetrating, subtle and comprehending when they wrote, unsentimentally, about the town's hinterland of farming villages and about the positive impact of modernity on old hierarchies: wised-up insiders with a natural sympathy for the outsider," says McAuliffe, co-director of the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester, editor of "The Manchester Review" and author of "Of All Places."

For the visitor: "When I'm at home I walk Market Street, past John B's (pub) and into the redesigned town square where the terrific converted church, St. John's, hosts theater and music every week," says McAuliffe. "I walk past the Listowel Arms Hotel -- where Charles Stuart Parnell made his last public address -- under Listowel Castle, whose ruin is now attached to an interactive museum, which documents and celebrates the work of John B. (Keane), (Bryan) MacMahon and other writers from the area."

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In case you missed this lovely photo on NKRO 's Facebook page

 Timothy J. O’Neill , pictured in 1876, was a fireman in New York for 40 years. He was born in Lisselton. The photograph was sent to NKRO by Kathleen Price.