Presentation Sisters in Listowel, the ultimate sacrifice and some changed facades

Presentation Presence in Listowel

To mark Catholic Schools Week, Sr. Éilís sent me a brief synopsis of the work of the Presentation Sisters in Listowel down through the years.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL WEEK

As we celebrate our tradition of Presentation Catholic education in Listowel, we take inspiration from the lives of the Four Presentation Sisters who began catholic education in Listowel in 1844.  On the 7^th of May 1844, Sr. Mary Augustine Stack- a native of Listowel and three sisters from Milltown, Sr. Mary Teresa Kelly, Sr. Mary Francis McCarthy and Sr. Mary Francis Brennan founded a convent and school in Listowel.                                    

During the Famine of 1845-48, the sisters had to close their school. They opened soup kitchens to feed the starving people. It resulted in the deaths of many families and of some of the young sisters. Sharing their meagre resources with the poor, over the course of twelve months, the sisters supplied 31,000 breakfasts to the starving children. The Convent Annuals read of the Sisters baking bread to feed so many, eventually being reduced to rye and black bread. The Sisters also initiated groups to make garments for the women and shirts for the men in the workhouse closeby – so that people could earn wages. 

A significant event in the life of the early Listowel Presentation community was the ‘Battle of the Cross’ in 1857.  The Sisters were ordered to take down the Cross from the gable end of their school by the Education Board. In spite of dire threats, the sisters refused to do so, and defied the Board. Eventually the Board yielded.

In 2007 the sisters closed their convent, after 163 years of service in Listowel. The tradition of Presentation Catholic education is still alive in Listowel.  Our school is now under the trusteeship of CEIST which is committed to continuing the great tradition of Presentation Catholic education in Listowel into the future.

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outside Trinity College, Dublin, 1900     (source; photos of old Dublin)

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Bridget Sheehan of Ballyduff

I mentioned before here the great Ballyduff Facebook page that is about to be taken down. Here is one of the last entries on Anyone from Ballyduff out there

In it Tim Sheehan pays tribute to his late mother whom he never knew.

February 1 is the Feast of Saint Bridget. My Mom Bridget nee Sullivan Sheehan after making the most courageous decision that one can make in this life entered into the wonderful realm of Peace and Serenity. She is the reason that I can experience all the wonderful gifts that comprise my life today. 

In 1952, she is pregnant with me, joyous and full of anticipation at the prospect of bringing the child she is carrying into the world. A few months into the pregnancy she is diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. The doctors of that era offer her a choice. There is a drug that will possibly help with the advancing cancer but if she opts to take this drug it will take the life of the child she is carrying. 

She chose my life over her own. She refused to take the medications and thus I was born. She passed when I was 11 months old. I have no tangible memory of, her touch, her smile, her joy, however I do have the gift of a love that transcends any definition. 

For the past 60 years I have been the recipient of the greatest love possible, a love that is immeasurable in its purity and nature, the love of a Mother. When I return home to the small cemetery where she is buried and I kneel in front of her gravestone I reflect on these words from the Irish ballad, Danny Boy.

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,

If I am dead, as dead I well may be,

Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,

And kneel and say an Ave there for me;

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,

And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,

For you will bend and tell me that you love me,

And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!

Thank You Mom for loving me so much that you gave the ultimate gift; my life.

I feel you in my heart every day,

Is breá liom tú anois agus i gcónaí.  Go raibh maith agat as do mhisneach agus mo shaol.

Tim

Tim Sheehan on his mother, Bridget Sullivan of Ardoughter, Ballyduff

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Then and Now

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Update

John Corridan (front row, 4th from right, next to the late Roly Chute), brother of the late Dr. Robert Corridan is hale and hearty at 95 and living in Cork.

Dillons, Ballyduff, the whooper swan and updates on schoolboys and postmen

Scully's Corner 1995

 (photo; Pat Del Savio)

Theresa Dillon, Eileen Scully and Margaret Sheehy

Pat Del Savio sent me these photographs. Pat is a daughter of Theresa Dillon, whose parents were Patrick Dillon and Johanna Lynch. Theresa kept the Dillon name all her life as she married James Dillon from Dromerin.

Pat (Theresa's daughter) now lives in Florida but she is very proud of her Listowel ancestry and loves Irish music and dancing

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Ballyduff, Co. Kerry

This old photograph (I know it's old because there is scaffolding up on that round tower for ages now) I sourced on a Facebook page on Ballyduff. The writer is about to close the page so I'll steal a few gems to share before he takes them down.

Interesting Facts about Ballyduff

1. Ballyduff or in Irish "An Baile Dubh", means the "black village".


2. The Rattoo Round Tower is the only complete round tower in Kerry.


3. On 1 November 1920, the Black and Tans shot local man, John Houlihan, dead and burned the creamery to the ground.


4. The first motor car – A Chambers - was brought to Ballyduff in 1907 by Dr. Pierce.


5. Canon William Ferris, the author of "The Gaelic Commonwealth" and many other works came from Ballyduff.


6. The Boys of Ballyduff song was written by P.J. Sheehy on the occasion of the Ballyduff/Crossabeg All-Ireland Hurling final in 1891.


7. Rattoo Heritage museum is located in the village. The museum contains local and archaeological discoveries about North Kerry.


8. John Mahony (1863–1943) was a famous Ballyduff Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with the Kerry senior inter-county team in the 1890s and captained Kerry to their only All-Ireland hurling title in 1891.


9. RTE television, the first station in Ireland, went on the air on the 31st December 1961. Not many people in Ballyduff had television sets at this time so people gathered nightly on the street in the village to watch a television which was switched on in the window of Kearney’s shop!


10. The Church in Ballyduff village was first opened on June 20th 1837 and was called after SS. Peter and Paul.


11. Rahela Grotto was built in 1957 which was known as the Marian year in honour of Holy Mary. Babies that were born in the Marian Year, whether they were boys or girls, had to be given the name Mary-even if it was a second name!


12. Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh (Well of Sunday‟s King) is a Grotto and Holy Well on the Ladies Walk. It is also known as the Well of Lepers.


13. Tom Dunne, Glounerdalive was the first local man to ride a bicycle (Penny Farthing) through the village!


14. Tobar a Leighis is the grotto and Holy well near the Cashen. The water from this well is said to heal your mind as well as your body! It is said that a Golden fish can be seen in the well by people who are cured! St.Bridget visited this well when she came to Kerry.


15. Ladies used to walk everyday from the Great House in Rattoo to another Great house in Ballyhorgan. In those days, there was a law that stated that the people living on the road that linked the two houses were not allowed to have windows facing the road so they could look at the ladies walking by! This is why the road is now known as Ladies Walk!!


16. Kerry were represented by a Ballyduff team when they first won the All-Ireland Hurling Championship in 1891


17. The library in Ballybunion was moved brick-by-brick from the church in Rattoo in 1952!


18. Edmund Barrett , a very successful sports-man was born in Ballyduff in 1880. In 1908, at the Olympic Games held in London, he won a bronze medal in wrestling, and also won a gold medal with the London tug-of-war team. He also won an All-Ireland gold medal with London in hurling against Cork in 1901. He is the only Irishman to win two gold medals.


19. Butter was once made in The Ballyduff Creamery. The Churn was installed in 1958 and the butter maker until 1971 was John McCarthy.

20. There was an underground tunnel called a Suterrain linking Rattoo Great House and Ballyhorhan House.

( I take no responsibility for the truth or otherwise of any of these facts. I just copied and pasted.)

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Finuge, Winter home of the whopper swan

People in the Ballyhorgan, Lixnaw, Finuge area have been campaigning diligently against any planned erection of massive wind turbines in this lovely area of North Kerry. The latest salvo in this campaign is on behalf of the whopper swan.
The above photo and the following article appeared in last week's Kerryman;

"Iceland to Finuge - Home of the Whooper Swan' reads the slogan against a stunning picture of the birds coming into land taken in Finuge on Monday. The first 70 birds of an expected 500 arrived on Monday in their usual migratory path from Iceland.

Finuge's importance as a winter home for the species is well-known within birdwatching circles nationally with 'twitchers' - as they're known - coming from as far as Kilkenny and Wexford to observe the graceful creatures feeding and nesting in Finuge.

But it is feared the erection of the ten turbines, if given the go-ahead, could pose a major threat to the birds. Awareness of their presence in Finuge comes as manna from heaven for the hundreds of locals fighting against the wind farm plans.

"What I would say is that these birds are very accident prone as low-level fliers with poor vision," local man Matt Mooney said. "We're trying to raise awareness of their presence at the moment and the water plant at Scartlea cross is one of the best places to view them from," he said.

It is believed Finuge is one of the most important sites in the entire country for the species, home to ten per cent of their Irish numbers during the winter.

A survey of the Whooper Swan in 2005 found 9,748 wintering here, but that figure had declined to 5,000 by 2010 amid fears the proliferation of windfarms along the west coast of the country in that time impacted their migration patterns.

Birdlife International found that the emergence of windfarms here posed a 'most recent threat' to the Whooper. The threat is not just through direct collision with wind turbine blades, Birdlife International found. It said associated affects of the machinery poses a threat also, not least the impact of the low-frequency noise produced by the turbines on the birds. "We're the first spot for them to land on their 800-mile trip from Iceland and they roost and breed here," Mr Mooney added."

Kerryman

(photo: Denis Carroll)

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1930 Schoolboys….the story behind the picture

The old boys' school in Listowel consisted of 6 classrooms, 3 up and 3 down.  The Low Babies/Junior Infants class was taught in the library across the road from the school. In the early 1930s an additional room was added on. While this refurbishment was under way, the 6th class were taught in St. Patrick's Hall. This photograph was taken there.

Vincent Carmody told me the above information and he also set me straight on a few of the boys' names.
Gerald Relihan who died not too long ago was probably the last of these boys. He is pictured at no. 3 in the back row and not no. 2 as stated last week.
In the middle row the Mick McCarthy at no. 4 is the famous proprietor of The Embankment in Tallaght. He was the brother of the late singer/songwriter, Seán.
Tony McAulliffe, no.1 in the second row went on to play for Kerry in 1938.
Martin Quigley , No.9 in Row 2 married a sister of Jackie Moore who is standing next to him in the photo.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamnacha go léir.

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Lovely email re the postmen

Vincent Carmody's photo of the postmen evoked many happy memories for one of my correspondents, Cathy Dunne.

Here is what she wrote:

Mary, thanks for the great photo of the postmen.  Denis Horgan (pops as I used to call him) was a lovely man.  When I first started working as a secretary at Jowika (later Stag Cutlery) I stayed with the Horgans.  Mrs Horgan (nee Hickey) was my dad's next door neighbour and friend.  Their daughter Frances was a good friend of mine.  We meet up in London as she lives not too far away in Enfield. Before he went to bed every night he polished my shoes for next day!  

Paddy Moloney was the postman that took the van with the post to Lyreacrompane P.O. for delivery around the area by the postmen on bicycles.  When I first went to live in Germany my mother used to go out to the "cross" to see if Paddy had any letter from me.  That time post used to take quite a time from Germany so she gave up after a week.  The next week he had a letter and brought it into the house for Mom as he knew she was worried.  I also used to know Denis Stack and his daughter was also a friend of mine.

Mind the View and a few older photos

RISE in Listowel

This lovely book was launched in Olive Stack's Gallery on Friday last, February 6 2015

The book is a compilation of poems by Paddy Creedon and images by Olive Stack. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to RISE, a charity set up by Frances Black to help families impacted by a family member's addiction.

Heart Broken is one of my favourite poems from the anthology;

Hidden-Features, 

Golden_Silences,

Alone-Apart.

Emotional-Bonding

Hand-Holding.

Small -Things

Little- Surprises

Proud-to-be

With You.

Proud of You

Making-Good

Making-Up

Making -Love

Breaking-Down

Missing-You

Heart-Broken

SOME-TIMES.

The poem speaks eloquently to me of the up and down life of someone living with a loved addict in recovery.

The launch of the book was a great night in Olive Stack's lovely gallery. The party carried on after I left in Lynch's, Main St.

Paddy Creedon, poet

Olive Stack, artist

Frances Black was the special guest on the night. She was very accessible, signing everyone's book and chatting to all the local people. She even gave us a song, Bright Blue Rose, despite having laryngitis. Robert Pierse, Nora Relihan, Elizabeth Dunn and Gabriel Fitzmaurice were among the guests who read their choice of poem.

Here are a few photos I took on the night.

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Then and Now

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A few old ones

(photo; Pat Del Savio)

Pat is looking through her old photos and she came up with this one of three generations of Ballybunion Culhanes, Sonny, Jackie and Jackie.

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Do you remember this one from Pat last week?

Update: The Babs Scully here in the white dress is looking forward to her 102nd. birthday!

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Duagh and a Hollywood connection

 This is the cover of the latest edition of National Geographic Traveler magazine and this is an article from Irish Abroad about the article everyone is talking about.

The  front cover of February/March edition of the prestigious travel magazine National Geographic Traveler has a picture of Ross castle in Killarney in County Kerry and the headline ' Return to Ireland - A Journey Home'.

Inside is an 11 page feature with an article about Kerry written by award winning travel writer and actor Andrew McCarthy, where he talks about his journey to find his Irish roots and traces his origins back to the village of Lacca West in the parish of Duagh in County Kerry.



The article 'A Song for Ireland' is adapted from Journeys Home, the book Andrew McCarthy wrote about his journey to Ireland. 

In the article, McCarthy writes "My own relationship to my Irish heritage had always been one of casual pride and affectionate, if uninformed, identification. When people asked what part of Ireland my people hailed from, “Cork” was always my answer. Yet I had no idea exactly where my clan called home."

However, he was soon to find out that his people had come from County Kerry. "It was as if I awoke, after a lifetime of supporting the New York Yankees, to find that my people actually hailed from Boston, and I was meant to be a Red Sox fan."

He then talks about his visit to Kerry, his climb of Carrantoohil, his visit to Killarney to buy an Aran sweater, through Kenmare, around the ring of Kerry and onto the Dingle peninsula and the long stretch of Inch beach. He moves from the town of Dingle on through Tralee to the town of Listowel and then finally to his ancestral home of Lacca West, a small yellow cottage where he meets cousins and extended family and where the crests of the McCarthy and Fitzgerald family hang. "This is is my family",  he writes.

Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America, said: “We are delighted with the coverage in the latest edition of National Geographic Traveler, which is an excellent way of showcasing Kerry and Ireland to a large audience of potential holidaymakers."

Journeys Home: Inspiring Stories, Plus Tips and Strategies to Find Your Family History 
The book, published by National Geographic,  leads with Andrew McCarthy's tale of Irish genealogical discovery and also includes tales from twenty-five other prominent writers across the globe of their explorations in family history with tips on how you can start looking for your roots.

The above are photos from Facebook of Andrew McCarthy taken during his visit to Ireland. He is pictured with his relatives and with Ger. and Damien who helped him trace his roots.

Old Listowel photos, the Oscars, a Listowel Connection and sport in Tralee

Listowel in Bygone Days from Denis Carroll's photos

At Convent Cross

The Dandy Lodge in its original location in Bridge Road

The foundation for the Community Centre being dug.

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A Successful young man with a (very tenuous) Listowel Connection

This young man is Will Collins of Kanturk.  He is in the news because he wrote the script for the Oscar nominated film, The Song of the Sea.

Now the Listowel connection; Will is the son of my old Kanturk neighbours, Peggy and Willie Collins.

People my age and older will remember Bill and Pat Kearney of this parish. Bill was very involved with the Listowel Drama Group. After Bill's death, Pat lived on in Listowel on her own. One evening she was driving home from Cork when she got a puncture. In the days before mobile phones, the done thing in this instance was to call to the nearest house. Pat did. This house was the home of Willie and Peggy Collins, my lovely neighbours. Being the kind people they are, they brought her in and gave her a cup of tea and some of Peggy's legendary delicious baking. They changed her wheel and ascertained that it would have to stay in Kanturk overnight for repair. Peggy and Willie would not hear of Pat driving home alone with no spare wheel so they drove to Listowel with her. Pat never forgot their extraordinary kindness to her and she mentioned it often to me. There would be none more delighted than Pat Kearney to hear  that the son of her Kanturk friends is now a famous scriptwriter and if she has any influence above, that Oscar is in the bag for The Cartoon Saloon gang.

This photograph of Will with his family was taken (not by me) at Kanturk Arts Festival two years ago. Peggy and Willie Senior are on the right.

I saw the film, in French, during my recent visit to Ciboure. It is a lovely film suitable for all the family. I laughed and cried and was charmed by the story. I won't spoil it for you by telling you the story but, believe me, it's a good one.

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A Proposal to bring joy to the hearts of many of our diaspora

A report recently in the Irish Times outlined a proposal that was presented to Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for the Diaspora. Jimmy is looking into it before bringing it to government as part of a package that includes voting rights for emigrants in presidential elections.

It is proposed that American Irish young people between the ages of 18 and 26 be offered an opportunity to spend 10 days in Ireland immersing themselves in the culture, language,  history and modern day living conditions of the country to which they claim ancestral allegiance. The trip, which would be free to the participants, would be paid for out of a combination of philantropy and government funding. 

A similar "Birthright" scheme is in place for young adults of the Jewish faith. This scheme is in place for 15 years and is very successful, creating a strong bond between the diaspora and the homeland.

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All is forgiven

I took this unlikely picture fro Joe Brolly's Twitter feed. He is pictured here among some of the greats of Kerry sport at a recent fundraiser for Austin Stack's GAA club.
He was brought onto the stage for a "surprise" confrontation with Kieran Donaghy. The whole country knows that Joe, in his role as a football pundit, had famously written off Donaghy in a season when he went on to win an All Ireland and an All Star.
When asked if he would apologise for the article, Brolly laughed it off saying that it was, in fact, a motivational exercise and it worked. "Didn't I win him an All Star?" says he. No one could argue with that.