=================================

COMMUNITY GAMES Listowel : following events and dates: Basketball U13 Boys:  text Claire by Friday 2nd Feb on 087 9595211.  Swimming:  If any child would be interested in competing in any of the following Swimming events, please text Karena on 087 2035865 by Friday 2nd of Feb. Boys & Girls U/10 Over 8 1 length 25m Freestyle or Backstroke. Boys & Girls U/12 Over 10 2 lengths, 50m Freestyle or 50m Breaststroke. Boys & Girls U/12 Over 10 2 lengths, 50m Backstroke or 50m Freestyle. Boys & Girls U/14 Over 12 2 lengths, 50m Backstroke or 50m Breaststroke. Boys & Girls U/14 Over 12 2 lengths, 50m Butterfly or Boys & Girls U/16 Over 14 2 lengths, 50m Freestyle or, 50m Backstroke. Boys & Girls U/16 Over 14 2 lengths, 50m Butterfly or  50m Breaststroke. Talent: If anyone is interested in participating in the following individual or team events, please text Karena on 087 2035865 by Friday 2nd of February.  Solo Recitation (Individual Boys or Girls) – U12 & U16. Solo Music (Individual Boys or Girls) – U12 & U 16. Solo Singing (Individual Boys or Girls) – U12 & U16. Group Music Team, All boys, All girls, Mixed, Maximum 6 – Minimum of 2 – U12 & U16. Group Singing Team, All boys, All girls, Mixed, Maximum 6 – Minimum of 2 – U12 & U16.

 

CHARITY Dancing; ‘Sickly Come Dancing — The Relapse’ which will take place at Ballygarry Estate on Friday, February 2. 11 couples, all hospital staff, some with local connections are competing.

 

FILM: TY students in the locality have a chance to take part in a short-film competition on the Shannon Estuary Information Packs and Entry Forms for the competition from eadams@sfpc.ie; telephone 069 73102. Entry forms returned by February 14^th.

 

2024 Entrepreneur Of The Year programme, nominations in before February 29 and 24 finalists will be selected.

 

OPEN Week at Kerry College from February 19-23, https://kerrycollege.ie/news/open-week-2024/

 

 

 

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PAPERS USA County Kerry Search

 

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=&date1=1770&date2=1963&proxtext=county+Kerry&x=12&y=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&rows=20&searchType=basic

 

===========================

Mike Guerin

 

"The Power People & Listowel Races 1912" Featuring Connie Healy & Mary B Healy of Stack's Hotel Market St. Listowel.

 

Video Michael Guerin 17.9.23

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/100005141321829/videos/1141859760535418/

 

-------------------------------------------

SEANCHAI Listowel

If you or your group would like to book a training session please contact us on 068 22212 or email kerrywritersmuseum@gmail.com.

 

TechSpace is a national network of digital media and technology hubs designed to empower young people to be creative with technology. TechSpace hubs are creative technology spaces in any learning setting where young people are inspired to become the next generation of creators and inventors.

 

Kerry Writers’ Museum in conjunction with Listowel Foróige established a TechSpace Creative Hub in 2013. Technical equipment in the Hub includes 4 desktop computers, 4 laptops, a camera, tripod, green screen and whitescreen, lighting, software umbrellas for photography, Makey kits and Soldering Kits. Listowel TechSpace works with young people aged 10 to 18 years and workshops take place every Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon. Creative programmes are delivered with the support of 3 Foróige Leaders, 2 Techspace Leaders and 1 Foróige Volunteer. If you would like to volunteer please contact us on 068 22212 or email kerrywritersmuseum@gmail.com.

 

Community Training

 

In 2021 we commenced a training programme with older people in the community to provide them with the technical skills to access our online cultural programmes and other services. This need was particularly highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic when many of our regular cultural events and activities including Listowel Rambling House, storytelling sessions, history events, Kerry writers lectures and workshops, had to be delivered online. Our primary audience for these events are the older generation in the local community, many of whom do not have the knowledge or capability to operate the technology required.

 

If you or your group would like to book a training session please contact us on 068 22212 or email kerrywritersmuseum@gmail.com.

 

Funding received from Kerry County Council under the Community Enhancement Programme has enabled us to undertake this initiative.

https://www.kerrywritersmuseum.com/techspace-creative-hub/

===========================

 

June 30^th 2022 Limerick Leader

By Tom Aherne

NEWSPAPERS HAVE always been a part of my life even from a very young age, and each week a few were brought into the house.

They included the Limerick Leader, Sunday Press and a few daily papers for the sports reports and previews. As soon as I was able to read, I was attracted to their contents with sports a main interest.

One became familiar with the writers’ names and the topics they covered and eagerly looked forward to their weekly contributions. John B Keane the man from Listowel in north Kerry was one of those writers.

His weekly column in the Limerick Leader ‘Out in the Open’ was a must read from an early age. This came about because of the connection with my father and John B Keane, who were corresponding with each other. John B had a number of people from different areas who he would feature in his column. The news from their area he would use to form the contents of his weekly offerings with his own observations and twists. For a person or place to feature in his wide-ranging column gave a lift to all back in the dark days of the 1960s and 1970s. Being a pub owner he also found material from his interaction with his customers.

Talk in the bar often provided inspiration for him, with stories colourful language and phrases straight from the tongues of his customers finding their way into his plays and books. John B in his writings immortalised many characters from around the locality including Dan Paddy Andy, the matchmaker, Sonny Canavan and his talking dogs, the Ballaugh bachelors, Joe Quaid from Athea, who rose from the dead, Jackie Faulkner, Paddy and Ruckard Drury and the events around Listowel north Kerry and West Limerick.

When John B was 17 and a student in St Michael’s College he wrote his widely renowned poem, The Street. At a class in his Leaving Certificate year the students were asked to recite a poem by the teacher, and he recited The Street. When asked who wrote it, he received a beating because the teacher who had a violent temper did not believe him. The poem was included in his book The Street and Other Poems published from Progress House Dublin in 1961. Verse one:

I love the flags that pave the walk

I love the mud between

The funny figures drawn in chalk

I love to hear the sound

Of drays upon their round

Of horses and their clock-like walk

I love to watch the corner-people gawk

And hear what underlies their idle talk.

John B Keane was born in Listowel to William Keane, a teacher in the local school and Hannah Purtill on July 31, 1928. His mother, Hannah, came from a nationalist family and worked as a draper. During the Civil War, Hannah was a member of Cumann na mBan and ran messages for the IRA. He was the fourth eldest of a family of ten, among five brothers and four sisters including RTE and Abbey actor Eamon who died in 1990. He attended Listowel National School and St Michael’s College Listowel.

The initial ‘B.’ stood for Brendan, a name taken on confirmation after St Brendan the Navigator. He worked as assistants to Chemists William Keane Stack, WH Jones and O’Donovan’s Chemist Rathkeale for a short time. He emigrated to England in 1951 and worked in a ball-bearing factory in Northampton. In 1955 he returned to Listowel, buying a public house for £1,800 and married Mary O’Connor, whom he met at a dance in the Astor ballroom during the Listowel Races in 1945. They did not get married until six years later and they had four children, Billy, Conor, John and Joanna.

In 1959 John B’s first play, Sive, was produced by Listowel Drama Group. The production won the All-Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone and toured with it throughout the country. He followed with a yearly succession of plays that included Sharon’s Grave, The Highest House on the Mountain, The Man from Clare, and the Year of the Hiker. The first production of The Field was staged at the Olympia in Dublin in 1965, with Ray Mc Anally as the Bull and Eamon Keane as the Bird. This work was inspired by the murder of north Kerry farmer Moss Moore in 1959.

 

The first production of Big Maggie was staged in 1969 and his first novel The Bodhran Makers was published in 1986. In 1990 Jim Sheridan adapts The Field for the big screen , with Richard Harris as the Bull, Brenda Fricker as his wife Maggie and John Hurt as the Bird. The first production of Moll was in 1991, and a year later Durango A Novel was published and later adapted for television with Brenda Fricker.

On May 30, 2002, John B died, aged 73, after a long battle with cancer at home in Listowel.

Noel Pearson said that John B was unique and connected with people. He was a literary master, but his gift wasn’t just that he had a way with words, he had a way with people. Niall Tóibín who played the Bull Mc Cabe in The Field remembered John B for his wit and the pleasure he gave to people across the country. John B said I was the smallest Bull he had ever seen but that I’d scare the ‘shite’ out of the devil. It is probably one of the best compliments anyone has ever paid me in all my years on stage. Brenda Fricker said I am honoured to have worked with his beautiful words , so full of music, sadness and joy.

Brendan Kennelly poet and close friend paid him a hand -written tribute which can be seen in John Bs bar. The last verse follows:

God bless your heart

God bless your pen

God bless your spirit free

I thank the God

Who gave my world?

The spirit of John B.

 

A portrait of the late John B Keane was unveiled in the bar of the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin on May 29, 2014. The porcelain blue and white painting depicts writer and playwright John B at various stages of his life, with his wife Mary standing in the background watching him. ‘’ Sure, isn’t it a grand place to be keeping an eye on the man himself’’ Mary Keane said. ‘’ I am absolutely delighted with it – It’s a kaleidoscope of his life as it captures everything about him. It was painted by renowned artist Cian Mc Loughlin and commissioned by MCD’s Caroline Downey and Denis Desmond.

It is now twenty years since the death of unquestionably rural Irelands greatest spokesman John Brendan Keane, playwright, novelist and essayist. Gone but not forgotten he continues to entertain the Irish people through the performances of his plays by drama groups throughout the land, plus his books and vast number of writings. When it came to wit , humour, and a way with words, he was definitely the daddy of them all.

 

 

===============================================

Morning has Broken

 

by David Kissane

 

Memories of the summer of 1972 concluded

 

Breakout

 

There were a few breakout occasions in those last days in St Michael’s College. There was one Saturday, never talked about “publicly” since, which brings a smile to the eyes even now. Especially now. A week before the curtain came down on our classes. A history lecture was announced for Leaving Cert students and it meant a trip to Tralee. A bus was organised and the craic was good. Freedom was in the air. We arrives a bit early for the afternoon lecture and someone suggested that a visit to a pub to get a sandwich might be an idea. A sub-group of us headed that way. Others went a more reliable direction.

 

A sandwich was the extent of food service in most pubs in those days. Unfortunately Perri crisps were the only item on the lunch menu that Saturday and someone said that his mother took Guinness for nourishment. A nod was as good as a drink so glasses of Guinness were ordered nervously. The barman considered all of us to be of reasonable age. Which most of us were in those days. It is reported that a clear liquid like Poitín was produced at some stage but history does not record that fact.

 

Suffice it to say that we were a little late for the lecture. It was a very good lecture though, on early modern Irish history, and history took on a new and stirring atmosphere that afternoon. Under the influence of alcohol on tender brains. The Nine Years’ War was never fought so clearly and the Great O’Neill became greater. When the lecture was over and questions were solicited, the standard of questioning by some of our group was exceptional. What did the wives do while the men were away fighting the English? What would an Irish leader say to rev up his men before a battle? Did Queen Elizabeth really fancy Grace O’Malley? And Henry the Eight…well we went to town on him!

 

In the end, the lecturer praised our corner (at the back of the room) on the quality of our interest in history and the depth of our knowledge. He said history was safe in our hands. We nodded and embraced the applause.

 

Some of us took notes on the lecture. They were written in a script not known up to then. Like thorny wire that had been over-run by a mad bull.

 

The sting in the tail came when the pub gang missed the bus home – in those days, five o’clock was five o’clock – and it was very late that night when I staggered in home.

 

My father had a look at me the following noon and commented that another great battle had been lost in Irish history. I appreciated his analysis.

 

On the following Monday, our history teacher likewise praised our interest in the lecture and wryly added, with a trademark wink, “And I’d say Kissane and friends learned a bit more than history on Saturday last!”

 

I recalled with gratitude that comment when I attended his funeral thirty years later. Rest in peace Mr Molyneaux Junior.

 

Earlier, during the Lent of that year, there was the trip out to the annual retreat to the Redemptorists in Limerick. Always a good occasion for discussions and evaluation, the few days were a welcome break from class routine and we never felt that religion was being forced on us. Well it was 1972. A visit downtown one evening, perhaps without permission by a group of us, caused a bit of a stir but was handled positively by the brothers, who engaged with us and our moderate rebellistic intentions.

 

But again we missed the bus home and had to thumb the coast road on a wet and cold March afternoon. Light in the soul but heavy in the body.

 

                                                             Endgame

 

No awards night in 1972. No graduation ceremony. We ended classes on the Friday before the exams began and there was a guarded feeling of “yahoo!”. After all, the big test was yet to come. But as a group of us walked freely down Church St for the first time with no classes around the corner, I recall Neil Brosnan singing “Mammy Blue” and there was a lyrical quality in our gait. We were sailing to Byzantium with a new version of ourselves and when the Convent girls passed us going the other direction – how come the Convent girls always seemed to be going in the other direction! – a vague and exciting hope was dripping from the Listowel air.

 

Then the isolation of the few days before the first exam and the worry of have we done enough and where are my maths notes and I’ve forgotten all my Keats quotes and steel guitar strings pinged nervously in our backbones and huge butterflies grew in our stomachs and soon the exams were over and then an explosion out the gate and down into town.

 

A few of the previous year’s Leaving Certs had adopted the fashion of getting their hair permed. I decided to go for it after a lot of “willIwontImaybeIwill” indecision. Eventually I made up my mind to have the perm done that last day of second level education. My then flowing locks (where are they now!) had gone wild in the daily cycle to the school bus and back. It’s amazing the amount of flies and midges that could get stuck in long hair. The only challenge was it had to be done in a hairdresser’s  – ie, a women’s hairdressing salon. No barber would do that sort of thing. In fact, barbers didn’t like fellas who let their hair grow. For obvious reasons.

 

I excused myself from the gang and headed into a hairdresser’s in Church Street to have the hair-curling experience. Opened the door and four women turned towards me from their perming and locked me in their gaze. A variety of curlers on their heads. Their eyes went right through my resolve. I felt like Moses at a disco. “What can I do for you?” the hairdresser asks, with a wink at her customers. “Ah, I have the wrong shop!” I blurted and made a hasty retreat back to the boys outside Flavin’s Bookshop, making some excuse to them about no bookings available. Hallo real life. Gulp.

 

I was going to retain the fuzz for that summer of ’72 and for some summers afterwards. With the help of hairspray it learned to lie down for short periods but more often than not, it retained a spirit of its own and ran free around the ears. And beyond. Upwards and outwards. It was a hairy time indeed to be alive in 1972.

 

We went in somewhere for a bite to eat and didn’t seem to hang around town too long. For a classmate, Mike Bambury and myself, it was down to Kennelly’s travel and book tickets for the boat from Dún Laoire to Holyhead for two days later. No other students were doing anything like that and it was a magic feeling. I had a sister in Birmingham who would put us up for the summer. I had already spent two summers working there so the confidence cup was brimming and the teaspach was high.

 

                                                  Bridge Between Two Worlds

 

And so the very next day the two of us started thumbing a lift in Listowel, right outside St Michael’s College, our Cape Canaveral of take-off. We looked in the gate, past the apple trees then in their June bloom and up the window of the classroom most of us would never see again. Funny old feeling it was. We didn’t realise it fully then, but in that moment, looking in at the College, we were standing on a bridge between two of our worlds. The world behind us, of being a student and the world ahead of being an alumnus. There were already bridges crossed, and many more to come. Sometimes these bridges are hidden from us as we cross them and don’t reveal themselves for years. Crossing from the early morning cycle down the hill and the yellow bus and walks up Church Street and Roly Chute’s shop and  the old wooden desks and the sport and the ambling lunchtimes and the return home and the chat on the bus and the walk up the hill and the homework and the notes.

 

In that moment of tranquility we were subsumed inwards to the echoing stairs, to the ring of the hand-bell that was rung between classes, to the buzzing classroom, to the teachers who had kept the faith of believing in the art of teaching life through subjects and sport and activities. The five years spent in the college concertina-ed together in one packaged ball of memories. The fusion of the dark days when we went to school with burdens with the days of illumination and progress. The search-for-identity days and the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnell days. And the nights in between. All flowing together now and ready for the next stage over the Moon River we crossed at that moment. The mundane and routine were to become exotic and special.

 

I don’t know if we said goodbye or thanks to any of our teachers in the weeks before, on the final day of either class or exams. If we didn’t, we quietly thanked them now in our minds for being educational ambassadors to us.

 

While we were trying to resolve the paradox of these rushing feelings that June day, one of the teachers came walking past, enjoying his summer holidays and asked us where we were off to. “Birmingham!” we declared in unison. He checked if we were serious and when the truth dawned, he said “Fair play to ye. Good luck lads!” and walked on down past the sports field and the graveyard.

 

We thought of our class-mates who had walked out the gates of the College for the last time that June of 1972 who visualised their own pathways ahead. We had a hierarchy of individual needs and expectations as all students finishing their second level classes this week of June 2022 have: a secure career, to walk on the Great Wall of China, to own a house, to build a business, to own a castle, to create something fulfilling, to win an All Ireland medal, to find love…

 

We would be tumbled and humbled and rebuilt many time in the years ahead but for the first time in our lives, the town and the College seemed like a small place.

 

It was that day we left the Listowel and the St Michael’s that we had known for five years. Forever.

 

                                                              Thumbs Away

 

Thumbs out and we got a lift quickly and were in Limerick in a few hours. God be with the days of thumbing lifts! The stories and the characters and the legends.

 

Into Limerick and searched the streets knocked on a bed and breakfast door and got a double room to save money and on with the bell-bottoms and orange shirts. Combed the fuzzy hair as best we could and out on the town with a couple of girls whom we had met in the Gaeltacht the previous summer and a rocking night was had by all.

 

Train to Dublin the next day with fuzz inside the heads as well as outside and the “boat” to Holyhead that night.

 

And then came the summer of our lives. Morning had broken indeed all of fifty years ago.

From Listowel Connection June 2022

==================================

============================

 

Kerry Sentinel, Wednesday, 28 July, 1915

 

Listowel Petty Sessions

 

CONCEALING A DESERTER. Mr James Kenny, and subsequently Mr H R Jones, R.M, presided and the other justices present were—Messrs P Healy, J C Harnett, Wm Collins, V.C, U.D.C, J MacAulay.

 

CONCEALING A DESERTER.

 

Mrs Mary Bunce and Mrs Kate Lee were charged by the King, at the prosecution of Sergeant Michael Costelloe, with concealing Wm Lee (better known as “Leo”), a deserter from the R.M.F. The first named defendant is the mother-in-law of Lee and the latter his wife. Mr H J Marshall, solr, appeared for the defendants.

 

Sergt Costelloe, in reply to Head constable Larkin (who represented the Crown in the absence of Mr M J Molloy, D.I) stated that on the morning of the 20th June, about a quarter to four, he went looking for Private Lee, who had deserted from the army. He went to the house where the defendants lived at Ballygologue, and after a search found Lee up the chimney (laughter). He charged the defendants with concealing him and they denied any knowledge of his being in the house. Lee was a soldier in the 3rd Batt. R.M.F.

 

Mr Marshall submitted that there was no case made out by the Crown, in as much as it was not legally proved that Lee was in the army at all.Head-constable Larkin—The witness said he was a soldier.

 

Mr Marshall said the magistrates should give the benefit of every technicality and doubt to the prisoner, as under the Army Act of 1881 the only punishment in such cases was imprisonment. It should be proved that he was a deserter, as be might have been absent with or without a just cause or excuse. If the man was absent for good and sufficient cause he was not a deserter and together the defendants should have been aware that he was a deserter when they sheltered or concealed him, and, of course, if he were on leave the most natural place for him to go was to his wife

 

Witness—But not up the chimney (laughter).

 

Mrs Lee—He was not up the chimney. That’s a lie.

 

Head-constable Larkin said it was at the present time regarded as a very serious thing to desert from the army, but as that was the first case of its kind in that district the Crown didn’t wish to be very severe. It was more of a warning to others than anything else that the prosecution had been brought. Chairman (Mr Kenny)—Of course such an offence at the present time is a very serious one, and it- would be well that the public should know that and that such cases can only be dealt with by imprisonment. On this occasion we dismiss the case, as we believe the defendants didn’t understand the seriousness of their act.

 

 

 

======================

From Listowel Connection site

 

Handballers Scattered

 

 

 

Junior Griffin remembers that after the war Listowel was hit by mass emigration. Some of those who emigrated were handballers. The 1950s , however saw a resurgence in the fortunes of Listowel Handball Club.

 

 

 

Along with the experience John Joe Kenny, Dick O’Connor, Kevin Sheehy, Jackie Fitzgibbon, Tim Shanahan and Mick Glynn, new enthusiasts such as Dermot Buckley, Tom Enright, Kieran O’Shea, Gene and JJ O’Connell, Junior and Bert Griffin, Thomas Hassett, Johnny O’Halloran, John Maher, Aidan Keane, Richard (Dick) Galvin, Joe Moriarty, Danny Enright, Darby Broderick, Tony O’Connor, Frankie White and John Keane began taking the game seriously

 

 

 

Tournaments were again commenced and an approach was made to Frank Sheehy, chairman ion the Gaelic Weekly newspaper to ask him to sponsor the singles tournament.

 

 

 

The first final of the Gaelic Weekly Shield tournament was an all family affair with Junior Griffin overcoming his brother, Bert in a close final.

 

Junior receiving his trophy from Frank Sheehy

 

in May 2021 Junior showed me his framed photo of Frank Sheehy presenting him with his trophy.

 

 

 

At the same tournament when Junior took the senior title, Breandán ÓMurchú took the junior one. I think it says something about both these men and their great love of handball they keep framed photographs of their most memorable moments in their houses.

 

 

 

Junior remembers that one of the main features in those years of the late fifties and early sixties was the immense interest in handball shown by the students in St. Michael’s College. Boys like Brendan O’Shea, Michael Enright, the four Murphy brothers, Batty Hannon, Eamon O’Brien, Tony Dillon, John Fitzgerald, Cyril Kelly, Seamus Browne, Bernie Murphy, Chas Chute, Brendan and Denis Quille, Buddy Scanlon, Jimmy and Michael O’Sullivan and Kieran Hayes brought a wonderful freshness to the club.

 

--------------------------------

 

Handballing Days from Listowel Connection

 

 

 

One of the founding members of the handball club and the driving force behind it for years was the late Joe James of O’Connell’s Avenue. Other names associated with the club in the early years were Seamus Wilmot and Bryan MacMahon, Frank Sheehy, Brendan Macauley, Michael Keane, Vangy O’Hanlon, and Tony Chute.

 

 

 

Junior Griffin remembers a story told to him by Bryan MacMahon;

 

 

 

The son of a local businessman whose enthusiasm for handball was not matched by his skill. The poor lad was looked on as a soft touch by other players of the era.

 

 

 

Many, with no money in their pockets would bet him £1 per game and they would give him a handicap of 20 and the first serve. The game was to 21. The scamp would contrive to lose the first game and challenge his gull to double or quits. He would collect his £4 drinking money for the week.

 

 

 

The father came to hear of his son’s handball gambling and he packed him off to Argentina on business for a few years.

 

 

 

To quote MacMahon, ” I went down to the alley one summers evening some years later for a game”. I saw someone seated near the Alley wearing a large sombrero. Drawing closer, lo and behold, I saw that xxxx was back in town and back to the place he loved so well.”

 

 

 

Whether he had learned his lesson or not is another story.

 

================================

 

Station Name: LISTOWEL

 

[Source: Roy Lambeth & Nick Catford]

 

Date opened:    20.12.1880

 

Location:              West side of R552

 

Company on opening:   Limerick and Kerry Railway

 

Date closed to passengers:          4.2.1963

 

Date closed completely:               11.6.1983

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/listowell/

 

============================

 

Kay Caball marked the Centenary of two famous Cow's lawn (Town Park) incidents, in a talk at the Seanchaí Listowel 22.4.2018. Excitement in Listowel as 1000 men with Hurleys , Gurtenard Gates Burst, Lawn - Ploughmen start. VIDEO Michael Guerin 22.4.2018

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zTvQkBZHgY

 

 

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Listowel Connection Nov 2020

 

When I pass this seat in Childers Park I say a prayer for the three brothers commemorated there. Without John Sheehy there would be no Listowel Connection for it was he who first encouraged me to become a town chronicler.

 

 

 

 

 

It started with a Listowel forum on  Boards.ie. The forum is still there. I checked. People are still posting there. It was a place to chat about all things Listowel.

 

 

 

I joined the forum in 2005 and there I met John Sheehy as Sandhill Road. We all had nicknames on the forum. I was Cherrytree. John and I chatted on the forum and by email off it. He encouraged me to keep posting my photographs and the Sunday parish newsletter. If I was out and about with my camera I would take a photo and post it. If I ran into John's twin brother Jerry, I had to be sure to take that one. Over time, Martin and Mike also joined the thread and in time I met them in person on some of their very frequent visits 'home'.

 

 

 

 

 

When I started the blog in 2011, I contributed less to Boards. (According the Boards stats I posted 339 times in all)

 

 

 

I was so excited about my new venture that I took to promoting it on Boards and posting a link to my latest blogpost. Big mistake! Boards forums have a moderator to enforce their rules. One of these rules is that you may not drive traffic away from the forum. I was doing this by posting a link to my blog. Consequently the moderator threw me off the thread, booted me out, suspended me indefinitely. John interceded on  my behalf to no avail. You break the rules at your peril with this moderator.

 

 

 

 

 

Since then I've put my ignominious exit from Boards behind me. All three Sheehy brothers whom I met there have passed away Every time I pass their seat I am reminded of them and their great love for Listowel  which would now be more welcoming for them than ever before. May they rest in peace.

 

=====================================================

 

A Poem from Noel Roche of Chicago and Listowel

 

In Loving Memory of my sister, “ Jack’

 

 

 

I wonder if you’re up there

 

Irish dancing on a cloud.

 

I know that when you sing

 

You’re surrounded by a crowd.

 

Mam and Dad and Dick and Jim,

 

And all who passed are there.

 

I wonder what God’s thinking

 

Every time he hears you swear.

 

 

 

I know in my heart

 

There is one thing you will do.

 

I know you’ll ask Elvis

 

To sing The Wonder of You.

 

I know there’s angels laughing,

 

They all think you’re great.

 

Heaven has not been the same

 

Since you walked through the gate.

 

 

 

You left behind a lot of stuff

 

Clothes, jewellery and rings.

 

Your daughter got the promise

 

That you’re the wind beneath her wings.

 

I know your friends are sad

 

I know they’re feeling blue.

 

But I also know they’re grateful

 

That they had a friend like you.

 

 

 

Your brothers and your sisters

 

Are going day by day

 

And trying to accept the fact

 

That you have gone away.

 

Your nephews and your nieces

 

Every single one,

 

Are struggling with the fact

 

That their favourite Aunty’s gone.

 

 

 

I’m here in Chicago

 

Many miles away.

 

I’ve got a hole in my heart

 

That will not go away.

 

I’m trying to get over this

 

And make a brand new start

 

I know that I am not alone

 

You are always in my heart.

 

Dingle Food Festival 6^th Oct 2019.

 

Dé Domhnaigh/Sunday 3.00 - 3.30p.m.Lizzy Lyons, Lizzy’s Little Kitchen, Listowel Cooking for the Stars! Lizzy’s Wagon Wheel Orchard Lane Marquee Lizzy Lyons from Listowel, Co Kerry is a noted advocate for healthy eating. A former  catering  manager  at  Universal  Music in London, Lizzy always wanted to  work  in  hospitality  and  her  passion  for  cooking  began  at  an  early  age.  While friends were counting their confirmation money, Lizzy was investing in a Kenwood mixer!

 

 

 

25 DEMONSTRATIONS                         TAISPEÁNTAIS ÍIn winter 2014 Lizzy’s Little Kitchen was born when Lizzy started selling her nutritious, tasty and affordable dishes using locally sourced ingredients at the Friday market in her hometown. It was always her dream to open a restaurant and she described the launch of her LLK Ballybunion Pop Up in June 2015 as a “step in the right direction”. Such was its success it earned her a place in John & Sally McKennas’ “Where to Eat and Stay on the Wild Atlantic Way” as well as a best newcomer nomination at the RAI Irish Restaurant Awards. In 2018 she relocated to a larger permanent premises in Ballybunion. In summer 2016 Lizzy’s Little Kitchen put down roots on Lower William Street in Listowel. A collection of 10 of Lizzy’s favourite dishes has been published in collaboration with Flogas Ireland who appointed her as brand ambassador in 2017. Equipped with a Flogas demo unit, Lizzy is a regular at events to showcase her cooking skills and expertise and has a regular cookery slot on Virgin Media One’s Weekend AM.

 

 

 

LIFE AND TIMES OF FREDERICK CHUTE

 

 

 

Frederick was born in Listowel, Co Kerry in 1944. He was the eldest of six children to parents Arthur and Betty Chute. Some of his fondest memories were of growing up playing Gaelic football and learning to swim in the River Feale.  He loved the seaside and Ballybunion was the scene for many a happy day at the beach.

 

He was educated at Listowel Primary School and later at Rockwell College, a prestigious boarding school in Co. Tipperary.    Frederick was athletic as well as academic and did well at school but was also prone to mischief and was caned often by the Priests who taught at the school, for not turning up in time for morning mass.  In fact he was caught a number of times sleeping in the dormitory cupboard during morning mass.    Despite these incidents he enjoyed school and did well in his exams, ultimately taking a place at Trinity College Dublin, where he studied Economics. 

 

In Listowel as a young man, he was very well known for his football ability and he played in the position of Right Half Back for Listowel and North Kerry.   This led to a lifelong interest in sports and especially football.

 

He met his first wife, Irene, at Trinity College and they married and moved to London.  They spent many happy holidays in their camper van in France, Portugal and Cornwall.  The family grew when Charles was born in 1980 and Rachel in 1981. Family meant a lot to him and he absolutely idolised his children.

 

Frederick trained as a teacher in London and his first permanent position was at the Jewish Free School in Camden, where he taught economics.  The pupils loved Mr. Chute and his innovative way of teaching which was lively and entertaining.  He greatly enjoyed this job and was very popular with pupils and staff.

 

He went on to teach at Greenwich University and the London School of Economics and completed a part time course at Birkbeck College, London, gaining a Masters Degree in Economics in 1989. Unfortunately his marriage ended in the same year and he lived on his own in Ealing for the next 10 years.

 

With his additional degree, he gained his next and final job teaching in the City of London School for Boys. He taught sixth form boys, who were extremely challenging and intelligent. Frederick’s commitment to teaching was such that he always prepared well for class.  His creed was that he had to be quite a few steps ahead of the game. He was much beloved by his students and had a particular talent for preparing them for interviews with detailed notes and good coaching.  Many of the boys gained places at Cambridge, Oxford and the London School of Economics.    The boys set up the Mr Chute Appreciation Society on the Internet, with many of his well-known phrases and quirky stories and they even videoed his lessons on their mobile phones in secret!

 

Frederick met his wife, Judith in 1999. The following year they moved to their present house in Queen Anne’s Grove.     He had many happy years there, and enjoyed numerous hobbies, especially bird keeping, fishing, carpentry, picture framing and after his retirement in 2007, his wonderful allotment where he developed a great passion for getting his hands in the soil and growing fruit and vegetables.   He so enjoyed having his own parsnips and carrots for Christmas dinner! He was also passionate about hard landscaping and completed several patios and fences on his two allotments.  Judith and Frederick also enjoyed travelling, driving from the East to West Coast of America, visiting family in the US and Canada, friends in Egypt and challenging driving and camping all around France, Italy and Switzerland for three months at a time.

 

He was always busy, even in retirement, he always wanted to learn, being interested in the Arts, History and Philosophy.  He decided to study part time via the Open University and in his spare time he spent many hours in his study doing research and reading.  Seven years later he was awarded another degree, a Batchelor of Arts in History in 2015.  He proudly collected his degree with Judith in Milton Keynes at his graduation.

 

However his greatest love was football and he has supported Queens Park Rangers for over 40 years, going to as many games as he could.  He also loved Gaelic football and the highlight was going to the All-Ireland Semi Final and Final in Dublin, especially when Kerry were playing.

 

 He enjoyed having his holiday home in Ireland and looked forward to spending time there every summer. He was determined to add joy to his life by acquiring a famous breed of Irish dog, the Kerry blue terrier.  Thus “Fritz” the dog entered our lives and brought Frederick a new dimension.  He was warned that these dogs “take you over” as they like to be the boss and needed strict training.  Frederick gave Fritz plenty of love, not so much discipline and the saying “Kerry Blues don’t have owners, they have staff”, became true.  Despite that, he was so happy with his beautiful dog.

 

Frederick’s health deteriorated over the last 4 years.   He had suffered with asthma and TB in his youth.  The condition was irreversible and little could be done to help him breathe. He had the most wonderful doctors at the Royal Brompton Hospital who looked after him.  He bore his illness bravely, not talking about it very much but just doing as much as he could with his limitations.  He still enjoyed life but at a slower pace.

 

In his last Christmas card to Judith, he wrote, “We have been together for a long time and for me it has been a wonderful and loving journey”

 

 Judith Chute; Taken from Listowel Connection Aug 2019.

 

A Trip to the Library

 

(From Listowel Connection)

 

CARNEGIE LIBRARY     Cyril Kelly

 

 

 

This was the man who led us, both literally and metaphorically, from the classroom every day. This was The Master, our Pied Piper, who was forever bugling a beguiling tune, a tune sparkling with grace notes of the imagination. He’d have us on the white steed behind Niamh, her golden fleece romping in our faces. Transformed by his telling we had mutated into forty spellbound Oisíns. Knockanore was disappearing in our wake. The briny tang of the ocean was in our nostrils, bidding us to keep a westward course, forbidding us to glance back at our broken hearted father, Fionn. We were heading for the land of eternal youth, Tír na nÓg.

 

On the very next antidotal day, we’d be traipsing after him, into the graveyard beside the school. The narrow paths, with no beginning and no end criss-crossed the place like some zoomorphic motif. We were on a mission to see who would be the first to spot a headstone which was decorated with a Celtic design. The diligent boys leading the line were in danger of overtaking the laggards at the tail who were hissing that, in the dark recesses of the slightly open tomb, they had seen, staring back at them, a yella skull.

 

But, on very special days, we crossed the road to the Carnegie Library. Master McMahon told us that it was the most magical building in the whole town. Even the whole world, if it came to that. He told us that we were so lucky because Andrew Carnegie, the richest man on earth, had bought all of these books for us. We were amazed because none of us knew Andrew and we felt sure that he didn’t know any of us. As a matter of fact, not one of us knew anyone who bought books, either for us or for anyone else. Master McMahon said that the Librarian, Maisie Gleeson, was minding the books for Carnegie and, especially for the boys in 3rdclass.

 

On our first day in the library, we all had to line up on tippy-toes at Maisie’s desk to scratch our names with nervous N-nibs on green cards. Maisie eyed us all over her spectacles, welcoming each one of us ominously by name, telling us that she knew our mothers and woe-be-tide anyone who didn’t behave themselves, particularly any boy who did not take good care of Andrew’s books.

 

If you have a book, boys, Master McMahon’s voice was echoing around us. If you have a book, boys, you have an exciting friend.

 

Drumming his fingers along a shelf, humming to himself, he flicked one of the books from its place, tumbling it into his arms. Turning towards us, he held it like a trophy in the air.

 

The Clue of The Twisted Candle. Nancy Drew, boys. She’s a beauty. Blonde, like Niamh Cinn Óir. Solves exciting mysteries for her father.

 

The Master took his time to scan our expectant faces.

 

Here, Mickey, proffering the book to Mikey Looby whose father was a detective. Why don’t you sit down there at that table. Read the first few chapters. See what Nancy Drew is up to this time.

 

Turning to the shelves again, The Master threw back over his shoulder; Sure if I know anything, Mikey, you’ll probably solve the mystery before she does. Mikey, clasping the book in his arms, stumbled to the nearest chair, thirty nine pairs of envious eyes fastened to him. Sure it’s in the blood, Mikey boy. It’s in the blood.

 

Selecting another book, The Master faced us once more. This time he called on Dan Driscoll.

 

I saw you driving your father’s pony and cart to the fair last week. Three of the loveliest pink plump bonavs you had. And what a fine looking pony Dan Driscoll has, boys.

 

Well, here in my hand I’m holding Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. This man is a fantastic story teller. He’ll take you to the frontier lands of America. I promise that you’ll see and smell the rolling plains of Wyoming more clearly than if you were in the Plaza cinema down the street. You’ll ride with cowboys, you’ll hear the neighing not of ponies but of palominos. You’ll meet deadly gunmen, boys, noble Red Indians. And on the headstones in Boothill, boys, you won’t find any Celtic designs.

 

And there, in the vastness of the library, The Master’s youthful tenor voice startled the silence; Take me back to the Black Hills/ The Black Hills of Dakota/ To the beautiful Indian country that I love. By the time he was finished he was besieged by a posse of outstretched hands and beseeching cries of Sir! Sir! Sir! Every one of us was demented to get our paws on that book, any book.

 

 

 

From Listowel Connection

 

Hurricane Debbie

 

 

 

Vincent Doyle, formerly of Listowel, wrote;

 

Hi Mary,

 

               With your knowledge and connections of Listowel I wonder if you know anyone who remembers Hurricane Debbie that hit Ireland in 1961.I was working in Maloneys garage in Market St.when it hit Listowel ,I remember the back wall of the garage was blown down and slates flying off the roofs of the shops opposite. It was scary at the time as we never witnessed anything like that before.

 

                            Hope you can find someone with a better memory than me as I was only 17 then.        I also want to thank you once again for your wonderful blog.

 

 

 

                         All my best wishes.        Vincent Doyle.

 

 

 

I decided to write to Kay Caball (formerly Moloney of Moloney's garage ) to see if she could shed any light on this destructive weather event.

 

 

 

Kay replied;

 

Mary, I only vaguely remember it myself, looking out the window at it.  Didnt know anything about the garage but I would say Vincent Doyle is right.  It was Saturday 16th Sept 1961 and 16 people were killed (none in Kerry)  according to the Kerryman 23 Sept 1961.  See the snips from that Kerryman attached. 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering a popular teacher and a great servant of the GAA who died in Nigeria.

 

Who was Frank Sheehy?

 

The question is answered by Vincent Carmody

 

 

 

Frank was born in 1905 to John J.(b 1870) and Annie Sheehy.(b 1874) His father served as a drapery assistant in the Listowel and his mother was a native of Tipperary. Frank was the youngest of 4 children, with a brother John (b 1898), Margaret(b 1899) and Ellen ( b 1901).

 

 

 

He received his primary education at the Boys' National School, only 3 doors up the street from his home,. After this he attended St Michael’s College where he was a classmate of Seamus Wilmot among others.

 

 Having achieved an M.A. at University College Dublin he then applied for and was accepted to attend at St. Patrick's Training College 1932-1934 to complete his studies to become a National Teacher. Among his colleagues at this time was the redoubtable Sean O Síocháin, later to become a long time General Secretary to the Gaelic Athletic Association. OSíocháin, in a tribute to Frank in 1981 wrote, ‘I first made his acquaintance in 1932/1934 as a student teacher in the Primary School attached to St. Patrick’s Teacher Training College, in Drumcondra, Dublin, where Frank had established himself as one of the great primary teachers of his time. In the following years, through the thirties and into the forties, we worked in after-school hours for the Comhar Dramaíochta, in the production and promotion of plays in Irish, he as runaí and I as a junior actor and sometimes Bainisteoir Stáitse. His high efficiency, his drive and his sense of humour streamlined many a situation for amateur actors which, otherwise might have been chaotic. During the forties, as Principal of an Endowed Primary School in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, gave him a distinction enjoyed by few in Primary Education, while his period in that part of Co. Meath, which coincided with that of the incomparable Paul Russell as Garda Sergeant, transformed the town and the district into a mini-Kingdom all their own’.

 

 

 

He returned to his native town in the early 1950s and quickly immersed himself in the local club and county GAA scene. He became Chairman of the county board in 1953 and many would say that he indeed was the spark that ignited the Kerry Senior team to regain the Sam Maguire, the first since 1946. That year he also organised the golden jubilee of the county’s first All Ireland success in 1953 and he was also instrumental in initiating the scheme that allowed Kerry All Ireland medal holders the right to apply for two tickets whenever the county reached the final.

 

 

 

He was appointed as principal of the senior boys’ school on his return to Listowel, a position he held until 1960. He served as Munster Council President from 1956-1958 and was narrowly beaten for the Presidency of the GAA by Dr.J.J.Stuart.

 

 

 

 

 

In 1961 he went to Nigeria, Africa, to take up a position of Professor of Educational Science at a training college in Asaba. He died there in 1962.

 

Listowel sports field is named ‘Pairc Mhic Shithigh’ in his honour.

 

Listowel

 

https://archive.org/details/capriceoranecdot03unkn/page/n8

 

 

 

Listowel Castle Dublin Penny Journal

 

https://archive.org/details/jstor-30003998/page/n1

 

George Fitzmaurice (1877-1963) Playwright

 

 

 

George Fitzmaurice of Kilcara, Duagh was born at Bedford House near Listowel on January 28th 1877. He was the son of a clergyman, and the tenth of twelve children. George’s father was the local Church of Ireland parson in Listowel. His mother was Winfred O Connor of Duagh, a Catholic. As happened in many mixed marriages of the time, the boys in the Fitzmaurice family were brought up in the religion of the father, and the girls in that of their mother.

 

 

 

George Fitzmaurice belonged to the gentry. He came from a family, which in Burke’s “Landed Irish Gentry” can be traced to the fourteenth century. The combination of being Protestant, belonging to the gentry and living in a Great House( as Fitzgerald himself put it in his play “ the Moonlighter”) all served effectively to separate young George from a social life in the community.

 

 

 

After George’s birth the Fitzmaurice family moved to Springmount House at Duagh. Later, the family moved again to their lands at Kilcara, Duagh. Where they remained until the last member of the family died. Following the death of George’s father, the Fitzgerald family gradually became poorer. This is believed to account for his shy manner.

 

 

 

George attended the local Primary school in Duagh and went to St.Michael’s College in Listowel. This contact with the local people was of invaluable assistance to him in his delineation of the characters who would populate his plays.

 

 

 

About 1901 George went to Dublin and took a job with the Land Commission. His first play, The Country Dressmaker based on a local dressmaker from Duagh was a success and attracted comparisons with Synge and Lady Gregory when it appeared at the Abbey in 1907. His originality was confirmed with The Pie-Dish (1908) and The Magic Glasses (1913), plays combining peasant realism, satire, symbolism, and fantasy.

 

 

 

Between 1908 and 1913 George was on sick leave and spent most of his time with his family in Duagh. As a person, George Fitzmaurice was an introverted and almost pathologically shy man. As he got older, he became more withdrawn and eccentric.

 

http://www.gokerry.ie/index.php?action=locations&location_id=54&page_id=479

 

ELECTTRICITY KERRY

 

 

 

Connecting Kerry to the national grid

 

Electricity in the county before ESB

 

 

 

Kerry had electricity before the establishment of ESB in 1927. ESB’s annual reports record 11 local electricity suppliers in the county — that means 11 individuals or companies who had permits to commercially supply electricity to 3 or more homes and businesses in their local area. The reports do not record when each local supplier was first established, merely the number of consumers they supplied, as well as the year the supplier was acquired by ESB.

 

 

 

Click here to view Kerry on our interactive map.

 

 

 

Kerry’s 11 local electricity providers were as follows:

 

 

 

    Ballybunion Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. began to supply electricity in 1934, initially supplying 108 homes and businesses, rising to 238 by 1946, when it was acquired by ESB around 1946—1947.

 

    D O’Sullivan and Sons supplied electricity in Ballylongford before ESB, serving 1 home or business in 1929, and was later acquired by ESB around 1933—1934.

 

    Cahirciveen Electric Light and Power Co. Ltd. was in operation before 1927. It supplied 210 homes and businesses in 1929, rising to 483 in 1956, when it was acquired by ESB.

 

    Thomas McKenna of Green Street, Dingle, supplied electricity before 1927, serving 2 homes and businesses in 1929, and was later acquired by ESB around 1933—1934.

 

    Dingle Electric Light and Power Co. was in operation before 1927. It supplied 118 homes and businesses in 1929, rising to 219 in 1953, and was acquired by ESB around 1954.

 

    Kenmare Electric Supply Co. was in operation before 1927. It supplied 86 homes and businesses in 1929, rising to 288 in 1957, when it was acquired by ESB.

 

    Kerry Electric Supply Co. Ltd. in Killarney was in operation before 1927. It supplied 265 homes and businesses in 1929, rising to 576 in 1937, when it was acquired by ESB.

 

    Killorglin Electric Light and Power Co. Ltd. was in operation before 1927. It supplied 147 homes and businesses in 1929, and was later acquired by ESB around 1936—1937.

 

    Listowel Electric Light and Power Co. Ltd. was in operation before 1927. It supplied 336 homes and businesses in 1929, and was acquired by ESB in September 1929.

 

    Messrs R McCowen and Sons Ltd. in Tralee was in operation before 1927. It supplied 3 homes and businesses in 1929, and was later acquired by ESB around 1930.

 

    Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. began to supply electricity in Waterville in 1938, initially serving 29 homes and businesses, rising to 114 by 1956, when it was acquired by ESB.

 

 

 

https://esbarchives.ie/2017/09/18/connecting-kerry-to-the-national-grid/

 

Article in Image

 

Listowel Races in

 

 Image.ie

 

The essay was written by, Eadaein O'Connell.

 

 

 

Galway may have the hype, but the Listowel Races has the heart

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t be surprised if you hear a Listowel expat say they would rather come home for the week of the races than for Christmas. As a child, my parents would take me to the market—otherwise known as the amusements—during the festival, and on the drive home I would turn to look at the outline of the town behind me as we drove away. All I could see was the sparkle of the funfair rides and I’d think to myself “wow, it can’t get any better than this”.  Side note: years later I discovered alcohol and the races became a whole different level of awe-inspiring.

 

For one solemn week in September, the town of Listowel illuminates. The land of John B. Keane becomes flooded with the racing elite, and Gypsy Kathleen parks up in The Square to tell fortunes to the unfortunate as punters try to grapple with lost money and dreams. A week on the racecourse, or ‘The Island’ as the locals call it, can ruin a person in the best possible way. They travel in spades from far-flung places like Tarbert to get a taste of the equestrian dream.  In its 160thyear, the Listowel Races is a pure horse racing adrenaline rush. It was my childhood, my teenage years and now my adult chapters. There is a magic in the town that you won’t find anywhere else. Galway may have the hype, but Listowel has the heart.

 

(See site for full article)

 

 

 

 

 

Kieran Donaghy has retired from Kerry Football. September 2018

 

 

 

He hailed from the kingdom of Kerry,

 

A Rocky who played for the Stacks,.

 

He lined out up front for his county,

 

And tormented the very best backs.

 

They pulled, they dragged and they tripped him,

 

But the ball it was already there,

 

For the star had very good vision,

 

To get the ball to the man with red hair.

 

Manys the day he did save us,

 

And pulled the win out of the fire,

 

But time has come for the big man,

 

To hang up his boots and retire,.

 

He speaks of O'Connors and Fitzgeralds,

 

And all of the Donaghy clan,

 

Well proud they are of this young boy,

 

Who grew into one talented man.

 

On behalf of the fans of the Kingdom,

 

Who came out with the green and the gold,

 

So sorry to bid you farewell,

 

But for years your stories be told.

 

Good luck in the chapter that awaits you,

 

You owe nothing to the jersey you wore,

 

But we all wish once more we could see it,

 

That pass to young Clifford's score.

 

What do you think of that Joe Brolly?

 

Cuckoo singing, Thursday May 3^rd 2018

 

https://youtu.be/48hLRj4_sMI

 

 

 

Michael Guerin

 

Published on 25 Apr 2018

 

Kay Caball marked the Centenary of two famous Cow's lawn (Town Park) incidents, in a talk at the Seanchaí Listowel 22.4.2018. Excitement in Listowel as 1000 men with Hurleys , Gurtenard Gates Burst, Lawn - Ploughmen start. VIDEO Michael Guerin 22.4.2018

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zTvQkBZHgY&feature=share

 

LISTOWEL MONORAIL & MUSEUM 2018

 

 

 

Commemorating 130 years 1888 - 2018

 

 

 

There were 3 stations- Listowel, Lisselton and Ballybunion.

 

There was also a stop at Francis Road.

 

 

 

Tickets to America could also be brought at all of the above stations.

 

 

 

There were 3 main incentives for building the line;

 

 

 

1. To generate tourist traffic as well as local traffic

 

 

 

2. To bring pupils (male) to the recently opened St. Michael’s College in Listowel (1879)

 

3. To bring sand to Listowel for the farmers there, and further on the on the main line.

 

The line carried 74,000 passenger since 1913, this number had halved by 1922. Up to 14,000 passengers a day were carried in summer when the line was at its peak usage. An advertising booklet issued c. 1900 described Ballybunion as “cool and bracing in Summer, mild in Winter and had perfect sanitary arrangements. Ballybunion is recognised by the medical faculty as one of the best health resorts in Ireland – ideal for the overworked brain or this seeking recuperation after illness.”

 

Belfast Newsletter 1738-1890, Tuesday, August 30, 1825; Page: 4

 

(Break)

 

A barbarous outrage was committed on Sunday last, on the person of an elderly man, of the name of Neligan, near Listowel, at one of those gaol matches which usually disgrace the Sabbath. He was a spectator on this occasion, when some of the contending party struck him with hurlies on the head; he fell and was trampled, on while repeated blows put an end to his existence. The only pretence that can be assigned for this murder is, that he was connected with a party against whom his assailants cherished a hostile feeling from some old recontre.—Limerick Chronicle.

 

 

 

Freemans Journal 1763-1924, Wednesday, November 02, 1825; Page: 4

 

FAIRS, MARKETS,

 

 Carlow,  Oct, 31 Everything at the fair of Tullow, on Saturday, was enormously dear. There were but few good horses. Cows in calf were sold for from 13 to 15 guineas. Dry cows about 10l/. — Milch very high. .. Fat cows 15l/. to 16l/. Store and fat pgs 55s.,and 3l/ respectively. Mutton 6d. per lb. of good beef but little in the market, and that at about 7d. per lb.

 

 At the fair of Portrenard ' , on Thursday last, there was a great demand for every kind of stock, at advanced prices, with the exception of pigs, which were rather on the look down.  In consequence of an intended riot at the fair, John Raymond, Esq., with Captain Lambert and the horse police, from Listowel, and a party of twenty soldiers from Abbeyfeale, were on the ground, and in the course, of the day Alfred Furlong Esq., with Mr. Percy and the police, from Newcastle, arrived. By the timely and judicious attendance of those gentlemen an affray between two factions was prevented, and Mr. Raymond, with a party of horse police, dispersed them. Limerick. Chronicle.

 

 

 

Belfast Newsletter 1738-1890, Tuesday, October 14, 1834; Page: 4

 

The Lord Bishop ok Limerick—The amiable  prelate has returned to this city, after a toilsome confirmation tour through the principal part of his remote dioceses in Kerry, on which duty his Lordship was accompanied by his  domestic chaplain, the Rev. R. Knox, Chancellor of Ardfert, on whom devolved the preaching of the confirmation sermons. The numbers confirmed by his Lordship were I as follow:—Killarney, 150; Tralee, 360; Tarbert, 150; Listowel, 86; Dingle, 75; Caherciveen, barony of Iveragh (O'Connell's town). 81; Milltown, 242—Total, 1,142. His Lordship has, from unavoidable circumstances, been obliged to relinquish his intention for the present of holding confirmations at Castleisland, Kenmare, and Millstreet ; but he will visit each of those places early next year. The Bishop has resolved on making an annual missionary  tour through his dioceses for the purpose of preaching in the different churches, and in order to facilitate this intention, he is now in treaty for a residence in Killarney.—Limerick Times.

 

 

 

Freemans Journal 1763-1924, Tuesday, November 20, 1838; Section: Front page, Page: 1

 

One of the most respectable and numerous meetings assembled in Cork for many years took place, on Thursday, to establish a Provincial College for Munster in that city. Lord Listowel presided, and Mr. Wyse, M.P., made a splendid speech in illustration of the Grand National object for which the meeting was convened. Eventually an address to the Queen and a petition to parliament were agreed on.

 

 

 

Kerry Evening Post 1813-1917, Wednesday, November 13, 1839; Page: 3

 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE KERRY EVENING POST

 

Listowel. 9th November, 1839. Dear Mr. Editor.—A series of political dinners hare been given, during the past and present week, in our town and neighbourhood; But the grand coalition festival of that, exotic and eccentric Maurice Mac O’Connor to Morgan O Connell, M.P.; Pierce Mahony, ex-M.P.; John Cronin of park; Rev Mr Harrington, C.C.; Rev Mr Simple, C.C.; Mr Marshall, Auctioneer and many others. The letter goes on to explain the expensive and lavish preparations, items from Limerick and Ornaments, wreaths and greens from Ballinruddery , used in decorations. Their motto was “Cead Mille Failte”, being market day many came to admire the show. Pierce Mahony spoke in very dull and prosy language. Morgan O’C admitted that Tories had political interests to support and rights to contend for, as well as the Radicals. Third Toast was The National Board of Education and Fr Mahony who had recently erected a school, but later on in the letter, it noted that the school was, not finished yet and badly needed to educate the children who, had bad habits wandering around the Market place.  Mr Marshall speaking under the influence of spirits, it was alleged, Mentioned Mr Mc O’Connor being good at feeding pigs and jack asses. Ned Cain gave an explanation the following day about the exaggerated speeches. (See Paper for letter which was a skit on all at the party).

 

Births & Marriages, Ballybunion Parish Records

 

http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlker/allen.html

 

 

 

John Allen & Elizabeth Sweeney (Ballyegan, Galey Parish)

 

                Anne, 13 Jan. 1858 (Mary Moriarty, Fr. J. Walsh)

 

                Margaret, 7 Nov. 1859 (Timothy Mangan & Margaret Sweeney)

 

                Henry, c. 1862 (Patrick Sweeney & Honora Mangan, Fr. J. O'Keefe)

 

                Patrick, 12 March 1865 (Michael Connell & Catherine Mangan, Moneen locale)

 

 

 

Anne Allen & Denis Reidy (Ballyegan)

 

                m. 30 July 1882 (James Fenaghty & Ellen Fenaghty, Fr. M. Godley, Ballybunion)

 

Timothy, 9 June 1883 (Honora Fitzgerald)

 

Mary, 30 May 1884 (Mary Fitzgerald, Fr. J. O'Keefe)

 

Joanna, 29 May 1884 (Mary Griffin, Fr. Godley -- Mary's twin)

 

John, 29 August 1886 (Mary Allen, Fr. O'Keefe)

 

Thomas, 3 June 1888 (Honora Allen, Fr. D. Harrington)

 

Elizabeth,  11 Jan. 1891 (Honora Allen, Fr. M. O'Connor)

 

Denis, 16 July 1893 (Honora Sweeney, Fr. H. O'Sullivan)

 

Patrick, 20 Feb. 1897 (Mary Sweeney, Fr. P. Browne)

 

Henry, 3 Sept. 1898 (Honora Sweeney, Fr. J. Connihan)

 

Note: Anne was the daughter of John Allen & Elizabeth Sweeney of Ballyegan.

 

Denis was the son of Thad Reidy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Griffin

 

Marriages in Ballybunion Roman Catholic Parish

 

http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?o=0&m=1517.2.2.1&p=surnames.brennan

 

 

 

Philip Brennan married Bridget Griffin, Kilgarvan on 25 January 1835. Witnesses : Ed Brennan, Daniel Griffin and Michael(?) Stack

 

 

 

Philip Brennan married Mary Brodrick, Farranastack on 27 February 1835. Witnesses : William Horgan and Mary Sweeney

 

 

 

Patrick Connor married Margaret Brennan, Farranastack on 27 March 1838. Witnesses : Joano Connell, Julia Enright, Joano Riely (Don't know if Joano is John or Joanna) (Sister of Philip?)

 

 

 

Eugene Brennan married Catherine Deenihan, Lisselton on 31 July 1838

 

 

 

Patrick Hourin married Mary Brennan, Farranastack on 12 Feb 1839. Witnesses : Maurice Sweeney, Mary Ryan, Honora Hayes (Sister of Philip?)

 

 

 

Cornelius Kennelly married Margaret Brennan, Shrone-Aun on 28 June 1856. Witnesses : Daniel Keane, Patrick Flaheran

 

Shrone is in the civil parish of Galey

 

 

 

David Barry married Mary Brennan, Lisselton, on 12 Feb 1858. Witnesses : Daniel Kane, Patrick Connor

 

 

 

Patrick Healy married Margaret Brennan, Killehenny on 19 Oct 1858. Witnesses : James Walsh, Edmund Stack

 

 

 

Denis Brennan married Bridget Lynch, Lisselton on 27 Jan 1860. Witnesses : Michael Kissane and Patrick Gorman

 

 

 

Philip Brenan married Joanna Houlihan, Killehenny on 4 Feb 1861. Witnesses : John Griffin and James Walsh (this is most likely the son of Philip Brennan and Bridget Griffin)

 

 

 

John Brennan married Catherine Shanahan, Lisselton on 26 Sep 1863. Witnesses : Daniel Kane and Honora McElligott

 

 

 

Michael Brennan married Mary Deenihan, Lisselton on 4 Nov 1868. Witnesses : James Dee and John Kissane

 

 

 

Eugene Brennan of Ballybunion, son of Philip Brennan of Guhard married Catherine Connor of Ballybunion, daughter of John Connor, Lahesarrach on 21 Feb 1871. Witnesses : Patrick Griffin of Bromore and James Walsh of Doon

 

 

 

John Brennan of Lacca, son of John Brennan of Lacca, married Margaret Dalton of Farnstack, daughter of Patrick Dalton of Farnstack on 17 August 1877. Witnesses : Rev. P J Dillon and James Walsh

 

 

 

 

 

Hennessy

 

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=474517.0

 

 

 

An American Hero!

 

by Michael Sweeney, Lawrence Planning Director

 

09/01/06  http://www.tommyduggan.com/VP090106sweeney.html

 

 

 

 

 

Obituaries

 

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/19/local/me-sweeney19

 

 

 

Charles Sweeney, 84; Pilot Who Dropped A-Bomb on Nagasaki

 

July 19, 2004|Myrna Oliver | Times Staff Writer

 

Listowel Newspapers

 

BLOG July 2013

10 June 1939 Argus Melbourne.

REV. J. J. GALLIVAN

The Rev J J Gallivan, a veteran member of the priesthood, died at North- cote early yesterday morning, In his 83rd year Born in Listowel County Kerry, Ireland on February 8 1856 Father Gallivan was ordained to the priesthood In All Hallows College Dublin on June 24, 1880 and came to the Melbourne arch-diocese in the following November After serving as a curate at Kilmore. He was appointed parish priest at Gisborne in 1886 and in 1911 he took charge of the Sunbury-Bulla parish where he remained till 1923 completing 43 years service in the Kilmore Gisborne and Sunbury districts In April 1923, he was appointed to the charge of St Joseph’s parish Northcote and he held that position up to the time of his death

Solemn Office and Requiem Mass will take place at St Joseph's Church North- cote at 10 am to-day, and Archbishop Mannix will preside The funeral will leave the church for the Sunbury cemetery Arrangements are In the hands of Alfred Allison

 

 

OBITUARY. Northern Argus SA 24 May 1935

 

LATE MR. JOHN DEE. On April 2- 1935, passed away one of the later colonists from the Old Country. Mr. John Dee arrived in South Australia from County Kerry in the year 1881. He was born in Listowel in 1859, spending his early youth there and married Miss Ellen Larkin, second daughter of John Larkin, of Listowel. Mr. Dee, with his wife, came to South Australia in the sailing vessel Ashmore, and settled in the lower North districts, taking up land at Port Clinton, and later at Balaklava and in the Hill River district, where he engaged in mixed farming for several years. Members of his family are settled in these districts. Mr. Dee retired from active farming twelve years ago, living on his property at Sheoak Log, near, Gawler. Having always enjoyed excellent health, it was not until the close of his life approached that he experienced any illness. He died at the age of 70 years and is survived by his wife and nine children, four sons and five daughters, also two grand-children.

 

22 May 1930

Sister Mary Sylvester Harnett.

On Easter Sunday, 20th May 1930, Sister Mary Sylvester Harnett passed away, after an illness extending over many months. Born near Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, Sister Mary Sylvester, who was a sister of the late Rev. Father D. A. Harnett (Cooma), and the late Rev. Father T. Harnett (Bega), entered the Convent of the Good Samaritan in 1894. Until about two years ago, when failing health obliged her to relinquish teaching, she was actively engaged in the work of the schools. Forest Lodge, Newtown, Marriekville, Manly, Wollongong, Rozelle, and Port Pirie (South Australia) were, in turn, fields of labour for this efficient and cultured teacher. Her last years were spent at St. Scholastiea's Convent, Glebe Point. On Monday, 21st ult., Requiem Mass was celebrated in the convent chapel by Rev. Father D. Furlong, and at 2 p.m., after the last Absolution had been given by Rev. Father E. G. Par ker, the funeral left by motor for the cemetery at Rookwood. Rev. Dr. Sheehy (a cousin of Sister M. Sylvester), assisted by Ven. Archpriest McDonnell, P.P., Rev. Fathers R. McElligott, P.P. (cousin), P. Walsh, P.P., and P. Galvin, P.P., officiated at the graveside. — R.I.P.

 

 

2 Feb. 1934 Longreach Leader Queensland.

MRS. WILLIAM JOHNS.

The 'death occurred in Brisbane on 26th January,1934, of Mrs. William Johns, relict of the late Mr. Wm. Johns. The late Mrs. Johns, who was 75 years of age, was born in Balleygrenan, Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, in 1858. She came to Queens- land in the Buranda, landing In Brisbane in 1886. The last 28 years of her life were spent in Longreach, excepting the last 5 months when she resided with her daughter, Mrs. F. J. Anderson, Brisbane. She entered the Brisbane Hospital on the 25th January, passing away the following, day. The late Mrs. Johns, whose

husband predeceased her 6 months, ago In Longreach, is survived by 3 daughters and one son.

Freeman’s Journal 1 July 1909

DEATH. MULVIHILL.— June 6th, 1909, Trinity Sun- day, Michael Mulvihill, born at Drombeg, Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, at his late residence, 190 Keppel-street, Bathurst, N.S.W., Australia. Aged 84. Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on his soul. Irish and American papers please copy.

 

14 June 1918 Gordon, Egerton and Ballan Advertiser

 

Bachelor Dies at 92.

Staunch Teetotaller and Non Smoker.

Patrick Keefe, a colonist of 64 years, and a resident of Bacchus Marsh for over half a century, has died at the advanced age of 92 years. He was born at Listowel, Ireland, on 17 March, 1826, where he joined the. Irish constabulary. In Australia he was a mounted const able, and was stationed at Kyneton, Rochester, Boort, Donald, Majorca, and Bacchus Marsh. He had many exciting adventures to tell of bush rangers and cattle " duffers." Subsequently he settled on the land. He was a staunch teetotaller and was not slow in expressing himself on the subject. He has stated that his savings in this direction, and from tobacco smoking enabled him to take two trips back to his native land. | Mr Keefe was never married, he apparently preferred to paddle his own canoe, and he had a pretty long trip up the river of life.

 

 

Victoria Cross;

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/115307376?searchTerm=%20keneally%20tribute%20ireland&searchLimits=

 

 

http://oac.cdlib.org/search?query=limerick%20ireland;page=2

 

 

2. Broadside Ballads from England, Ireland, and the United States collection 1798-1899

Contributing Institution: UCLA::Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library

Description: Broadside ballads provided lyrics to popular songs, and were sold cheaply on individual sheets of paper. This collection contains approximately 2,000 English, Irish, and American broadsides from the nineteenth century.

315 search terms found:

...Kerry. Reily from the Co. Kerry. Dublin, Ireland ; P. BreretOu [sic] Cooke St D[...

...sic] address to Kerry for Home Rule. [Dublin], [Ireland] , [ca. 1867] ....

...Broadside Ballads from England, Ireland, and the United States collection...

 

 

 

25. Gennett Sound Recording Collection 1917-1930

Contributing Institution: UCLA::Library Special Collections, Performing Arts

Description: The collection consists of 78 rpm. sound recordings published by the Gennett Record Company.

3 search terms found:

...5169-A 15 Irish Hornpipe Medley-- " Limerick" and "Cork" The McNamara Trio 1 10"...

...Piece broken off disc. 14 The Banks of Ireland and the Ships are Sailing Conlon,...

...and Hanley. 15 If I were King of Ireland Graves Shaughnessy, John 1 10" sound...

 

 

 

16. O'Shaughnessy (Michael M.) papers 1882-1937

Contributing Institution: UC Berkeley::Bancroft Library

Description: The M. M. (Michael Maurice) O'Shaughnessy papers, 1882-1937, consist of materials relating to his career as a civil engineer, working first as a consultant in private practice, and later as City Engineer of San Francisco. The collection contains primary and ... Read More

5 search terms found:

...M. M. ) O'Shaughnessy was born in Limerick, Ireland, on May 28, 1864, the son of...

...Spring Valley Water; Bear Valley Dam; Crockett; Ireland; Arizona 1903-1911...

...educated in the public schools in Ireland, and attended Queen's College, Cork,...

 

 

Description of Collection

United Anti-Nazi Conference Records, 1935-1939

MSS 72

 

This is a small collection of correspondence, clippings and fliers from Aaron Kertman, the Executive Secretary of the United Anti-Nazi Conference in Los Angeles. The committee sponsored Mme. Sonja Branting in 1935 and William Francis Hare, Earl of Listowel in 1936, to speak on the threat posed by the Nazi regime in Germany. The Conference also organized a mass anti-Nazi protest and parade in Boyle Heights on November 22, 1938.

Background

The Los Angeles office of the United Anti-Nazi Conference was formed in 1935 with Chaim Shapiro as President and Aaron Kertman as Executive Secretary. The Conference brought together Jewish and anti-fascist groups, including labor unions, for the common goal of raising awareness of Nazi anti-Jewish policies and actions that were occurring in the mid and late 1930s. To this end they sponsored speakers from Europe to give testimonies, across the United States, about Nazi activites. In particular: Mme. Sonja Branting from Sweden and William Francis Hare, Earl of Listowel of the United Kingdom. The Conference organized a major protest parade on November 22, 1938 in Boyle Heights. 10,000 turned out to hear denunciations of Hilter and Nazism.

Extent

1 folder

Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single copies of any portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be allowed only with the express written permission of the Library's director. It is not necessary to obtain written permission to quote from a collection. When the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission for publication, it is as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Availability

The collection is available for research only at the Library's facility in Los Angeles. The Library is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged to call or email the Library indicating the nature of their research query prior to making a visit.

 

MAGAZINE: Knocknagoshel Then and Now, the 30th Edition is now available.

It contains 83 pages of stories, history and pictures. Among the articles are, My first bicycle by Kathleen McElligott, the late Rory O Connor who died in 2013 is recalled, Loughfuder School Reunion recalled, Memories of Timmy O Connell who served in Korea, Jack McElligott helps Kerry to fourth All-Ireland. A great many snippets taken from GAA newspaper reports are also included. Other items including the oldest people, Knocknagoshel Creamery, Dance Halls, Last pony and Trap Priest, Fianna Fail Officers 1954, Threatened Eviction 1888, Geaneys The Strong Men, Deaths 1963 and 2012. Selection of pictures from Loughfudar School Reunion 2013 also among dozens of photos taken over the past 100 years in the locality.

 

 

BALLYGUILTENANE JOURNAL: This years edition again contains a host of photos and articles; George Langan continues his family tree, have a look at langangeorge.wordpress.com for an insight into his extensive collection. Tom Ahern continues with his usual interesting articles, which include his first Munster Hurling Final at Thurles in 1973, Dubliners, John Sheahan and West Limerick connection, he also recalls Deels Views and Desmond News. David O Riordan has several articles and pictures. Eileen O Brien recalls Christmas in Earlier Times. Louis Byrne remembers the Franciscans in Limerick. Patrick Lynch remembers Monakyle Graveyard and gives us Random Thoughts. Joe Quill has a wide ranging information page. Clounleharde School Reunion is recalled. Peg Prendeville, make report on trips to Krakov and Inisheer. Estuary swim is recalled by Marie Geohegan. Well deserved to Pat Brosnan also included.

Obituary of many who passed away during the year. Tom Donovan has Songs. Dillane Family Glenstar a History. Writers Week Trip to historic sites recalled. Frank Phelan remembers Sam Ryder’s Cup and more. Ann Gardiner gives us Christmas Compromise and Jer Kennelly has a number of pictures and snippets from home and abroad.

 

ATHEA Parish Journal 2013, contains 128 pages of local topics and pictures old and new.

Articles include; Dr. Kieran Murphy gives us a history of the free medical card in Ireland and the future position. Timmy Woulfe, recalls memories of Ciaran MacMathuna, Sean O Riada and Ned Quinn’s goat. Oliver McGrath, remembers films shown at the Enterprise Hall. Tom Fitzgerald writes about, Kitchens, turf cutting and windmills. Tommy Quille gives questions to answer. Joe Quille , surprises us with, This and That. All the local organisations have a run down on their activities during the year, with a selection of pictures of the present and past. Pat Brosnan recalls time spent in England and also has several songs and a sketch on Census Without Sense. Kilcolman Church Centenary. Peg Prendeville gives report on trip to Rome. Past and present is chronicled. Joan Grogan and Biddy Early story written by late Patrick T Ahern, Patrick also recalls out and about in Athea. Patrick Fitzgerald give memories from 1963. Papers Down Under mention Athea in 1900, 1885 and 1867. David O Riordan, George Langan, Domhnall de Barra and many others continue their long association with the Athea Parish Magazine. An old GAA picture in the book reminds me of several members of the Leahy family of Knockanure who played for Athea.

 

Abbeyfeale fire brigade was formed in mid 1968, they assisted

outside the county boundary Abbeyfeale firemen had familiarised themselves with those local parts of county Kerry to which they could get there faster than the nearest Kerry brigade, Listowel. There was a road traffic accident and the Abbeyfeale crew found on arrival that they could do nothing for the three people who were dead on the scene. The ambulance which had already been sent for arrived but because the victims were dead the crew refused to take them, such were the rules at the time. It was necessary for the firemen to literally pile the broken bodies of the dead into the back of the fire engine and try to keep them steady during the nightmare drive back.

 

 

Ballydonoghue Parish Magazine 2013, Est. 1985.

 

The magazine contains 250 pages of articles and a great many colour pictures. The back cover is a great picture of Ballydonoghue U16 Team who won the County League Division 1 in 2013 and the inside front cover has a fine picture of women leaving the church after a Mission in 1941. There is a youth section from page 3 to 34. Features Section 35 to 102. Contains among others others, stories from Mick Finucane and Michael Barry. Lifestyle Section 103 to 126, includes story of Noreen Neville being proud for being an old fashioned hoarder.

History Section, page 127 to 170, include Thirty years ago, Ploughing match 1915, forgotten Soldier Michael Dee died 1918, Major events in Ballydonoghue from 1871-2013. Children’s Section runs from 171-194, has a creative corner and picture parade.

Sports section 195-214, gives a list of Ballydonoghue Minors and Olympic gold winner 1906 and of course a great coverage of GAA events. The general Section, contains, tributes, Weddings, Baptisms and Deaths. News from Kerry Emigrants. Letters and Creative writing and much more.

 

 

 

Kilkee Disaster 1910

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/12%2003%20enright%20dn.pdf

 

 

Templeglantine, Ardagh and Ballyine , Co Limerick. 1954

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/01%2004%201954,%20Christmas.pdf

 

Workhouse NCW 1984 article

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/newcastle%20west%20workhouse.pdf

 

Ballyine and Limerick articles 1965, Abbeyfeale and Fr Casey.

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/12%2003%201965,%20Autumn.pdf

Arch Deacon Fitzgerald 1788-1863 PP Rathkeale wrote 29 stanza ballad.

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/17%2004%201970%20Christmas.pdf

 

Catholic Life books parish news.

http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/BooksJournals/OurCatholicLife/

 

 

7 July 1917

Listowel Fair, small with few buyers, beef scarce at about 1s 3d per lb, mutton scarce at 1s 1d. Springers, 1st class £25 to £30; 2nd class £10 to £20, two year old heifers, 1st class£13 to £18, 2nd class £10 to £13; Yearlings £6 to £8; dropped calves from a week to a month old. From £2 to £3.

Mr Michael Dillon, Knockanasig, sold a very handsome red bull, three years old, to a Co. Limerick purchaser for £52.

Pig Market, bacon made 122s per cwt dead weight; bonhams from 30s to 45s a piece.

 

Death has taken place of Mr M A Lehane, son of Mr T Lehane, Listowel. Deceased was studying at the Irish College, Paris, when his health broke down.

 

17 Sept. 1908 Catholic Press NSW.

MISSING FRIENDS. Any person knowing the whereabouts of Maurice O Connell native of Athea, County Limerick, Ireland, who came to Australia about the year 1863, kindly communicate with P. Naughton, Rawdon Island, Hastings River. NSW.

Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW 24 Sept. 1892

Missing Friends; WILLIE M'COY, late of Carramere, will write to his Mother he will hear something to his advantage. Last heard of four years ago, when in Sydney. MARGARET M'COY, Curramere, Ballyhahill, Co. Limerick, Ireland

 

INFORMATION wanted of JOHN WALSH,. late of Athea, Co. Limerick, who left home in '81 ; last heard of in the employ of Mr. Foley, on the Darling River. Reply to John Raleigh (late of Ballyhahill), Cungegong, Moatefield PO.. N.S.W.

 

 

 

DEATH

No. 8957-Recorded July 23, 1897

Maloney, Thomas, age 83y 4m 27d, male, white, retired farmer, married

Died: May 21, 1897, 2:00 a.m. at 1454 w 6th st, Davenport, Iowa

Cause of death: senility and cystitis

Born: Co. Limerick, Ireland. Resided in U.S. 45 yrs

Buried: St. Anne's Cemetery; May 22, 1897

Obit: Daily Times, Davenport, Scott, Iowa, May 21, 1897

MALONEY

At his home 1454 West Sixth street, at 2 o'clock this morning occurred the death of Thomas Maloney in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Death was the result of a complication of diseases against which the great age of the deceased ill could cope.

Mr. Maloney was a native of County Limerick, Ireland where he was born in 1813. He came to this country in 1858, and just before the beginning of the Civil War he established himself upon a farm near Long Grove, where he remained until some years ago, when he entered upon retirement, and removed to the home in this city in which he passed away.

The deceased is survived by his widow and five children, John, T.F., James and Patrick and Mrs. T.F. Meagher of Lenox, Iowa.

The funeral will be held from his late residence on west Sixth street at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning with services at St. Mary's church. Interment will be made at St. Ann's cemetery in Long Grove, Iowa.

 

Freeman’s Journal 13 Aug 1917

SERGEANT-MAJOR'S DEATH-The death in action of Sergeant-Major John Hennessy,Leinsters, has occasioned keen regret in his native town, Listowel. The deceased was 21 years in the army, and served through the South African war,

and was about receiving a commission when he was killed by a shell. He was the son of the late Mr. D.C. Hennessy, journalist, and author of the "Lays of North Kerry."

 

19 May 1823 Connaught Journal

On Friday night, three valuable farm houses, on the lands of Ballyrehan, in the immediate vicinity of Crotto, county Kerry, were set on fire by some incendiaries, and totally consumed. The houses, when burned, were untenanted.

 

SEARCHING FOR

May 30, 1857

County Kerry

Of Eugene Madden, of Ballyconnery, Parish of Liselton, who was learning the carriage-making trade in Paris, Kentucky, about 3 years ago. Information received by his brother, Edward Madden, Keokuk, Iowa.

 

12 July 1856

Of JAMES GRANT, who left Listowel [co. Kerry] 6 years ago. - Please address his brother, Michael Grant, Wappelo, Louisa county, Iowa.

 

 

21 Feb 1857

Of RICHARD HEARTNETT, and his sons, Michael, James, Thomas and Jeremiah, and daughter Honora, of the county of Kerry; when last heard from were in Burlington, Iowa, one year ago last May. Please address his son-in-law, Michael Moore, Osage City, Cole county, Mo.

 

Of EUGENE MADDEN, of Ballyconnery, parish of Liselton [co. Kerry], who was learning the carriage-making trade in Paris, Kentucky, about 3 years ago. Information received by his brother, Edward Madden, Keokuk, Iowa.

 

 

Of PATRICK DOWNEY, of Ballynahown, parish of Knocknacashill [co. Kerry]; when last heard from was in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, went to Missouri, and is supposed to be now in Iowa. Please address his sister Mary (who has been anxiously enquiring about him for four years) care of Dennis Rahilly, 6 Pearl street, New York.

 

 

20 Feb 1858

Of LAWRENCE CUSIC, native of parish Newtownsands [co. Kerry]; when last heard from was in Sidney, Ohio, and moved to Iowa. Information received by his sister, Hannah Cusic, Crawfordsville, Montgomery county, Indiana.

 

 

1860 Of JEREMIAH GALVIN, native of parish Dwa [co. Kerry]; when last heard from he worked on the North Mo. Railroad outside Warrenton county, two years ago. Any person knowing anything of his whereabouts will confer a favor by writing to his father, Murty, Otumaway, Wappelo county, Iowa.

 

http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/infowanted.htm

 

 

Davenport Weekly Leader; Davenport, Scott, Iowa; Wednesday, January 3, 1894

 

GUINEY.

At 4 o'clock Wednesday occurred the death of Mrs. Daniel Guiney at the family residence, 914 Eastern avenue, after an illness of only three days, the cause of death being pneumonia. Mrs. Guiney was an old resident of Davenport, this city being her home for the past thirty-eight years. Her maiden name was Bridget Enright and she was born in the county Kerry, Ireland, Feb. 10, 1830. She was married in Ireland in 1847 and came to this country in December, 1885, coming with her family direct to Davenport. Besides her husband there survive to mourn her loss seven children- John, Patrick, William, Daniel and David and two daughters, Mrs. Edward Burns and Mrs. Harvey Whitcomb. Of her sons John the eldest is a respected and efficient member of the Davenport police force and all the others are also residents of this city, except Wm. Gainey [sic] and Mrs. Whitcomb who live in Sargent, Mo.

WOULFE

http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/kerrybios.htm#wolfe

WOLFE

Wolfe's History of Clinton County, Iowa; Vol 2; B.F. Bowen & Co; Indianapolis, Indiana: 1911

The present review is concerned with the life of a man whose character and ability are, by reason of his long and honorable connection with the practice of law, well known to the people of Clinton county and of the state of Iowa, and whose extensive familiarity with his own county made him especially fitted to server as editor-in-chief of the history of Clinton county.

Patrick B. Wolfe was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 7, 1848, the son of John R. and Honora (Buckley) Wolfe. John R. Wolfe was born in county Kerry, Ireland, in 1824, the son of Richard Wolfe, who was the agent having charge of the property of the Knight of Kerry. He received and excellent education. During his young manhood he helped to organize the "Young Ireland" party. He left Ireland in 1848, coming to America, first locating at Ottawa, Illinois. Here he remained on a farm until 1854, when he moved to Clinton county, Iowa, to land near Lost Nation, which he had entered the winter before, and lived there until his death in 1885, becoming one of the largest landholders and most successful farmers of his township. Mr. Wolfe did not take any great interest in politics. He was opposed to slavery. In religion he and his entire family were staunch Catholics, and active workers in the church.

John R. Wolfe was married in Ireland to Honora Buckley. She was a member of a family prominent in the church and at the bar, Michael Buckley, her brother, having been the leader of the Belfast bar for many years. The Wolfe family were also prominent in the church and in law, so that it was natural for the American descendants to turn to the bar in choice of a profession. Mrs. Wolfe died in 1888.

Mr and Mrs Wolfe were the parents of ten children, two of whom died in infancy, and those who grew to maturity are the following: James, a farmer near Lost Nation; Patrick B.; Johanna, who is now Sister Scholastica of the Orders of Sisters of Mercy at Sioux City, Iowa; John, a farmer at Melrose, Monroe county, Iowa; Maurice, a farmer near Lost Nation; Margaret, now the wife of Dr. D. Langan, of Clinton; Katherine, the widow of Judge T.D. Fitzgerald, of Montana, at one time president of the Montana Senate, now living in Clinton; and Richard B., an attorney at De Witt, Clinton county, Iowa.

Patrick B. Wolfe attended the common schools of Liberty township, Clinton county, for a time, then spent one year in the Christian Brothers Academy at La Salle, Illinois. He was a student in the academic department of Iowa State University for two years, then took a full law course from that institution, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1870. In January, 1871, he began the practice of law at De Witt, Clinton county, Iowa, and for a few years suffered from the proverbial hardships of the young lawyer, but soon came into an extensive practice. In 1877 he formed a partnership with W.A. Cotton, under the name of Cotton & Wolfe, which continued until 1888. For four years he served as attorney for the town of DeWitt, and was a member of the De Witt school board for fifteen years. In 1885 he was elected to the Iowa Senate, and served three sessions, resigning from his position in October, 1891, when he was appointed judge of the district court for the seventh judicial district, holding his first term of court in November of 1891. He served on the bench until September 1, 1904, when he resigned to form a partnership in the practice of law with his son. it is a unique fact that Judge Wolfe has resigned from every public office which he has held. In 1899 he was nominated for judge of the supreme court of the state of Iowa, and was defeated by a close margin. He is again a candidate in 1910. His law office was moved from De Witt to Clinton in May, 1891, and his residence was transferred in 1893. Mr. Wolfe was a member of the public library board of the city of Clinton.

Mr. Wolfe was married on May 1, 1878, to Margaret Connole, the daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Malone) Connole, who came from Ireland and located in De Witt. To this union three children were born. John L. Wolfe was born in 1879; graduated from the Clinton high school; took the classical course at St. Mary's College in Kansas, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; too a post-graduate course in Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., receiving there his Master of Arts degree, and then took the law course there and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He spent a year in the University of Berlin, Germany, and in 1904 entered into partnership with his father. He is now serving on his second term as a representative in the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. Mary Wolfe was born on June 27, 1881, and is a graduate of Sinsiniwa College of Wisconsin, and Trinity College, in Washington, D.C. One child died in infancy.

 

 

http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/kerrybios.htm

 

COSTELLO

Harlan, Edgar Rubey. A Narrative History of the People of Iowa. Vol III. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1931

p. 241

REV. JEREMIAH F. COSTELLO as a Catholic priest has done all his work in Iowa, where he is pleasantly remembered in several communities. He is now pastor of Saint Patrick's Church in Council Bluffs.

Father Costello was born in County Kerry, Ireland, October 21, 1883, seventh among the ten children of Thomas and Mary (O'Connor) Costello. Both parents were born in Ireland and his mother is still living in that country. His father, and Irish farmer and contractor, in prosperous circumstances, died in 1914, the day the great World War started. Of the children six came to the United States; Rev. William M., president of Root College of Jacksonville, Illinois; John J., a fire marshal at Chicago; Mrs. Bradley, wife of a clothing merchant at Hickman, Kentucky; Marie, wife of Daniel Martin, a hotel man at Carlinville, Illinois; Jeremiah F.; and Michael, a priest at Granite City, Illinois.

Jeremiah F. Costello was educated in Saint Michael's College at Listowel, Ireland, and finished his preparation for the priesthood in the All Hallows Seminary. He was ordained in 1910 and a first assignment of duty came from Bishop Davis of Davenport, who appointed him assistant at Saint Francis Church at Council Bluffs, where he remained until 1914. He was then appointed the first pastor of Mondamin in Harrison County, Iowa, remained there three and a half years, and from March 1, 1918, to October, 1927, was priest at Audubon, where his pastorate was marked by the building of a church and parochial residence. In 1927 he became pastor of Saint Patrick's Church at Council Bluffs, and has become a leader of a fine congregation, made up of 150 families. The parish has as substantial church, priest's residence, and is a growing religious community. Father Costello during the World war was a four-minute speaker. He is a fourth degree Knight of Columbus.

 

 

KIRBY

History of Iowa County, Iowa...by James G. Dinwiddie. Volume 2. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1915

J.F. Kirby was born in Iowa county, Iowa, October 22, 1872. His father was Patrick Kirby of County Kerry, and his mother Bridget Kirby, nee Power, of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The father came to America in 1849, and the mother in 1851. They were married in Brooklyn, New York, in 1860, and immediately went to live in Lyons, Wayne county, New York. They continued to reside in Wayne county until 1866, when they moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1867 they came to Iowa in search of good, cheap land. The family took up temporary residence in Davenport in order to give the father an opportunity to look about the state for a satisfactory location. The same year Patrick Kirby came to Iowa county and purchased a farm in Sumner township which is still owned by J.F. Kirby and his sister, Mary T. Moynihan. Two years later the family moved to this farm and made it their home until Mr. Kirby's death in 1894. Later Mrs. Kirby removed to Marengo, Iowa, where she resided until her death in 1906.

When Patrick Kirby bought his Iowa farm there was but one house between it and the then village of Marengo, a distance of eight and a quarter miles. It was among scenes like this that J.F. Kirby spent his early years. He says he can still remember sitting on the doorstep of the little prairie home in the early summer evenings listening to the dismal howling of the wolves among the hazelbrush on the prairie hills. He says his mother, to her dying day, delighted to tell of spring in early Iowa, with its green rolling prairies, its hillsides banked deep with wild flowers, and the air heavy with their stimulating fragrance.

J.F. Kirby received his early training in the public schools, supplemented by such studies as he was able to pursue between days of farm work. In the fall of 1898, after a year's preparation in the Iowa City Academy, he entered the State University of Iowa, from which he received three degrees, Ph. B., in 1902, LL. B 1904, and A.M. 1906. In 1906 he opened a law office in Williamsburg, Iowa, where he is still engaged in the practice of law. He served four years as county attorney for Iowa county, after which he decided to quit politics, except so far as a private citizen should take an active interest in the affairs of his state and country. He has a wide acquaintance over the state, and it is said of him that once he makes a friend he keeps him. Fortune has been kind to him, both financially and in his law practice. He says he appreciates most, however, the fact that he has retained, through his years of practice, his old neighbors in Iowa county as his friends and clients.

While attending the State University of Iowa, Mr. Kirby met Miss Elizabeth Schichtl of Algona, Iowa, who was also a student of the university, to whom he was married in 1910 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mrs. Kirby is of German extraction. Her father, Joseph Schichtl, was a native of the kingdom of Bavaria, and her mother, whose maiden name was Mary Fuhrmann, was born in the state of Wisconsin, but her parents came from the province of Treves (Trier) on the Moselle.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Kirby are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Kirby is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

 

 

LIMERICK BIOS

http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/limerickbios.htm

 

"From History of Scott County, Iowa 1882 Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co."

 

Thomas Moloney was born in the county of Limerick, Ireland, Dec. 24, 1813, and came to America in 1840. He landed at Kingston, Canada, and remained there until 1852, when he came to Scott County, and bought a farm of 261 acres in Winfield Township, where he now lives. He was married to Mary Slattery, on the 27th of November, 1842. She was born in Tipperary Co., Ireland, April 8, 1819, and came to the United States in 1841. Of 10 children born of this union, five are living - John J., born Oct. 27, 1844; Thomas F., June 26, 1846; Richard J., May 10, 1849; Patrick, March 16, 1852, and James, born April, 20, 1857. The children are all married except James, and have homes of their own. Mr. Moloney is a member of the Catholic church. In politics he is a Democrat. He is one of the representative farmers of his township.

 

 

TIERNEY

A History of Tama County, Iowa Vol II; Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1910.

 

Daniel Tierney owns and operates, in connection with his son, John O. Tierney, a splendidly improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in the southwest quarter of section 12, Buckingham township. Born in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1837, he was left fatherless when but six years old, his parents, Owen and Margaret (Quad) Tierney, having been farming people there. Of their family of six children, only two sons, Daniel and Timothy, are living, the latter a resident of Sedalia, Missouri and a veteran of the Civil war, in which he served four years as a member of the Twelfth New York Regiment, Company G.

Daniel Tierney in his youth received very limited educational advantages, and as a lad of sixteen he came with his mother and the remainder of her family to America, and going at once to Attica, New York, the mother established her home there, and died at the age of seventy-seven years, in 1880. In that city Daniel Tierney spent five years as an employe in a livery stable, and then coming to the West in the spring of 1862, he located in Winnebago, county, Illinois, near the city of Rockford, where he was engaged in farming until his enlistment in 1863 in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His services continued on until the close of the war, and he experienced the hardest rigors of army life, and at one time, during a mounted infantry charge, he was wounded in the foot, which rendered him slightly crippled for life. Receiving his honorable discharge in July 1865, he returned to Illinois, and three years later in 1868 came to Iowa and bought a farm in Buckingham township, while in the following spring of 1869 he brought his family to his new home. But in 1882 he sold that property and purchased the farm he now owns, which he improved in a splendid manner, and is successfully engaged in a general line of agriculture.

In the city of Rockford, Illinois, in 1865, Mr. Tierney married Miss Honora Craegen, a native also of County Limerick, Ireland, born in 1841, and a daughter of Patrick and Catherine (O'Rourke) Craegen. She was twelve years old when she came to America and to her new home at Troy, New York, where some of her brothers were then living, and later she joined another brother in Rockford, and she lived there until her marriage. This union has been blessed by the birth of eight children, but three died when young, and a daughter, Catherine, died at the age of twenty-seven years. Those living are: Margaret, the wife of James Gallogly, a merchant in Buckingham, and the mother of three sons, Daniel James, Ralph Michael, and Thomas LeRoy. Mrs. Gallogly had taught school some time before her marriage. John is at home with his parents and assists his father in the operation of his farm; Helen is also at home; and Honora is the wife of Ted Carrigan, their home being in Buckingham township, and they have two children, Francis D. and John J. Mr. Tierney is an independent political voter, and is a member of the J.G. Safley Post, No. 125, G.A.R. The religious home of the family is Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at Blessing.

 

PURCELL

Wolfe's History of Clinton County, Iowa; Vol 2; B.F. Bowen & Co; Indianaplis, Indiana: 1911

Conspicuous among the representative business men of Clinton, Iowa, is the well-known gentleman whose name introduces this biographical review. The industrious and well-regulated life he has led has gained for him not only material success, but the friendship, confidence and good-will of a vast acquaintance.

John E. Purcell is a native of Clinton, having been born here on April 5, 1866, and he is the son of James and Mary (Conner) Purcell. The father was born near Limerick, Ireland, and died in 1873,while the mother's birth occurred in Canada; she is still living. James Purcell was a contractor by occupation and he was sixteen years of age when he came to America and settled in southern Illinois. He was very successful in his line of endeavor and established a good home here. His family consisted of two sons and two daughters, John E., of this review, being the first in order of birth; the others are Charles J., an engineer on the Northwestern railroad; Mrs. Margaret Calnan and Anna.

John E. Purcell was educated in the public schools of Clinton and finished at St. Mary's school. Leaving the school room, being equipped with a good practical education, he began life for himself as clerk in the grocery store of O'Donnell & Calnan, where he remained two years, during which time he gained many valuable pointers relative to the mercantile business. He then clerked two years for the grocery firm of Hall & Pollard, then went to the store of S.C. Seaman, where he remained three years. He then went to Denver, Colorado, and clerked two years for the McNamarrah Dry Goods Company, giving his usual satisfaction. He always took more or less interest in athletics, especially outdoor sports, and he played baseball with the Denver City League, and he was a member of a brass band at Denver. He then returned to Clinton county and was later salesman in the city trade of Chicago for the Drummond Tobacco Company, later working in southern Iowa. He was a traveling salesman for twelve years in northern Illinois for Dean Brothers & Lincoln, wholesale grocers, remaining with them until they went out of business, being considered one of their most efficient and trustworthy employes. Then for two years he was in the employ of the Steele-Wedells Company of Chicago, resigning his position July 1, 1905. He then started in business for himself at Clinton, Iowa, opening a shoe store under the firm name of Henley & Purcell. One year later Mr. Purcell bought out his partner's interest, and on February 1, 1909, moved the store to No. 305 Main street, Lyons, where he still conducts the same and enjoys a very liberal patronage from the town and surrounding country, having a neat and well-kept store and carrying an up-to-date and carefully selected stock of goods.

Mr. Purcell is a member of the Knights of Columbus; in fact, he organized the lodge at Clinton, and was the first grand knight and charter member of Sterling Council, No. 662, at Sterling, Illinois. On October 2, 1902, he transferred his membership to St. Edward's Council at Clinton. Politically, he is a Democrat, but independent locally, and he is a prominent Catholic.

Mr. Purcell was married on June 19, 1895, to Louise Victoria Henle, who was born June 11, 1865, in Lyons, and is the daughter of Mathias and Theresa (Staley) Henle, a well-known and high respected family, and this union has resulted in the birth of the following children: Theresa Mary, Louise Marie, Anna, Helen (deceased), Josephine, Dorothy, Margaret Bernardine, Catherine Natalie and Mary Elizabeth.

 

 

lANE

History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa 1882... Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., 1883

Patrick Lane, farmer, P.O. Shelby, Shelby County, was born in County Limerick, Ireland, son of John and Honora (McCarty) Lane, natives of County Kerry, Ireland. John Lane was born in 1799, was a farmer by occupation and died in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1850. His wife died in New York City. They had two sons and two daughters, and of this family one son is deceased. Mr. Lane was educated in Ireland, and began life as a farmer, which occupation he followed in his native country. In 1847, he came to the United States, came to Clinton County in 1849, and the following year went to Tennessee, where he worked in the tunnel at Tunnel Hill, and while working there saved the life of a fellow workman- an act which he considers the best of his life. Returning to Iowa in 1851, he bought 320 acres of land in Clinton County at $1.25 per acre, sold one-half of the land for $6.15 per acre, invested the proceeds in stock, and succeeded well in all his undertakings. He was a foreman on the North Western Railway for some time. In 1874 he came to Pleasant Township, where in January, 1872, he had bought of J.P. Casady and Mr. Haas, of Council Bluffs, 640 acres of wild land at $6.50 per acre. He at the same time owned 200 acres in Clinton County, one of the best farms in that county, which he sold in May, 1874, for $9,500 cash, then moved to his section in this township. In 1874, he bought 830 acres of wild land at $9.50 cash per acre, and he now owns 1,550 acres of land, all clear of incumbrance, one of the finest stock or grain farms in the county. The Big Silver Creek runs through the farm, one-half of which is valley. The farm is located four and a half miles west of Avoca, and two and three-fourths south of Shelby. Mr. Lane carries on general farming, and frequently goes to Chicago to buy cattle. At Lyons, Clinton Co., Iowa, November 14, 1853, he married Mary Shannon, born in County Clare, Ireland, in March, 1832, daughter of Michael and Mary (Neylon) Shannon, natives of County Clare Ireland, he born in 1796, she in 1806. By this union they have been blessed with the following children: James, Patrick Henry, Mary, Margueretta, Katy and John (deceased). In politics Mr. Lane is a Democrat, but conservative in his views.

 

 

HENNESSY

Harlan, Edgar Rubey. A Narrative History of the People of Iowa. Vol IV. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1931

p. 236

JAMES HENNESSY, physician and surgeon at Emmetsburg, has practiced medicine there longer than any of his contemporaries. Doctor Hennessy has done his professional work well, and no citizen has a larger body of loyal and devoted friends. He is a splendid specimen of physical manhood, tall and straight, six feet, four inches high and the lines on his face indicate his kindly character and a disposition for helpfulness which has been manifested in all his work.

Doctor Hennessy was born in County Limerick, Ireland, September 24, 1875. He comes of a remarkable family, being the youngest of sixteen children of Roger and Catherine (Russell) Hennessy. His parents lived all their lives in Ireland. Dr. James Hennessy is the only representative of this family to come to America. A number of his nieces and nephews are older than himself. Five sons took up medicine as a career. The oldest son, after qualifying himself for practice, encouraged the younger brother to go to school. Roger Hennessy died when his youngest child, James, was two and a half years old.

Doctor Hennessy received his education in Queen's College of Medicine at Cork and the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians at Dublin, and after coming to America he graduated from Keokuk Medical College at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1906. For a quarter of a century he has been in practice in Palo Alto County, for a short time at Graettinger, and since then at Emmetsburg. Doctory Hennessy for the past ten years has served as county coroner He is a member of the Palo Alto County, Upper Des Moines and Iowa State Medical Associations. In politics he votes as a Republican and is a member of the Catholic Church and the Emmetsburg Council, Knights of Columbus.

He married Miss Bridie Davis, a native of Canada. They have two children, Russell, born November 14, 1904, and Catherine Louise, born February 14, 1908, graduated from State University of Iowa with A.B. degree in 1929 and is now employed in the office of Ayers Lumber Company of Iowa City.

http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/

 

KERRY

Connaught Journal

published Galway, Ireland

Monday, July 14, 1823

A young man named HANEEN, was killed at the Races of Ballyea, county Kerry, by a blow of a shovel.

Christopher JULIAN, Esq of Tullamore, County of Kerry, to Miss WREN, daughter of the late Leslie WREN, Esq of Litter.

Death; At Rockfield, County Kerry, Lieut John EAGER, half-pay, 31st Regiment.

INDEPENDENCE OF LIMERICK

Letter

Of Thomas Spring RICE to the Inhabitants of Limerick

"Gentlemen,

"I have the satisfaction to announce to you that the liberation of our City is now complete. Those Rights, to the assertion of which I have devoted the last four years of my life are now established for ever- the Legislature itself having restored you those Franchises so long and so unjustifiably withheld, and having interposed to correct these abuses, of which you had so much reason to complain. This signal act of justice secures to you and to your children, the full enjoyment of those Charters, granted to you by your Kings; and it will, I am confident, more than ever attach you to the laws and institutions of your country.

"As you have been patient in your adversity, so I am convinced you will be moderate in this hour of triumph, proving to those who have been our opponents, that we are worthy of liberty, and friends to peace and good order. Towards those opponents we cannot now feel any ill-will or personal hostility; deprived as they are of the means of injuring us or of impeding the improvement of our City, I trust many among them will be willing to join with us in the performance of our public duties. In such an event all that is past may be forgotten and forgiven; and they will then follow our example in looking up with gratitude and respect to the Legislature, which has made the Citizens of Limerick united and happy.

"One act of justice will still remain to be performed.- the Equalization of our Local Taxes; and so far from having disposition or interest to impede such a measure, suspended for the present by the delays of our opponents, I pledge myself to use my best endeavours to effect it in the next Session of Parliament.

"I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, With every feeling of gratitude, Your obliged and faithful servant."

T.Spring RICE.

DEATH OF BISHOP O"DONNELL

Died, on Friday morning last, at his house in Derry, the Right Rev. Charles O'DONNELL, D.D., Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocess of Derry, at the advanced age of 76. During thirty years that he exercised the Prelatical functions of his Bishoprick, his conduct was invariably such as to secure him the regard of all ranks and denominations. He was a man of inflexible rectitude and sterling sincerity, and his conduct well exemplified what he was in the habit of inculcating on his flock- peace with all men, loyalty to the King, and unfeigned subjection to the laws. Though a Roman Catholic from conviction, yet he was no dogmatist; the liberty of conscience which he claimed for himself, he felt no reluctance in permitting to others; his mind was so happily attempered, that there was no place in it for that bigotry which is the parent of alienation, and which shows, or passes with averted eyes, those of a different creed. In his discourse with Protestants, and this was very considerable, until the infirmities inseparable from age prevented it, he was unreserved and affable. He was a friend to all, but especially to the poor, to whose necessities he administered with a liberal hand, and it should be recorded to his praise, that his benefactions were not swayed in sectarian consideration- even beyond his means, he was always prompt to succour humanity in distress, it mattered not of what mode of faith. Eulogium on such a character is superfluous- his worth is recorded in the hearts of the Citizens of Londonderry, whose unaffected regret, while they accompanied his remains to the grave, proclaimed the esteem in which they held him. His mitre devolves to the Right Rev. Dr. M'LAUGHLIN, for many years his Coadjutor in the Episcopal office, and formerly Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocess of Raphoe.

From Friday evening till Sunday evening, the body lay in Episcopal state, dressed, according to the usage of the Roman Catholic Church, in splendid Canonicals, when it was enclosed in a mahogany coffin, superbly mounted; and yesterday morning, at eleven o'clock, it was removed for interment, accompanied by an immense assemblage.--Derry Journal.

COUNTY LIMERICK

We read in the Limerick papers, the account of only one outrage, near

Askeaton, the particulars of which are not worth stating.

 

Connaught Journal

published Galway, Ireland

Monday, July 14, 1823

FLAGITIOUS OCCURRENCE

Several highly respectable Magistrates of this County met on Tuesday last, in Loughrea, for the purpose of investigating the conduct of a Roman Catholic Clergyman, who had been charged by a woman named Margaret CORCORAN, with the crime of adultery, and proposing to her to destroy the infant, of which the Rev. Gentleman was the parent. The Clergyman is the Rev. Denis O'CALLAGHAN, P.P. of Kiltormer. Margaret CORCORAN swore to the above facts before Walter LAURENCE, esq. of Belview, J.P. and in the course of a very few days afterwards went before another Magistrate, Thomas Dillon HEARN, of Hearnsbrook, Esq, wth another affidavit of an opposite tendency, stating, in strong and direct terms, that what she had previously sworn to was not the truth, and that she was instigated to the crimination of the Clergyman by a Police Officer. Let it be understood the Clergyman had no communication with this unfortunate woman at the time intervening between the affidavits, nor any persons on his behalf or with his knowledge, consent or authority. However, the Magistrates met, investigated the matter, and came to the following determination:-

"We, the undersigned Magistrates, having taken into consideration certain charges made by Margaret CORCORAN against the Rev. Mr. O'CALLAGHAN, and Mr. WATERS, officer of Police, and finding the said Margaret CORCORAN has sworn in positive and direct contradiction before two Magistrates of this County, we consider her testimony utterly unworthy of belief as affecting the conduct or character of either of the Gentlemen she has thus sworn against; and we are further of opinion as this woman's conduct is to be investigated at next Assizes, that any further proceedings on our part is at present unadvisable.

Signed on behalf of the Magistrates, J. BURKE, Bart. Chairman.

Loughrea, July 9, 1823"

The Magistrates present were- Sir John BURKE, Bart. Marble-hill; Colonel M'DERMOTT, Ramore; Walter LAWRENCE, Belview; Thomas Dillon HEARN, of Hearns-brook; Thos. SEYMOUR, Bellimore; Thomas S. EYRE, Eyresville; and Thomas D'ARCY, Chief Magistrate of Police, Esqrs.- The Prosecutrix, Margaret CORCORAN, has been committed to our County Prison, to stand her trial at the next Assizes for perjury. We regret extremely that that circumstance presents us from dwelling as we could wish upon this infamous transaction; but if it shall appear in evidence, that this woman- this unfortunate deluded woman, has been an instrument in the hand of the Police Officer to mar the character of this respectable Clergyman with his flock, and to place a halter around his neck- we say, if such doings as these are not checked in the commencement, and torn up by the roots, it will be scarcely possible to live in the country. The more exemplary, the more moral, and the more religious the Clergyman is the sooner will he be marked out by those who make a profession of calumny, and thrive on the destruction of character and reputation. It is not the degenerate outcast from the Church that will be held up to public reprobation. Oh!, no; his influence can be but trifling. Deprived of those functions which are attached to the clerical character, his weight with the community cannot be shaken because he dos not possess any. It is the Divine alone who gives his unpaid exertions to the "cure of souls," who seems to "live, move and have his being" merely for the discharge of his sacred duties, that is the target for those little scarecrow marksmen. Indeed, we have never seen the Reverent Mr. O'CALLAGHAN, but we have heard of him. We have heard of the intense anxiety which his case created in the Town of Loughrea, and in the neighbourhood; and, indeed, we are not surprised that the anxiety should be intense, when the well-earned character of so amiable and exemplary a Clergyman was sought to be made a victim to a premeditated perjury and a deep-laid conspiracy. The Reverend Gentleman burning with a desire for an immediate and public investigation, addressed the two following notes to the Magistrates:-

Loughrea, One o'Clock

GENTLEMEN- As my character is the subject of this day's Meeting of the Magistrates, I beg the investigation may be a public one. I am ready with my witnesses to attend as soon as you shall think proper, and I shall be entirely guided by you. I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your obedient Servant,

Denis O'CALLAGHAN

Loughrea, Three o'Clock

GENTLEMEN- I think it but fair that as my character has been publicly injured, the investigation should be public. Gentlemen, your obedient Servant,

Denis O'CALLAGHAN

The Magistrates, however, could not grant the request and Mr. O'CALLAGHAN sent us the following Note. The Assizes approaches fast. We shall keep a close eye on this really important trial. Something may come out; and Mr. O'CALLAGHAN and the public may depend that we shall do our duty:-

 

Marriage Scott County Iowa Genealogy

7006 Kennelly, Michael J. Wiley, Mary K. Oct 12 Oct1885

A. J.Schulte, C. P. Witness: H. L. Tiler

 

 

Waterloo Daily Courier; Waterloo, Black Hawk, Iowa; October 2, 1947

Priest Home Following Trip to Ireland

Rev. Father Daniel O'Sullivan of Decorah, who went to Ireland in early July to visit at his parental home in County Kerry, has returned to his pastorate at St. Benedict's Catholic church here. It was his first home visit in 11 years.

JOHN FERRIS1772-1892 Iowa headstones.

Parish Ardfert, County Kerry, Ireland

Flag bearer, Battle of Vinegar Hill,

Irish Rebellion 1798

Came to Garryowen 1839

with price on his head for his part

in Irish Rebellion against England

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/10/18/boyhood-is-not-a-mental-illnes

 

Boyhood Is Not a Mental Illness

By Marta H. Mossburg on 10.18.13 @ 6:05AM

Suspended for chewing a Pop-Tart into a gun?

All the employees of school districts on a witch hunt to expel and otherwise permanently punish young boys for shooting toy guns or forming their fists into the shape of a gun need to read Back to Normal.

The purpose of psychologist Enrico Gnaulati’s 2013 book is to argue how ordinary childhood behavior is often misdiagnosed as ADD, ADHD, depression and autism — frequently with life-long, disturbing consequences. But along the way he raises the taboo question of whether we “label boys as mentally unstable, behaviorally unmanageable, academically underachieving, in need of special-education services, or displaying behavior warranting school suspension just because their behavior deviates noticeably from that of the average girl?”

He adds, “In a sense, girl behavior has become the standard by which we judge all kids.”

He cites numerous studies showing that typical boy behavior – wrestling, rough games of tag, good guy/bad guy imaginative play that involves “shooting” — are condemned by preschool and elementary school teachers, the vast majority of whom are women, without the behavior being redirected appropriately to release boys’ “natural aggression.” Boys who play in the way noted above are not on a path to mass murder, contrary to what zero tolerance school policies suggest. For the vast majority of them, they are simply on the path to manhood. I wonder how many of us who recognize that truth still stifle our boys’ rough play or cowboy shoot outs out of fear of the new rules – reinforcing the capriciousness of regulations in young minds who will one day asked to make them.

Without changes to rigid policies and attitudes about what constitutes good behavior, we will be on a path as a society to generating mass confusion and depression in boys whose natural tendencies are being relabeled as criminal traits or medical problems that need to be treated.

This is not just an existential threat. As unorthodox feminist Camille Paglia said recently in remarks at American University:

Extravaganzas of gender experimentation sometimes precede cultural collapse, as they certainly did in Weimar Germany. Like late Rome, America too is an empire distracted by games and leisure pursuits. Now as then, there are forces aligning outside the borders, scattered fanatical hordes where the cult of heroic masculinity still has tremendous force. I close with this question: is a nation whose elite education is increasingly predicated on the neutralization of gender prepared to defend itself against that growing challenge?

If that sounds crazy, is it wrong to worry how the massive increase in the number of children taking anti-depressants and other drugs as a result of skyrocketing diagnoses of ADHD, bipolar disorder and autism spectrum disorder will impact their lives?

Many drugs used to treat the above disorders cause serious problems, including mood swings, sleeplessness, weight gain, weight loss and slower growth. And then there is the long-term impact of a mental health diagnosis, which can create a sense that the child is not in control of his actions because it is purely a chemical imbalance in the brain.

As Gnaulati writes, however, in many cases it’s “causes — plural, not singular — that explain why a child behaves the way he or she does.”

“On any number of occasions in my practice over the years,” he writes, “I have seen how a mildly depressed or ADHD-like kid can be transformed by a change of teacher, a change of school, signing up for a sport, a reduced homework load, a summer abroad, a front-of-the-class seating arrangement, a month living away from home with an even-tempered aunt, or any of a host of other everyday steps.”

Many forces conspire to push a mental health diagnosis, from rules on health insurance to schools achieving certain goals under federal No Child Left Behind law. Gnaulati’s book should give parents struggling with a difficult child hope that their child may not be permanently mentally ill, but going through a difficult stage that can be treated without medication. And it should give school administrators perspective on how best to handle unruly boys and channel their energy without condemning their nature. At the very least, we don’t need any more boys suspended for chewing a Pop-Tart into a gun.

 

Jerry was born on April 2, 1921 and passed away on Friday, August 9, 2013.

 

Jerry Mulvihill who emigrated to the United States in 1948 and moved to Kings Park, NY in 1969 was 92 when he died August 2013.

 

Legendary Irish Dance Master and longtime Kings Park resident Jerry Mulvihill, has passed away. According to family friend, Debbie Lynch-webber, Jerry died peacefully in his sleep while in the company of family members.

 

Jerry was born in 1921 in Moyvane, County Kerry. He took his first steps in Irish dancing at the age of four from dance master, Joe Enright. He later took lessons from the famous Kerry dancer, Jerry Molyneaux. In 1948, At age 17 he won the Irish national championship in stepdancing. Jerry emigrated to the United States where he settled in New York City and then in 1969 to Kings Park, LI. . his brother persuaded him to stay in New York.

 

Jerry has taught youngsters of all ages including Donny Golden, who taught Jean Butler of Riverdance fame. Like other master stepdancers Jerry prefers "the old style. If you don't have that you have nothing." He also holds prizes from hundreds of national and international competitions. He has performed at hundreds of competitions, and before noted persons such as Robert Moses. Jerry estimates that he has taught thousands of students through the years, including his partner Debbie Lynch of Centereach.

Jerry can be accredited to teaching thousands of dancers throughout his years, many of them champions. A number of his pupils have gone on to become teachers themselves. Some well known teachers include Debbie Lynch-Webber, Kenny Verlin (RIP), Donny Golden, Cathy Spencer-Revis, Helaine Sanders, Peggy Moriarity-White, Patty Moriarty, Kerry Kelly, Brian Sexton, Lisa and Karen Petri, Donald Hunt, just to name a few.

 

EDITED JERRY Mulvihill

 

Jerry Mulvihill who emigrated to the United States in 1948 and moved to Kings Park in 1969 was 92 when he died 9th August 2013.

 

Irish Dance Master and long time Kings Park resident Jerry Mulvihill, has passed away. was 92 when he died 9th August 2013.

 

Jerry was born in 1921 in Moyvane, County Kerry. He took his first steps in Irish dancing at the age of four from dance master, Joe Enright. He later took lessons from the famous Kerry dancer, Jerry Molyneaux. In 1948, At age 17 he won the Irish national championship in stepdancing. Jerry emigrated to the United States where he settled in New York City and then in 1969 to Kings Park, LI. . his brother persuaded him to stay in New York.

Jerry is survived by his sister Liza age 98 who now resides at St Ita’s and was predeceased by siblings Mick, William, Paddy, Martin, Mary, Lena and Hannie, they were First Cousin to the great musician Martin Mulvihill of Glin. Funeral mass was held at St. Joseph RC Church on Church Street in Kings Park.

 

Jerry has taught youngsters of all ages including Donny Golden, who taught Jean Butler of Riverdance fame. Like other master stepdancers Jerry prefers "the old style. If you don't have that you have nothing." He also holds prizes from hundreds of national and international competitions. He has performed at hundreds of competitions, and before noted persons such as Robert Moses.

Jerry taught thousands of dancers throughout his years, many of them champions. Some well known teachers include Debbie Lynch-Webber, Kenny Verlin (RIP), Donny Golden, Cathy Spencer-Revis, Helaine Sanders, Peggy Moriarity-White, Patty Moriarty, Kerry Kelly, Brian Sexton, Lisa and Karen Petri, Donald Hunt, just to name a few.

 

 

 

Martin Mulvihill (born in Ballygoughlin, County Limerick, Ireland in 1919; died 21 July 1987) was an Irish traditional musician, composer, teacher, and author. He composed roughly 25 tunes in the Irish traditional style. Although his mother played the fiddle, Martin, the youngest of her ten children, was the only one to become a musician. He began his study of music at the age of nine. From a violin player in the neighboring town of Glin, he learned the rudiments of the fiddle and how to read and write music; from his mother he learned the Irish traditional style. His early repertoire was learned both from written sources such as Roche, Ker, and O’Neill's 1001, and from local musicians. In 1951 he emigrated to Northampton, England; there he married Olive McEvoy from County Offaly, with whom he had his four children, Brendan, Brian, Gail, and Dawn. Mulvihill continued playing music during this time, expanding his skills to include button accordion and piano accordion. The latter became his main instrument for several years. In 1965 the Mulvihill family relocated to New York City. He began teaching music lessons part-time, but as his reputation grew this quickly became his full-time ( Wikipedia article )

 

Gerald of Wales on The Geraldines

by Gerald O'Carroll

Raymond le Gros as shown in a 13th century manuscript of the Expugnatio Hibernica by Giraldus de Barri (Gerald of Wales) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gerald de Barry, aka Gerald of Wales aka Giraldus Cambrensis, the narrator of the Irish invasion, was himself a Geraldine and evidently very proud of his conquering race. In his Expugnatio Hibernica he wrote the following:

"What a breed, what a noble stock which unaided would have been equal to the conquest of any kingdom, had not envy, begrudging their great valour, descended from on high into the depths..."

Freeman, the English nineteenth-century medievalist wrote: "The indomitable vigour of the Scandinavian joined to the buoyant vivacity of the Gaul produced the conquering, ruling, race of Europe. And yet that race as a race has vanished. It has everywhere been absorbed by the races it conquered. The Scottish Bruce or the Irish Geraldine passed from Scandinavia to Gaul, from Gaul to England, from England to his own portion of our islands, but at each migration he ceased to be Scandinavian, French, or English, his patriotism was in each case transferred to his new country and his historic being belongs wholly to his last acquired home."

 

 

St Beuno’s Church North Wales. Clynnog Fawr.

http://www.the-e-site.com/clynnog.htm

 

 

Census Ballylongford

http://www.the-e-site.com/irish/KERRY/Census/1901-census-aghavallen-parish.html

 

http://www.the-e-site.com/irish/CLARE/Census/Ballyvaghan%20Union/1901-census-of-clare---lisdoonvarna.html

 

 

 

HUDSON REUNION

http://s141.photobucket.com/user/tlp1994/media/Family/HUDSON.jpg.html?sort=3&o=6

 

 

Emancipation signatures

 

http://lurgan-ancestry.co.uk/index.php/petition-in-favour-of-catholic-emancipation-1812/

 

 

Workhouse sick child McCann

http://lurgan-ancestry.co.uk/index.php/newspaper-articles/charges-against-lurgan-workhouse-nurses-1900/

 

 

http://gleasureharberletters.blogspot.ie/search/label/Doctor%20O%27Connor

 

September 6, 1911

From: May Gleasure, The Square, Listowel

To: Frank Gleasure, 437 Cambridge Street Allston, Mass. U.S.A.

 

Dear Frank,

 

A few lines hoping they will find you in good health, we were in a very bad state here for the last week, since the 28 August, father was under an operation on the 29th. the fillum of the bowls was coming out. On the night of the 28th he felt it coming on him about 12 oclock before he went to bed. He went to bed anyway and never raised any alarm and it got fearful bad with him in such a way that the doctor told him that it was a miracle or the will of God that he did not die although George was in the same bed with him he never said what was wrong with him for he used to get it before but he was able to put it back himself. About 7.30 next morning I went into him and asked him what was wrong and he told me he had great pains and that he was done for and was going to leave us, you may be sure that he frightened me. I said that I would go out for the doctor and he would by no chance leave me. I delayed about an hour and went out of my own accord & brought him in. and he saw it once that it was a very serious case. he went and got another doctor and my father had to force him to operate on him. they did it anyway and it has turned out successful so far, the fillum was 4 times its natural size and about the length of your finger of black diseased part, if it swelled the least bit more that it would burst. He was the strongest man that they ever came across to say that he did not die and the way he was in the night before. We have got a lovely doctor attending him his name is OConnor. he come's in 4 or 5 times in the day and he would not let one of us do any thing to help him only does it all himself. only the way he is attending him we should have got a nurse, we sent out for my grand mother for we have to stop up with him every night since and can't leave him for a minute by day. I think he will pronunce him out of danger tonight he is splendid now, the wound is all healed up almost. And he is taking lots of good nourishment but of course no solid food. For the doctor is trying to get the bowls to move first. Nobody is allowed to see him only Adam and a few more near relations like him. I was full sure that we would have to be sending for you when I saw the way he was. Hoping you will write as soon as you get this I remain Your loving Sister M.G.

Posted by Ben at 9:00 AM 1 comment:

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That probably was Dr. Michael O' Connor who had a house in the Square at the time.

 

Dr. O Connor was interned in Ballykinlar, Co. Down in 1920.

 

 

 

 

 

http://gleasureharberletters.blogspot.ie/search/label/Eva%20Cuthbertson

 

 

Monday, July 2, 2012

April 8, 1908

From: May Gleasure, The Square, Listowel

To: Frank Gleasure, 34 Hichborn Street, Brighton, Mass. U.S.A.

My dear Frank

 

We received your two letters last Tuesday and was very glad to hear from you. We are having some fine weather now for the last week. I must have forgot to mention the money which you sent to Annie and I, we got it all right and was very thankful to you for it. Annie did not get any letters from S. Natick yet. Paddy Connor is going to live down at Gentleman's lodge now untill he gets a more sutiable house, he brought his wife home We are expecting her into town today this is a horse fair day in the town. Annie did not get her sticky back taken the man went away sooner than she expected. I am sending you one of mine, the girl that is along with me is Eva Cuthbertson she is my only companion.

 

The measels are raging in the towns and country now now, there are any amount dying form them, all the schools are shut up in towns and country alto ours. The whole lot of Adam's children got them but they are rid of them now. I saw by the papers that there was forty people died from them in Tralee during the last three weeks.

 

Did you get the P.C. which I sent you by post, do not forget to send the books which you promised us. I will send those long promised papers this week for sure. Will you try and get our Sticky backs enlarged and send us one of them. Dick McCarthy is giving up business in Listowel he is having a cheap sale father was down there yesterday and Dick carried him out to the stores and when he came he told us that he couldn't sell out the things that are there for the next 3 months, there are some of them things there for the last 15 years or more. We are all quite well at home here I hope you are the same way. There are two girls from convent street going to America this morning I expect they are halfway to Tralee by this. I will close now as I have no more to say. Hoping you will write soon again

 

I remain

Your loving sister

May

 

Excuse this scribbling as I am in a hurry for school.

 

 

 

http://gleasureharberletters.blogspot.ie/search/label/Dan%20Moloney

 

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

August 27, 1907

From: Annie Gleasure, Square, Listowel, Co. Kerry, Ire.

To: Joseph Gleasure, 28 Herrick St., Brighton, Mass. U.S.A.

 

My Dear Joe--

 

I think I must write to you today for if I let it go any longer it's unknown when you would get a letter. We are all well here and getting on the same as usual. We have bid goodbye to our summer here, if summer it could be called; the weather now is fine but rather frosty and chilly.

 

We spent a most enjoyable day in the country at Carrolls last Sunday and we went down to Finuge river in the evening and got some old chap (I don't know who he was) to buy us some apples. The orchard is quite close to the river. Awfully nice jolly place out there. Henry Carroll surprised them all by coming home about a month ago and he never sent them notice that he was coming. The reason he came was that he was in hospital for three months before he came over with a bad cold, so he thought that his native air would do him go and so he came. He was frightfully thing, just like a skeleton but he is getting over it now.

 

The old folks from Tullig were in only once since you went: they are quite well over there: the old man says it's his last time coming but he always says that. I expect he will be in for the races which will be in six weeks time from today just.

 

Tom and Pat Dillon were home for the last month; Ned couldn't come on account of that stricke in Belfast, I suppose you saw something about it in the papers we sent you. Paul will be going away soon again; he is just the same as when you were here. By the way I meant to tell you about a fearful fight in my last letter but I forgot about it when I was writing. It happened in this way; on the first of June Denis Kelly was here with a Miss Lyons and he wanted May to play on the organ for them and she wouldn't, so we both hid up in the loft and there were stayed until after seven oclock and we wouldn't by any chance come down. Well any way we were wishing they would go away for it was on a saturday and we were very busy and they went out in the shop about half past seven and then the fight occured.

 

Old Denny Keane Dan Moloney Paddy and Paddy Keefe were in the shop: Kelly called for a drink before starting for home and with out any warning went over and gave Denny Keane a chuck under the chin, (they were arguing before this) any way they all made at Kelly and such a row you never saw. Kelly had some Finuge fellows in for a drink with him and when they see him getting the worst of it they ran off and left him fight it out himself. The pater and Mrs. Kelly separated them after a bit; and such a state as he was in. His head was nearly cut open and his face was all cut he was covered with blood. It was found out afterwards that a weight and a knife were used. Dr Lane was sent for and he said he wouldn't have anything to do with it so Dr Clansy came over and dressed the wounds and he had to come over again after ten oclock to dress them. He was so weak they thought he would die and they sent for the priest. Well they brought him into the kitchen at nine oclock and the police were pottering about and then he was taken to the hospital, he was hardly able to stand. He was in hospital for a fortnight raving with fever. The case went to court then but was adjurned three times and has to go before the barrister in November. It wasn't put in the papers at all so we couldn't see how they got on. The Moloneys etc. were let out on bail.

 

We got your papers letters and post card allright. I suppose you must have your teeth in by now. We spoke to the pater about ours and of course it was no use. Tom Buckley came back again three or four weeks ago. He says he earned a lot of money playing the violin in some concert or other and that he didn't care to stay longer. Jack and Jerry Larkin went over last week to New York. You must have had a gay time during Old Home Week. What work is Myra Smith at? Have you been out to South Natick lately? When you do tell us all about the folks out there, and if the school, hotel etc. are the same.

 

May didn't enjoy the holidays a bit she had to stick to the shop while the pater was doing up the top rooms. We're to move the beds up there shortly. Oh indeed she is sick of it now.

 

Tim O'hearn was asking for you on the day of the sports, he didn't know you were gone over.

 

My notepaper is about filled up so I must close now, I am writing this at 10.30 P.M. so you must excuse the scribbling. I am going to write to Frank in the morning. I remain very affectionately yours, Annie

Posted by Kathleen Scarlett O'Hara Naylor at 9:00 AM No comments:

 

 

Life in a minute:

http://blog.adw.org/2013/09/seventy-years-in-a-minute-and-a-half-as-seen-on-t-v/

 

Baby Laugh.

http://theweek.com/article/index/250325/this-video-of-a-baby-sleep-laughing-will-make-your-friday

 

 

Apple sickness

http://theweek.com/article/index/250326/ios-7-motion-sickness-can-the-iphones-new-operating-system-make-you-nauseous#

 

 

St Ita;

http://youtu.be/LZJIzA9qH7g

 

Nice singing;

http://youtu.be/FhnICHUTW5w

 

Hymn;

http://youtu.be/7Ql_9k4-ygo

 

 

Listowel Races

http://youtu.be/D0ZhiLJ5KJw

 

 

Listowel Races Sept. http://youtu.be/EFURAZncmDQ

 

NPA

http://www.npa.ie/ploughing/history-of-the-npa-championships/

 

Two men who lived very close to the hard core of Irish politics, the late J.J. Bergin, from Athy, a progressive farmer and Civil Engineer, and farmer Denis Allen of Gorey, sought the relief of just such a safety valve. They debated which county had the best ploughmen, Kildare or Wexford. Interest was generated at once. Local ploughing matches and challenges were common and had probably existed in one form or another since the first horse, plough, or race in Ireland but the idea of an Inter County Ploughing Contest had never arisen.

The debate resulted in the inevitable challenge. The pick of the ploughmen in Kildare would meet the pick of the ploughmen in Wexford in a field combat. The competition would take place at a time when it was widely believed that the plough was Ireland’s only redemption. The excitement of the prospect made the two men contact tillage farmers in other counties, and on the 16th February, 1931 nine counties met in competition on the “plains of Kildare”, Coursetown, Athy – the same venue of the 2011 National Ploughing Championships.

 

 

1939 – 8TH FEBRUARY – KILLARNEY, CO. KERRY

Accommodated cost between 4 pounds and 6 shillings and 9 pounds. Special coats were worn by Team Managers for identification. World War 2 erupted in September of that year but despite this the National Ploughing Championships continued without a break throughout the war years but the competitions were divided between two venues.

 

1954 – KILLARNEY

In this event 25 competitors out of 44 lost their furrow mark for exceeding the time limit. The 12 best competitors were selected to plough in a Test Match to select two to represent Ireland in the World Ploughing Contest to be held in Killarney in October 1954. The Test Match was held on 27th February, 1954 and the winners were William Murphy, Dublin and Ronald Sheane, Wicklow. Ronald Sheane from Togher, Kilbride, Co Wicklow was selected on merit to represent Ireland at the Worlds Ploughing Championships at Killarney in October 1954.

The National Championships was very much a men only affair. JJ Bergin proposed a “Farmerette” class for girls, single, married or widowed without reference to age, the winner to be known as the “Queen of the Plough”. Women now compete in the ploughing matches. Competing in 1954 were: Miss Louth, Annette Blair, Jean Emily Burns, Mary McGrath, Cecila Dunne, Miss B Lawless and Eliz Mac Elligotte.

 

1952 Establishment of the WPO

J.J. Bergin was a man with tremendous foresight, and in 1952 he ensured that the Republic of Ireland would be part of the inception of the World Ploughing Organisation. He attended the first meetings and for his contribution was appointed as Vice President. The first World Contest was hosted by Canada in 1953, and the second here in Kerry in 1954. Killarney, Ireland was the first European venue and 10 countries competed. The Cairn of Peace was originally introduced at the first world ploughing championships in 1952. The theme then “Let Peace Cultivate the Land”. The Cairn incorporates stones from each participating country. Each country send a piece of stone inscribed in their native language for inclusion in the Cairn. It represents the ethos of peace between all nations for the duration of the sporting competition.

 

 

 

Historical Chronology of the Dublin Institute of Technology (a .pdf file)

Technical School, Rutland Square

In 1905 12 Rutland (later Parnell) Square was acquired by the TEC and 18

Rutland Square was acquired in 1912. This latter site became for some 50

years a centre for commercial education and the teaching of domestic

economy, mainly at the second level. Courses offered in the early years

included book-keeping, accountancy, business methods, economics, com-

mercia! correspondence, commercial arithmetic, commercial geography,

shorthand, typewritil;lg and retail grocery. Over the following years courses

in Irish, French, German, health and life insurance, actuarial work and

commercial law were added.

In 1915 the school of commerce in the Rutland Square school introduced

a scheme to draw employers into the technical education system so

as to provide a wider range of employment opportunities to students. With

the involvement of employers in course design and work placement, day

courses, initially for boys but later in the 1920s for girls as well, were

developed in business methods and in shirt and clothing manufacture.

 

 

 

Michael Collins bike

by Donal O’Regan

 

The original 1919 Rudge Whitworth deluxe double bar bicycle was found only a few weeks ago by Marty Mannering of GoEco.

Marty and his team spent seven months looking for the custom made bicycle which has two crossbars.

“We started in Clonakilty in the Michael Collins Museum but they didn’t know where it was,” said Marty.

The sleuth then interviewed a number of people including Michael Collins’ grand-niece Mary Bannotti.

“I was told as far as the museum was aware that a priest had the bike in Clonakilty. He was the last known person to have it.

“We went down the line of trying to establish who this priest was and this led us to the person who now owns the bike,” said Marty.

They wish to remain anonymous but they kept the bike in immaculate condition, says Marty.

“His family, the Michael Collins Museum, and Rudge Whitworth, are all happy it is the original bike. It matches all photographic evidence and we haven’t had anyone contradict us,” said Marty.

Marty got a loan of it for a month and is certainly making the most of it. He displayed it at the Elemental festival in Limerick and at the Doon Vintage Show where it drew interested crowds at the piece of history in their midst.

 

Mary Bannotti was delighted that the bike has been found and thinks it’s a nice idea to bring the bike around the country.

“It was a very efficient way for him [Michael Collins] to get around

I think, for him, being anonymous and unrecognisable was vital. The bicycle, ironically, turned out to be the safest form of transport. The high nelly was the bike of choice at the time,” said the former MEP.

The next stop on the bike’s tour is The Quiet Man festival in October in Mayo.

“We’re looking for the tandem used by Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne in The Quiet Man. We hope to use it as part of an educational tour of schools and for a documentary we are filming at the moment,” said Marty.

Continuing the movie theme, they were asked to build and provide over 30 high nellys for a new film called Jimmy’s Hall.

Ken Loach directs the film about Irish socialist Jim Gralton and the hall he used as a political rallying point in 1932.

As GoEco restore and refurbish high nelly parts and sell them all over the world they were able to help the company out and look forward to seeing the bikes restored in County Limerick on the big screen next year.

 

 

 

 

Vatican City, Sep 27, 2013 / 06:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his daily homily Pope Francis reflected on the nature of what it means to be a Christian, saying that an authentic follower of Christ is able to endure difficulties with a positive attitude.

 

The Pope imparted his message to those gathered in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse for his daily Mass on Sept. 27.

 

Stressing the need and importance of sacrifice in the Christian’s life of faith, the Pope began his homily by reflecting on the Gospel reading from St. Luke where Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is.

 

Pope Francis recounted how it was after this question that Peter replies with his declaration that Jesus is the Christ, but that once Jesus warns of his upcoming passion and death, “Peter was frightened and scandalized.”

 

This attitude, said the pontiff, is “just like many Christians” who declare that “this will never happen to you, I will follow you up to this point.”

 

“This is the temptation of a spiritual wellbeing.”

 

 

 

Just like the rich young man from the gospel, “who wanted to follow Jesus but only up to a certain point,” the Pope explained that “the scandal of the Cross continues to block many Christians” who complain about the wrongdoings and insults they suffer, rather than following the way of the cross.

 

“The proof if somebody is a true Christian is his or her ability to endure humiliations with joy and patience.”

 

Concluding his homily, the Holy Father emphasized that it is our own choice “whether to be a Christian of well-being or a Christian close to Jesus,” who walks with him along the path of the cross.

Tags: Pope Francis, Daily Mass

 

 

By Cronan Scanlon

 

 

IRELAND’S oldest photographic agency celebrates a unique birthday this year, a century after it was founded by an ‘orphan’ from Rathmullan.

Daniel (Dan) MacMonagle founded his photographic company in Killarney, County Kerry in 1913 along with Killarney Printing Works, and later, ‘The Kingdom’ newspaper.

Born in Philadelphia, USA, in 1883 of Donegal emigrant parents, he was ‘orphaned’ at the age of three when his father, also Dan, passed away.

It is believed his mother, Roseanne, could not afford to raise him on her own, so she sent him on the boat back to Ireland along with another family member to be reared in her home town of Rathmullan.

- See more at: http://donegalnews.com/2013/04/donegal-link-to-famous-kerry-family/#sthash.zIrsw21W.dpuf

 

 

 

The new Listowel Union workhouse was erected on a six-acre site half a mile to the west of Listowel at the north side of Quill Street. The building and operation of a workhouse had to be financed by the ratepayers of each union and in many places was seen as an intolerable imposition from England and its officials. It took until 7th February 1844 to raise the first poor rate in Listowel, with the workhouse being declared fit for the reception of paupers on 17th August 1844, and not receiving its first admissions until 13th February 1845.

 

Designed by the Poor Law Commissioners' architect George Wilkinson, the building was based on one of his standard plans to accommodate 700 inmates. Its construction cost £5,980 plus £1,276 for fittings

Divisions; Abbeydorney, Ardfert, Ballyheigue, Ballylongford (2), Drumkeen (2), Duagh, Gunsborough, Kilconly, Kilfeighny, Kilflyn, Killahan, Killahinny, Kilmoily (2), Kilshinane, Kiltomy, Knockanure, Lissleton, Listowel (3), Newtownsands, Rattoo, Tarbert (2).

 

KERRY

 

Parish Names in County Kerry The parish is an important subdivision of the county. Parish records can be vital to research in the county. The following modern parishes are listed as in Kerry in this work: Aghadoe, Aghavallen, Aglish, Annagh, Ardfert, Ballincuslane, Ballinvoher, Ballyconry, Ballyduff, Ballyheige, Ballymacelligott, Ballynacourty, Ballynahaglish, Ballyseedy, Brosna, Caher, Castleisland, Cloghane, Clogherbrien, Currans, Dingle, Dromod, Duagh, Dunquin, Dunurlin, Dysert, Fenit, Finuge, Galey, Garfinny, Glanbehy, Kenmare, Kilbonane, Kilcaragh, Kilcaskan, Kilcolman, Kilconly, Kilcredane, Kilcrohane, Kilcummin, Kildrum, Kilfeighny, Kilflyn, Kilgarrylander, Kilgarvan, Kilgobban, Killaha, Killahan, Killarney, Killeentierna, Killehenny, Killemlagh, Killinane, Killiney, Killorglin, Killury, Kilmalkedar, Kilmoyly, Kilnanare, Kilnaughtin, Kilquane, Kilshenane, Kiltallagh, Kiltomy, Kinard, Knockanure, Knocknane, Lisselton, Listowel, Marhin, Minard, Molahiffe, Murher, Nohaval, Nohavaldaly, O'Brennan, O'Dorney, Prior, Ratass, Rattoo, Stradbally, Templenoe, Tralee, Tuosist, Valencia, and Ventry

 

Book on Kerry

http://books.google.ie/books/p/3123296067943190?q=knockanure&hl=en_US&vid=9780940134362&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=knockanure&f=false

 

 

 

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRL-KERRY/2000-12/0975985841

 

O'CONNOR, Winifred (LYONS); 91; Knocknagoshel Co Kerry IRL>Bronx NY;

Journal N; 2000-6-1

OLIVER, Honora Noreen (WOULFE); 85; Listowell Co Kerry IRL>BC; Province;

2000-5-16

O'SULLIVAN, Nellie (MAHONEY); 96; IL>Listowel Co Kerry IRL; Chicago T

(IL); 1997-8-17

 

STACK, Edmond C; ; Co Kerry IRL>Forest Hills NY; Newsday; 1999-7-13

 

Kerry People;

 

 

Listowel boasts a fine sportsfield named after Frank Sheehy

 

 

SHEEHY

Who was Frank Sheehy?

The question is answered by Vincent Carmody

 

Frank was born in 1905 to John J.(b 1870) and Annie Sheehy.(b 1874) His father served as a drapery assistant in the Listowel and his mother was a native of Tipperary. Frank was the youngest of 4 children, with a brother John (b 1898), Margaret(b 1899) and Ellen ( b 1901).

 

He received his primary education at the Boys' National School, only 3 doors up the street from his home,. After this he attended St Michael’s College where he was a classmate of Seamus Wilmot among others.

Having achieved an M.A. at University College Dublin he then applied for and was accepted to attend at St. Patrick's Training College 1932-1934 to complete his studies to become a National Teacher. Among his colleagues at this time was the redoubtable Sean O Síocháin, later to become a long time General Secretary to the Gaelic Athletic Association. OSíocháin, in a tribute to Frank in 1981 wrote, ‘I first made his acquaintance in 1932/1934 as a student teacher in the Primary School attached to St. Patrick’s Teacher Training College, in Drumcondra, Dublin, where Frank had established himself as one of the great primary teachers of his time. In the following years, through the thirties and into the forties, we worked in after-school hours for the Comhar Dramaíochta, in the production and promotion of plays in Irish, he as runaí and I as a junior actor and sometimes Bainisteoir Stáitse. His high efficiency, his drive and his sense of humour streamlined many a situation for amateur actors which, otherwise might have been chaotic. During the forties, as Principal of an Endowed Primary School in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, gave him a distinction enjoyed by few in Primary Education, while his period in that part of Co. Meath, which coincided with that of the incomparable Paul Russell as Garda Sergeant, transformed the town and the district into a mini-Kingdom all their own’.

 

He returned to his native town in the early 1950s and quickly immersed himself in the local club and county GAA scene. He became Chairman of the county board in 1953 and many would say that he indeed was the spark that ignited the Kerry Senior team to regain the Sam Maguire, the first since 1946. That year he also organised the golden jubilee of the county’s first All Ireland success in 1953 and he was also instrumental in initiating the scheme that allowed Kerry All Ireland medal holders the right to apply for two tickets whenever the county reached the final.

 

He was appointed as principal of the senior boys’ school on his return to Listowel, a position he held until 1960. He served as Munster Council President from 1956-1958 and was narrowly beaten for the Presidency of the GAA by Dr.J.J.Stuart.

 

 

In 1961 he went to Nigeria, Africa, to take up a position of Professor of Educational Science at a training college in Asaba. He died there in 1962.

Listowel sports field is named ‘Pairc Mhic Shithigh’ in his honour.

 

 

 

 

Tadgh Kennelly (Sydney Swans AFL), Jackie Healy Rae (politician and cute hoor), Michael Fassbender (actor, was in 300 among other films), Gillian O' Sullivan (retired race walker, holds every Irish record for everything from 3km to 20km), a load of retired GAA players (you said current ones ) like Paidi O Se or Pat Spillane or Mick O' Dwyer, Daiti O Se (TG4 weatherman, TV personality and Rose of Tralee host), Martin Ferris (Sinn Fein gun runner), Dick Spring (former Tanaiste).

 

Pat Spillane/Mick Galwey/Sean Kelly

Tom Crean, the explorer. Is Pierce Brosnan a tralee man

Joe Higgins, best of the lot, then Michael Gleeson Killarney

 

 

 

O'Leary Listowel, Co. Kerry Dubuque Co. Karen D Alvarez

 

kdalvarez@aol.com

 

 

O'Hern / O'Heron / O'Herin Co. Kerry Clinton Co Jack Golden

 

 

jgolden12@juno.com

 

"From History of Scott County, Iowa 1882 Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co."

 

John Molyneaux was born in the county of Kerry, Ireland, June 24, 1827. In 1849 he left the land of his birth for America, and landed at New York City; from there he went to Dutchess Co., N. Y., where he remained two years, then returned to New York City, and clerked in a wholesale grocery store there nearly four years, then went into that business for himself. Two years later he located in Davenport, Iowa. He remained in Davenport Township engaged in farming nine years, and in 1857 came to Winfield Township. Since his arrival here he has bought three farms, the first consisted of 30 acres on section 16, for which he paid $2,000; the second also contained 80 acres, for which he paid $3,000; the last contained 40 acres valued at $1,400. Besides these farms he owns 10 acres of timber land in Clinton County. He was married to Mary Sullivan, Aug. 1, 1853. She is likewise a native of County Kerry, Ireland, and was born Dec. 25, 1829. Of 10 children born of this union, eight are living - Margaret, born Oct. 8, 1855, married D. J. Buckly; Henry, born Feb, 4, 1860; John, March 6, 1861; Michael, Dec. 7, 1862, is a graduate of the Davenport Business College; Catharine, born July 8, 1864; Ella, March 26, 1867; Daniel, March 25, 1869, and Julia, March 31, 1871. The family are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Molyneaux has served his township as trustee five years, and school director, the same length of time. He has been twice elected justice of the peace, but failed to serve.

 

 

Wolfe's History of Clinton County, Iowa; Vol 2; B.F. Bowen & Co; Indianapolis, Indiana: 1911

The present review is concerned with the life of a man whose character and ability are, by reason of his long and honorable connection with the practice of law, well known to the people of Clinton county and of the state of Iowa, and whose extensive familiarity with his own county made him especially fitted to server as editor-in-chief of the history of Clinton county.

Patrick B. Wolfe was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 7, 1848, the son of John R. and Honora (Buckley) Wolfe. John R. Wolfe was born in county Kerry, Ireland, in 1824, the son of Richard Wolfe, who was the agent having charge of the property of the Knight of Kerry. He received and excellent education. During his young manhood he helped to organize the "Young Ireland" party. He left Ireland in 1848, coming to America, first locating at Ottawa, Illinois. Here he remained on a farm until 1854, when he moved to Clinton county, Iowa, to land near Lost Nation, which he had entered the winter before, and lived there until his death in 1885, becoming one of the largest landholders and most successful farmers of his township. Mr. Wolfe did not take any great interest in politics. He was opposed to slavery. In religion he and his entire family were staunch Catholics, and active workers in the church.

John R. Wolfe was married in Ireland to Honora Buckley. She was a member of a family prominent in the church and at the bar, Michael Buckley, her brother, having been the leader of the Belfast bar for many years. The Wolfe family were also prominent in the church and in law, so that it was natural for the American descendants to turn to the bar in choice of a profession. Mrs. Wolfe died in 1888.

Mr and Mrs Wolfe were the parents of ten children, two of whom died in infancy, and those who grew to maturity are the following: James, a farmer near Lost Nation; Patrick B.; Johanna, who is now Sister Scholastica of the Orders of Sisters of Mercy at Sioux City, Iowa; John, a farmer at Melrose, Monroe county, Iowa; Maurice, a farmer near Lost Nation; Margaret, now the wife of Dr. D. Langan, of Clinton; Katherine, the widow of Judge T.D. Fitzgerald, of Montana, at one time president of the Montana Senate, now living in Clinton; and Richard B., an attorney at De Witt, Clinton county, Iowa.

Patrick B. Wolfe attended the common schools of Liberty township, Clinton county, for a time, then spent one year in the Christian Brothers Academy at La Salle, Illinois. He was a student in the academic department of Iowa State University for two years, then took a full law course from that institution, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1870. In January, 1871, he began the practice of law at De Witt, Clinton county, Iowa, and for a few years suffered from the proverbial hardships of the young lawyer, but soon came into an extensive practice. In 1877 he formed a partnership with W.A. Cotton, under the name of Cotton & Wolfe, which continued until 1888. For four years he served as attorney for the town of DeWitt, and was a member of the De Witt school board for fifteen years. In 1885 he was elected to the Iowa Senate, and served three sessions, resigning from his position in October, 1891, when he was appointed judge of the district court for the seventh judicial district, holding his first term of court in November of 1891. He served on the bench until September 1, 1904, when he resigned to form a partnership in the practice of law with his son. it is a unique fact that Judge Wolfe has resigned from every public office which he has held. In 1899 he was nominated for judge of the supreme court of the state of Iowa, and was defeated by a close margin. He is again a candidate in 1910. His law office was moved from De Witt to Clinton in May, 1891, and his residence was transferred in 1893. Mr. Wolfe was a member of the public library board of the city of Clinton.

Mr. Wolfe was married on May 1, 1878, to Margaret Connole, the daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Malone) Connole, who came from Ireland and located in De Witt. To this union three children were born. John L. Wolfe was born in 1879; graduated from the Clinton high school; took the classical course at St. Mary's College in Kansas, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; too a post-graduate course in Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., receiving there his Master of Arts degree, and then took the law course there and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He spent a year in the University of Berlin, Germany, and in 1904 entered into partnership with his father. He is now serving on his second term as a representative in the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. Mary Wolfe was born on June 27, 1881, and is a graduate of Sinsiniwa College of Wisconsin, and Trinity College, in Washington, D.C. One child died in infancy.

 

 

History of Johnson County, Iowa...from 1836 to 1882; Iowa City, Iowa: 1883

Morris Fitzgerald, farmer and stock raiser, residing on section five, Graham township, post office Morse; was born 1809 at county Kerry, Ireland. Came to Quebec, Canada, in 1835- May 4th – and lived at various places in Canada and the US, traveled considerable in the Western States, and finally settled in Graham township, Johnson county in the fall of 1855 and there he has made his home since. He was married in 1854 to Miss Mary Martin of Illinois. This union is blessed with five children: three boys and two girls. The family are members of the Roman Catholic church. A democrat in politics.

 

 

More Here.

http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/kerrybios.htm

 

 

 

 

The Freeman's Journal

 

Monday, Aug. 13, 1917

SERGEANT-MAJOR'S DEATH-The death in action of Sergeant-Major John Hennessy,

Leinsters, has occasioned keen regret in his native town, Listowel. The

deceased was 21 years in the army, and served through the South African war,

and was about receiving a commission when he was killed by a shell. He was

the son of the late Mr. D.C. Hennessy, journalist, and author of the "Lays

of North Kerry."

 

 

 

http://www.ginnisw.com/ahern.htm

 

 

HC Th 14 Aug 1777 last Wednesday died Rev. Timothy Aghern, a clergyman of the Church of Rome

 

 

 

The Kerry Sentinel, 25 May 1912

 

The Recent Illness of Mr T Gibson, Listowel

After an absence of five months in the metropolis, through illness, Mr Thomas Gibson has returned to his splendid and well-known establishment and home in Listowel fully, we are glad to say, recovered to health and vigour. Mr Gibson was, needles to say, in the hands of the best members of the medical faculty in Dublin, including his own talented and able son, the distinguished master of the Coombe Hospital, and as a result of this, of course, considerably aided by his own magnificent constitution, we have once more amongst us one of Listowel's most popular and genial citizens.

 

http://historytralee.wordpress.com/category/05th-century-and-before-pre-historyorigin-mythology/

 

Gerard O Carroll

The Milesians Land In Kerry: What the RIA Was Told in 1858

 

 

Tralee antiquarian Rev. Arthur Blennerhassett Rowan and future bishop of Limerick Rev. Charles Graves were collaborators in archaeology and antiquarianism in Kerry from the 1840s. They also had a scholarly interest in the Irish language fifty years before Douglas Hyde founded the Gaelic League.

From the 1850s Graves leased a summer house for himself and his family at Parknasilla. It was Rowan who introduced Graves to the young Dingle antiquarian Richard Hitchcock, who assisted Graves in his work of collecting and deciphering the Ogham stones of Kerry, which abounded in West Kerry in particular but also in the south of the County.

Richard Hitchcock ignited a controversy with his assertion that the Milesians landed in Ireland at the bay of Dingle. In the extract published below, from an address before the Royal Irish Academy, Arthur B. Rowan uses the more accepted location of the Kenmare River in the south of Kerry as the Milesian landfall. It in turn has been superseded in recent research by the bay at Waterville.

The arrival of the Milesians is described in the Leabhar Gabhala (Book of Invasions), which is reproduced in the Foras Feasa ar Eireann by Geoffrey Keating in the seventeenth century. The people of Ireland are said to be descended from Míle Spáine, whose sons led the invasion. Such was the power of the legend that it gave the epithet Milesian to the jargon of ordinary discourse as well as the writing of history. In Tralee in the nineteenth century it was routine to hear the use of Milesian for the likes of O’Sullivan, MacCarthy, O’Connell and McGillicuddy to distinguish these Gaelic families from settlers like Hickson, Herbert, Blennerhassett and others who could not be included in Milesian. Excluded also were Old English (Anglo-Norman) settler names like FitzGerald and FitzMaurice (Geraldines) and Ferriter, even though these are inextricably linked with insurrection against English rule during the 1580s and later. The recurrence of intermarriage with the Gael overcame the problem, and in the end everybody seemed to claim the honour of Milesian ancestry. Significantly, this included the governing elite at the time of the handover to democratic rule in the nineteenth century. By then even such a key representative of the elite as the family of Denny could claim descent from the Gael (Elizabeth Day, who married the Denny heir in 1795, had in her veins the blood of the O’Briens, viscounts Clare).

Archdeacon Rowan lived at Belmont, in Ballyard, now a suburb of Tralee. Few of his papers survive, but his antiquarian pursuits immersed him in researches about the O’Connors of Iraughticonnor in North Kerry (Kerry Magazine, October 1855) and the MacCarthy Mór of Killarney, about whom he wrote extensively in Lake Lore and The Kerry Magazine. In politics Rowan was inextricably associated with Tralee’s old Corporation, becoming its last Provost before that body was abolished in 1840. But his Denny ancestry (his mother was a Denny, of Tralee Castle) conceals the fact that one of his ancestors was Jane O’Connor. She was the wife of Rev. Barry Denny, and they became the parents of Sir Barry Denny, created first Baronet in 1782. Sir Barry’s daughter married Rowan. Here is A. B. Rowan’s address to the RIA, Monday, November 8, 1858, PRIA vol. 7, 1858-1861.

“All who do not throw aside the remnants of Irish history which have come down to us as ‘bardic myths’ consent to the tradition that the first landing of the Milesians in Ireland took place on the south-west coast of Kerry, in Munster; and it may here be observed, that this landing is supposed to have been effected in the very locality upon which a world-wide attention is now fixed, as the European point from which it has been ascertained that the flashing of intelligence between the New and Old World continents is an accomplishable fact. It was here that, as is calculated, about thirty centuries since, a tribe of the Scythi, after a sojourn in Spain, are recorded as having first made good a landing in Iar, in that ‘Isle of the West’ indicated as their ultimate settlement; and the locality still retains in its nomenclature traces or memorials of the supposed events.

Dar Iri (the Oak Island of Ir) is still, in the mouth of the peasant, the name of the “Island of Valentia”, derived, as is believed, from that son of Milesius, held, also, to have had his burial in the adjacent Skellig Rock, once dedicated to the Pagan Jove, but, under Christianity, consecrated, as all similar separated rocks were, by dedication to St. Michael, and thence known as Skellig-Mihil, or Skellig of St. Michael.

The actual landing is recorded as having taken place at Inbher Sceine, or the Kenmare Estuary, and the first encounter between the possessors of the soil and the invaders is placed “three days’ journey inwards”, in the very locality of which I write, namely, in the large and deep valley terminating on its western face the Sliab-Mis range of mountain which skirts the southern shore of Tralee Bay; and in this valley, on the very field of battle, lies the Ogham monument which furnishes my subject.”

Comment. Dairbhre /dariri/ is “place of oak”, Jove is never associated with Sceilg. The site of battle is “Gleann Scoithín” at the eastern end of the Sliabh Mis range. Inbhear Scéine is Bá na Scealg. Richard Hitchcock died tragically young in 1856, Archdeacon Rowan (b. 1800) passed away in 1861. Rev. Graves (b. 1812) died in 1899 after 22 years as Bishop of Limerick; his diocese included all of Kerry.

 

 

By Gerard O Carroll.

When President Kennedy spoke in the Irish Parliament in June 1963 he made reference to Lord Edward FitzGerald who was one of the Kildare FitzGeralds. But the FitzGerald element in the President’s own name bears better examination in the context of the Limerick FitzGeralds.

The visit of Caroline Kennedy, the President’s daughter, to Bruff, County Limerick, on June 21, 2013, recognises this fact. Limerick is also the home of the earls of Desmond, who were FitzGeralds.

In 1793 James FitzGerald married Honora MacCarthy. Their son Michael married Eileen Wilmot. Their son Thomas FitzGerald emigrated to the USA in 1852 and married Rosanna Cox. Their son was Honey Fitz. (the Mayor of Boston) who married Mary Hannan (they were second cousins), the parents of Rose Kennedy, the President’s mother.

In 1908 Honey Fitz and his daughter Rose visited Bruff. In 1938 honey Fitz returned to Bruff with his wife. In 1994 Jean Kennedy Smith and her sister Patricia Lawford visited Bruff.

 

By Gerard O Carroll

The old name of Crotto is Stackstown. After the Stacks forfeited Crotto, it came into the hands of Henry Ponsonby, a younger brother of a colonel in Cromwell’s Irish army. The male line of the Ponsonbys of Crotto ended in 1762, with Henry’s great- grandson Richard Ponsonby of Crotta, MP for Kinsale, who had no issue by either of his two marriages, the second to a daughter of John Blennerhassett, Esq., of Ballyseedy. Richard Ponsonby bequeathed on his death in 1762 Crotta and all his estates to John Carrique, eldest son of his sister Rose Ponsonby by her husband John Carrique, of Glandine, near Kilgobbin, in West Kerry, on condition of his assuming the name and arms of Ponsonby in addition to his own. John Carrique was the grandson of William Carrique, an officer in Cromwell’s army, subsequently, like Sir William Petty, a surveyor of lands forfeited in 1649; and he, William Carrique, obtained for his services a grant of the forfeitures of the FitzGeralds at Glandine and other Anglo-Irish, including a portion of Sir Arthur Denny’s estate, who, like many more of the old Protestant families, royalists in 1641-60, had to surrender some of their lands to satisfy the Cromwellian army’s arrears of pay, and the demands of Englishmen of various ranks, who had advanced money for the expenses of the war. William Carrique, after peace was restored, had his grant from Cromwell confirmed under Charles the Second in 1670, and he married Ellen, daughter of Sir Arthur Denny by his wife Lady Ellen Barry. Thus the marriage of John Carrique of Glandine and Rose Ponsonby of Crotta united in the hands of their son William Carrique Ponsonby two large estates in north and west Kerry in the year 1762, which however were all sold by their descendants in less than a century, and not a single descendant of either Carriques or Ponsonby’s in the male line now remains in Kerry.

 

 

Gerard O Carroll

 

It would seem that Mary Hickson, Kerry’s intrepid historian (d. 1899), admired an outstanding Kerry woman of a previous century, the philanthropist Lady Denny . Hickson transcribed Lord Shelburne’s memories of his aunt, Lady Denny, for the Kerry Evening Post . These first appeared in the early pages of Shelburne’s autobiography, and they make clear his admiration for her.

Arabella FitzMaurice was the granddaughter of Sir William Petty, whose daughter Anne married Thomas FitzMaurice in 1692. Arabella was married young to Arthur Denny, described by the Earl of Shelburne as “a very good sort of man”. Arthur was the heir to the Denny estate around Tralee. Arabella was now Lady Denny.

Arthur’s brother Thomas made life difficult for Arabella. According to Shelburne, Thomas was “a coward and savage and a fool”, who set out to make Arabella’s life unhappy. Already she had given signs of her vocation as a philanthropist by founding a small apothecary for the benefit of the poor. How Thomas provoked her is not made clear, but she hid the laudanum on a high shelf so that she could overcome the temptation to use it on herself. As her nerves began to fail, in order to confront her brother-in-law’s brutality she learned to fire a pistol. Then her husband died suddenly and Thomas succeeded to the Denny estate. But Arabella was now free, so she moved permanently to Dublin where in the 1760s she founded the Magdalen institution for girls.

The Limerick Chronicle, of Saturday, 31 March, 1792, reported the following: “Thursday evening a hearse, drawn by six horses, which contained the corpse of the truly pious and benevolent Lady Arabella Denny who died last week in Dublin, passed through this city, in order to her being interred in the family vault at Tralee in the county of Kerry.”

Image of Lady Arabella Denny courtesy of the Representative Church Library.

 

 

Gerard O Carroll

 

Piers Ferriter, Insurgent and Poet, Appreciated the Medieval Past

The continuity of medieval and modern is not always appreciated in our secular world today. Modern nationalists, too, are too quick to start the clock of history ticking at the French Revolution. Piers Ferriter, the Kerry insurgent of the 1640s, took a different view. He appreciated his Ferriter ancestry in Kerry from the time of the Anglo-Norman settlement. Ferriter was also a poet. His Lament for Maurice FitzGerald, son of the Knight of Kerry, traces FitzGerald’s descent from the earls of Desmond (also FitzGerald). The extract here is from a translation of the Lament by Maire Cruise O’Brien; Lough Gur (Co. Limerick) and Mogeely (Co. Waterford) were important fortresses at key points in the Earl’s extensive lordship, a lordship long overthrown by Ferriter’s day.

The Lady of Knockany did proclaim

Your loss and Lough Gur’s Earl your fighting name,

Woe rose melodious from Glenorga’s vale

And Shanid sang your Geraldine domain;

In Youghal the female elf upheld your sway,

Moygeela by the Brede alliance claimed,

Nor more could Cahermone nor Kenelmaigue

Nor Imokilly yet wet tears restrain.

The Ferriters and others of the Old English proprietors became impoverished by the subjugation of the Earl of Desmond. Richard Boyle, the leading New English proprietor in Munster, became their creditor and took over many of their estates. But Boyle was careful to marry his daughters among the Desmonds or their affiliates. His daughter Alice Boyle married Barry (the Barrys are actually Geraldines); and the Barrys gave two wives to the Dennys, occupiers of the Earl’s castle in Tralee.

Boyle acknowledged in his diary that the foundation of his fortune was his marriage to Joan Apsley, who was the granddaughter of “Desmond’s wisest cunsellor”, John Browne, who was the last warden of the Hospitaller foundation at Knockainy, near Lough Gur. Boyle’s son became Viscount Dungarvan: Dungarvan was a key possession of the earl of Desmond.

 

 

 

MILITARY HISTORY IRA:

 

http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1413.pdf#page=49

 

 

'I See His Blood upon the Rose'

by Friar Jack Wintz, OFM

 

 

 

I have reflected upon this poem in past E-spirations, but it’s such a prayerful poem that I wanted to revisit it.

 

“I See His Blood upon the Rose” is a perfect reminder of God’s great gift of love as revealed through the suffering and rising of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. In this poem, all created things seem to remind the poet of God’s incredible love, dramatized through the person of Christ.

 

About the Poet, Joseph Mary Plunkett

 

Born in Dublin in 1887, Joseph Plunkett wrote many poems of rare, mystical force. Plunkett was one of the signers of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and was imprisoned by the English army. He was executed in 1916 for his part in the 1916 Easter Rising. Shortly before his execution on May 4, he married his fiancée, Grace Gifford, in the jail’s chapel. Plunkett was 28 years old.

 

Because of his great love for the Incarnate Word—and the Word’s close connection to all created things—Plunkett saw Christ’s destiny and great love as forever entwined with this earth and this universe.

 

“I See His Blood upon the Rose”

 

I see his blood upon the rose

And in the stars the glory of his eyes,

His body gleams amid eternal snows,

His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;

The thunder and the singing of the birds

Are but his voice—and carven by his power

Rocks are his written words. All pathways by his feet are worn,

His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,

His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,

His cross is every tree.”

 

My Line-by-Line Meditations

 

I see his blood upon the rose

When we gaze at a rose—or any other part of this universe—we see not only the individual beauty of the rose, but also the intensity of God’s care behind that rose and behind the universe itself.

 

And in the stars the glory of his eyes

In the stars, we see not only the glory of his death and total self-giving, but also the glory of his risen body and his death-conquering gaze.

 

His body gleams amid eternal snows

When we look at snowcapped mountains or other snowy vistas, we might see glimpses of Christ’s pale body, as when taken down from the cross—or his glorified, transfigured body shining brighter than snow.

 

His tears fall from skies

Again, behind the lovely everyday processes of nature, we can’t help seeing the love of our Great Lover—and the tears he shed over Jerusalem or during his agony in the garden.

 

I see his face in every flower

Every flower, indeed everything in this universe, reminds us of Christ. As St. Paul tells the Colossians (1:16), “All things were created through him and for him.” We recall, too, that St. Francis saw in the beauty of flowers the One who is Beauty itself.

 

The thunder and singing of the birds/Are but his voice

Singing birds and all other sounds of nature communicate one thing: God’s great love for us.

 

And carven by his power/Rocks are his written words

Christ, the Word made flesh, is truly intermingled with the universe. Creation itself is a reflection of the Word through whom “all things came to be” (Jn 1:3).

 

All pathways by his feet are worn

At the Incarnation, God made this world his home. Every path, trail, and road of this earth has taken on an elevated dignity and meaning because of the pathways Christ took while accomplishing his mission on earth. All paths remind us of the pathway he took to save us—the Way of the Cross.

 

His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea

In the sea pounding against the jagged coast, we get glimpses of Christ’s mighty heart pounding with love for us.

 

His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn

Every thorn is somehow intertwined with Christ’s crown of thorns. Indeed, in every created thing we see Christ’s saving love.

 

His cross is every tree

Behind every tree, we can see Christ’s cross—and the Creator’s unconditional love.

 

 

http://io9.com/5952101/a-massive-and-illegal-geoengineering-project-has-been-detected-off-canadas-west-coast

 

 

fozfoster

There is more to it. That part of the ocean has become a dead zone in recent decades because the Chinese started growing new grasses along the edges of their cities which border the Gobi Desert in order to trap the tremendous amounts of dust that would normally get picked up by trade winds and filter out over this area of the ocean.

In BC a few years back we had a MASSIVE salmon run which we later learned was mostly due to a volcanic eruption that seeded this oceanic region with nutrients which in turn caused plankton to bloom and sustain larger-than-average salmon schools. Before the Chinese began to geoengineer their northern cities, these large salmon runs were the norm. This seeding effort is an attempt to reproduce the effects of the Gobi which were once ordinary, which we only realized were taking place when an extraordinary eruption occurred.

When was the last night a giant bloom of the most basic element of the food chain a bad thing? 10/16/12 9:21am

 

 

siempre44

The British Met Office last week announced there has been NO GLOBAL WARMING for 16 years-officially NO WARMING. So, there is no warming to stop because there is no warming happening. Dvorsky, it would be great to see you review for io9 all the discussions of this finding that have been in the British news. 10/16/12 8:55am

 

 

Over a million acres of the United States are on fire right now

The National Interagency Fire Center is reporting that the United States has established a new record for most acreage burned by wildfires as of this

 

 

 

Two men will appear in court again on 23 July in relation to turf cutting.

 

http://www.celticcousins.net/ireland/limerickwills.htm

 

 

464 VIRGIN, MARY, Limerick, widow.

30 Aug. 1732. Full, 2 1/2 pp., 16 Nov. 1732.

My daughter-in-law Ann Virgin, (named in deed of lease of 1722 recited in

Will). My cousin Thomas Ewer of Clonmell, Co. Tipperary, gent. His present

wife Anne Ewer als. Virgin. My cousin Anne Ewer, sister of said Thos. Ewer.

Desires to be buried in St. Mary's Church, Limerick "where my father is

buried."

 

Mrs Elizabeth Dowdall, Mrs Anne Sandys, widow. Mrs Jane Knight. Mrs Martha

Davis, widow. The Mayor, Bishop and Dean of Limerick. Alderman Foxrock.

Susanna Mayne. The widow of Chancellor Keefe. winifred McNemara and her

sister. Anne Wilkinson, wife of Edwd. Wilkinson of Galway. The Rev. Mr John

Tunnadine. Mr Simon White and Mr John Phillips (my friends).

 

Houses etc. on High Street, parish and ward of Blessed Virgin Mary,

Limerick. My house etc. in Key Lane, Limerick, Mr Simon Holland lessee, to

Dean of Limerick and his successors in trust to buy bread for Protestant

poor in parish of Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Witnesses: Richd. Maunsell, notary public, Benjamin Barrington, junr.,

pewterer, John Meade Richd., merchant, all of Limerick.

 

Memorial witnessed by: Benjamin Barrington, junr., John Meade Richd.

 

 

577 WALCOTT, JOHN, Croagh, Co. Limerick, Esq.

27 March 1730. Narrate, 1 p., 2 May 1738.

His wife Elenor Walcott. A settlement to her dated 22, 23 Dec. 1712. William

FitzGerald, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare, Esq., and Charles Smith, Newcastle,

Co. Limerick, Esq., trustees. His brother William Walcott. John Minchin,

eldest son of his cousin Edward Minchin of Glanahilty, Co. Tipperary, Esq.

Charles Minchin third son, Humphrey Minchin fourth son, Francis Minchin

fifth son and Wallcott Minchin sixth son of said Edward Minchin. Paul

Minchin of Ballynakill, Co. Tipperary, Esq. Persons in possession of estate

to take surname of Wallcott.

 

His wife to enjoy the mansion house of Croagh, and lands called Clonegraige,

the Pigeon's close, the wood als. Killadam, and the Raheens including the

mount and cony warren.

 

Witnesses: William Acton, Limerick, clothier, Samuel Hulett, Limerick,

gent., William Smith, Limerick, gent.

Memorial witnessed by: William Smith, Humphrey Minchin, Dublin, gent.

 

 

 

Connaught Journal

Galway, Ireland

Monday, March 10, 1823

Volume 69 Price 5 Pence

PROVINCIAL INTELLIGENCE

LIMERICK

March 3-Monday and Tuesday, Mr. Serjeant TORRENS, Assistant Barrister LLOYD,

and a full Bench of Magistrates, held a Sessions under the Insurrection Act

at Rathkeale. Eight men were tried, amongst whom John PURCELL and William

M'CORMACK, for serving illegal notices, were convicted and sentenced to

seven years transportation. The Court adjourned to Friday next at Limerick.

 

On Saturday night, a party of armed insurgents attacked the house of Mr.

Darby MURPHY, within one mile of Listowel; and having set fire to the

premises in different parts, the whole of this extensive concern, consisting

of a commodious dwelling-house and several out-offices, were consumed to

ashes.

 

A large stack of hay, the property of a farmer named IRWIN, tenant to Luke

WHITE, Esq. was consumed by fire on Wednesday night last, on the lands of

Ahadab, near Dromcolliher.

 

On Friday night, a waste house was set fire to on the lands of Ballyowen,

near Newcastle, and consumed, the perpetrators having previously driven four

cows thereout.

 

March 3- Last night a number of armed Whiteboys visited Mr. NAGLE's house of

Bregogey near Battevant; and set fire to the Out-offices; viz. a Stable,

containing a large quantity of Potatoes; a Barn, containing forty bags of

Wheat; thrashed, three stacks of Oats, one large rick of hay, and a large

stack of Turf, the entire of which was consumed, save a small quantity of

Wheat which was saved by the Military and Police from Buttevant.

 

On Wednesday, the 12th instant, Thos. BOLTON, a wood-ranger, in the

employment of Lord Viscount Hawarden, was attempted to be assassinated by a

miscreant who was seen lurking near the wood, armed with a blunderbuss and

pistol, the former of which he discharged at BOLTON, happily, however,

without effect.

 

April 1823 Connaught Journal

Galway, Ireland

Thursday, April 3,1823

 

We received the following this morning from our Newcastle Correspondent,

dated yesterday:- "On Sunday night, a dairyman, of the name of HARTNETT,

residing on the farm of Fanen, the estate of Luke WHITE, Esq. wa most

barbously beat, cut, and maimed with a sword or scythe, by the Rockites- his

death is hourly expected. Same night a poor man, named CLOVANE, acting under

driver to Mr. WHITE's Agent, had his house nad every article therein

consumed to ashes, near these lands, supposed by the above party. Several

fires were seen on the same night, in the neighbourhood of Listowel, county

Kerry. There is a house this moment on fire near Kilmeedy. We perceive the

flames from town."

 

On Friday night, four in calf cows, the property of Mr. WALL, apothecary of

Doneraile, were shot, and seven tons of hay burned near that town.--Mr. WALL

was present when Surgeon CHAMBERS, of the 22d regiment amputated HICKIE, the

Insurgent's arm, which is supposed to be the cause of such an outrage on his

property.--Chronicle

 

From Listowel Connection site

GRIFFIN

 

 

 

The Life and Times of a G.A.A. Stilesman    Junior Griffin

 

 

 

The Talk at the Turnstiles   John Griffin's article, written for the souvenir programme of the County Final in 1999 and published in The Irish World (London)

 

December 3 and December 10 1999

 

 

 

Quite rightly, the players on duty in today’s eagerly awaited county final will be the chief focus of attention as they do battle for that coveted county championship medal.

 

 

 

Perhaps decisions by the referee or by his umpires or linemen at some stage in the game will also give rise to comment.

 

 

 

But have you ever given thought to the function of the  man who more than likely,  will be the first official you will encounter at today’s final- The Man Behind The Wire.

 

 

 

The whole structure of our games has changed a lot over the past 30 years. Facilities for both players and spectators have improved tremendously with the whole country now dotted with some wonderful stadia.

 

 

 

Finance, of course, is a fact of life in the GAA and whilst sponsorship is much welcomed and needed, the most important contributions come from you, the patron, by your attendance at our games.

 

 

 

Hence the role of the stilesman. The work of the stilesman is not as easy as some may think and, indeed it carries a lot of responsibility. I look on the stilesmen as the front line troops of the GAA.

 

 

 

The abuse hurled at referees often hits the headlines but it pales into insignificance at times with what the stilesmen have to endure. I know stilesmen who have been hit, kicked and even spat at. Indeed my own shinbone bore the brunt of many a well placed kick on more then one occasion.

 

 

 

Definitely some people have a Jekyll and Hyde personality when they go to a match. If the entrance fee is considered dear- blame the stilesman.!

 

If there are no programmes available- blame the stilesman! The festival of Kerry Sunday was a nightmare. For many years, County semi finals were held on that Sunday and traffic and parking was chaotic. Did people make allowance for delays/ Yerra- no! Sure we’ll blame the stiles man!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junior's rumination on the life of a stiles man at GAA Matches      (part two)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been involved at stiles since the mid fifties. I was going to say  ‘doing the stiles’,  but that phrase could be taken out of context, couldn’t it?

 

How many can remember the old entrance to Austin Stack’s Park with its beautiful façade which was situated on the Boherbee Road?  At that time there was no John Joe Sheehy Road.

 

 

 

The main gate with its two pillars which had the name of the 1891 All Ireland Hurling team on  one and the first winning football team of 1903 on the other. There were four stiles on either side of the gate which at the left was adjoined to Sports Field Lodge. This was the home of the field caretaker, the late Paddy Gannon-Flynn and his wife Mai.

 

 

 

It was in their abode that the day’s takings were counted. I often wondered what were the lovely lady’s thoughts when her home was invaded Sunday after Sunday by up to a dozen men counting money.

 

 

 

Sewing and needlework had to be discarded from the table as the money was thrown everywhere.

 

 

 

The opening of The Pavilion in July 1967 changed all that. The money was then counted there. We do miss the welcome cup of tea, especially in the winter months.

 

 

 

One month in Tralee comes to mind. It was the Railway Cup semi final- Munster versus Ulster in the early sixties. There were three stiles put in place at the old gate which is now the Horan end. I was placed in the centre. My colleague that day was a man who was a candidate in the impending local elections.  My friend canvassed everyone who went in. All I could hear was, “Hello Paddy- Hello Mick, don’t forget me- do the best you can.”

 

 

 

The crowd was huge. The Railway Cup had a wonderful following in those days.

 

 

 

Nearing match time, the surge was too much and my stile was capsized, with money thrown everywhere. Not only did some people get in free but some people got paid to get in by grabbing coins from the ground.

 

 

 

I was on my knees, trying to bag my money and all  I could hear in the background was, “ Wisha Johnny, how are you? Do the best you can for me next week.” And so on.

 

 

 

I often thought since, that if the European elections were held in those days, my friend would be a certainty. I honestly believe he shook as many Ulster hands that day as Kerry hands.

 

 

 

My abiding memory of the match is the wonderful display by the late John Dowling, who, to me, was one of the most whole hearted Kerry footballers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you remember the old metal Hogan stand which began life in Croke Park and was later relocated to Limerick when the present Hogan Stand was built? The entrance to this was by a staircase in the middle of the stand where a stile was placed on the ground.

 

 

 

The then Munster secretary, the late Seán McCarthy put me working that stile on many occasions.

 

 

 

I remember once being approached by the great Micheál O Hehir, who, showed me his own pass. He asked me would it be possible to let in his wife and family on this pass.

 

Could I even have contemplated saying NO to the voice of the GAA? I can still see the cherub faced youth in short trousers who was with him. He is now a famous commentator himself.

 

 

 

Working at that turnstile gave me an opportunity to meet hurling legends like Christy Ring, Mick MaCassey, John Keane, Jack Lynch, Jackie Power, John Doyle and many more.

 

 

 

The well known press personnel of that time who used to attend matches and would pass through my style were the late John D. Hickey (Irish Independent), Mick Dunne (Irish Press) and Paddy Downey (Irish Times).

 

 

 

Hickey, I thought, was a wonderful writer and I felt that his report on the 1953 Kerry Louth semi final was a classic. I still savour the headline”

 

UNNUMBERED SUB. INSPIRES LOUTH TO EPIC RALLY” .

 

 

 

We had frightening days at matches. A Cork Tipperary hurling final in Limerick (late sixties or early seventies) drew a record attendance.

 

 

 

We were on duty at the terrace stiles at the Cahirdavin end and at one stage you had a crowd outside the stiles trying to gain admission and the people inside trying to get out. It was all cash in those days. We were advised to close down and to await the Gardaí. Suddenly the crowd outside starting climbing the wall, and walking on the corrugated iron over our heads. A beam snapped and we thought the whole lot was coming down on top of us.

 

 

 

At that time people were roaring and, I believe, many had gone berserk.

 

 

 

It was time to go. We covered our satchels containing many thousands of pounds between all the stiles. Firstly, though the MAOR badges came off.

 

 

 

It would have been suicide if these were seen. We got out on the main road and eventually made it to safety – but it was pretty frightening.

 

 

 

We had another scary encounter at the same stiles for a Cork Waterford match.

 

 

 

Just inside the stiles a row erupted between rival supporters. Bottles started flying and some came through and broke on the iron stiles. We had to close the inner doors because of flying glass. It was dreadful while it lasted but the Gardaí came and sorted out the troublemakers.

 

 

 

The Munster Hurling Final of 1977 will live in my memory for different reasons. Played on the 10th of July in Thurles between Cork and Clare it drew an attendance of 44,586, Which included the president and the Taoiseach.

 

 

 

Our gates were closed  before half time and I remember handing in a gate of close to £3,000 all neatly folded with very little coin.

 

 

 

We viewed most of the second half from what is now the old stand.

 

 

 

Late in the second half, Clare were awarded a side line ball which was to be taken by Mick Moroney. The Clare man raised his hurley to take his cut- but he couldn’t take his stroke!

 

At that moment there was a stampede of blue down the sideline. Close on 30 Gardaí rushed down the line, some outside the line and some inside.

 

 

 

We hadn’t a clue what it was about. It was only on our way home that we heard on the car radio that armed raiders had got away with the takings to the tune

 

of £ 24, 579.

 

 

 

More on that day later.

 

 

 

During the eighties, Munster were invited to send stilemen to Croke Park and we went for several years. It was a great honour to work for the GAA headquarters and we worked there for both football and hurling semi finals and finals.

 

 

 

What Kerryman can forget 1982? I was on duty on the Hogan Stand stiles and luckily, was finished early and was able to view most of the senior final.

 

 

 

After THAT goal and the final whistle, we made our way to the car. One of our party, the late Jotty Holly had left the match with 5 minutes remaining and was waiting at the car with a beaming smile on his face.

 

 

 

“Wasn’t it great to see the five in a row win,” said Jotty. I realized that Jotty did not know the bitter truth and told him we were pepped in the final minute. No way would he believe me.

 

 

 

It wasn’t until the car radio was turned on that the message sunk home. I never saw a switch from a smile to utter disbelief so fast.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, 1983 saw Kerry suffer the same late fate at Páirc Uí Caoimh. My memory of that day revolves around the atrocious morning. I was in position at my stile at 11.00a.m. and can place looking out at the lightening flashing through the heavens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The claps of thunder seemed to echo and reecho through the tunnel. It was eerie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junior Griffin's Reminiscences continued

 

 

 

 

 

........We didn’t realize then but we ere back in Páirc Uí Caoimh before the year was out. That was for the Cork V. Dublin All Ireland semi final replay.

 

 

 

The days before the match the Dublin press continually queried the wisdom of staging this match in Cork.

 

 

 

That morning Munster officials, the late Tadhgh Crowley and Donny Nealon called the strilesmen together. They requested us to be extra vigilant and to remain on duty until we were officially closed. Munster proved that they could stage the fixture. Everything went off without a hitch and there were no problems.

 

 

 

Incidentally, dear reader, can you remember who played in the Austin Stack Park on the same day that Cork and Dublin played that semi final in Páirc Uí Caoimh. Answer anon.

 

 

 

The centenary year of 1984 saw the hurling final played in Thurles, the birthplace of the GAA. I remember getting a bit of a telling off because of that final. I was on duty on the terrace stiles on the town end. The senior final was well on when I was approached by three North Kerry men seeking admission with one ticker. I let them in. That was close to 4.00 p.m. on Sunday, Tadhgh Crowley heard it being conversed on a pub in Tralee on the following Tuesday night. So much for people keeping their mouths shut.

 

 

 

The old type low stiles were much more difficult to manage than the modern ones. The stilesman did have the same control. At rimes in the old low stile you would be startled by a fleeting shadow soaring over the bar of the stile showing Carl Lewis type agility. All you’d hear would be a loud guffaw as the intruder made his way to the safety of being lost in the crowd. The rouses used by people to seek free admissions were many. The common ones would be for a lady possibly with a few children to come in first and pointing back would exclaim, “Himself is paying,” “Himself” comes in and you’ve guessed it. He is on his own. He never before saw that woman! I can assure you that, more often than not, if you searched around later you would see the big happy family together.

 

 

 

Also a group of 5 or 6 men would queue up together. The one the rear would be gesticulating wildly and calling “right-right-right”; giving the impression he was paying for the lot. His turn comes- and “I am only paying for myself; I was calling to my friend who went in on the other stile”.

 

 

 

 

 

The experienced stilesman will always ask the first person to pay where there is a group. The chancer will generally retort " is it so you don’t trust me boy?”

 

 

 

Some years ago one of my colleagues, John, was approached in Limerick by a gentleman who was in a very agitated state. Almost in tears, the poor man told John his pocket had been picked and he had been cleaned out. Being a soft hearted Kerryman, John had pity on the man and let him through.

 

 

 

 

 

The following Sunday, John was on duty in Cork, and, low and behold- who came to his stile but the same gentlemen in the same agitated state, John knew he was caught once but not again. Your man was told, not too politely, where to go. I wonder what are the odds of him picking the same stilesman on successive Sundays? No doubt our friend is still performing his Oscar like performance to this day at stiles somewhere throughout the province to this day.

 

 

 

The dreaded stile, is, of course, the student and OAP stile. Look at the queue outside the student stile at any major match and one could only surmise that the students of every university in Ireland must be in attendance. To the genuine student, the student card is like his right hand and he will always have it in his possession. But so often we hear, “ I left it at home”; “I left it in the car” and so forth.

 

 

 

 

 

The variation of cards produced would make the mind boggle. The stilesman has seen them all, from meal vouchers to petrol vouchers to playing cards. The cards are flashed in front of the stilesman eyes and disappear so fast with a slight of hand dexterity that would make the great Houdini gasp with amazement.