The following article appears in the archive of Castleisland District Heritage. It was written for publication in 1994 on the twentieth anniversary of the 1974 victory by John Galvin, formerly of the committee of Castleisland District Heritage. Cross Country Quiz was a weekly quiz programme which featured competing Macra na Feirme clubs from around…… Continue Reading
Down to an Art: The Liberator at Home in Kerry
Darrynane Abbey, the Seat of Daniel O’Connell Esq MP in the county Kerry is becoming a favourite subject with the lovers of fine arts in Ireland[1] This year (2025) marks the sestercentennial of the birth of Daniel O’Connell, ‘The Liberator of Ireland.’ It will be celebrated widely, no more so than at Derrynane House, the…… Continue Reading
Listry Creamery Museum: A Tasteful Blend of Past and Present
My mother took first turn, set up rhythms that, slugged and thumped for hours ‘Churning Day’ by Seamus Heaney In 1919, a creamery was established in the village of Listry, Co Kerry which survived into the 1990s. One century on, Paul and Annette Garland, the owners, opened the building as a creamery museum in homage…… Continue Reading
To The People of Ireland: Castleisland gives the Proclamation a Kerry Home
‘We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland’ Castleisland District Heritage has acquired a replica of Poblacht na hEireann, the 1916 Proclamation of Ireland, measuring an impressive 6ft x 4ft.[1] The artefact was produced in 2016 by a team of third level Multimedia Design students in the (then) Institute…… Continue Reading
To the Grist: Three Centuries of Milling at Ballymalis, Co Kerry
Kerry Woollen Mills at Ballymalis, tucked away in the vicinity of the old castle of that name, dates to about 1745.[1] A contributor to the 1930s Schools’ Collection ascribed the origin of the mill to a man named Leahy: About 200 years ago a man named Leahy built a small mill driven by water,…… Continue Reading
River Island Hotel, Castleisland hosts Groundbreaking Talk on the Irish War of Independence
William K Storey, Professor of history and great grandson and namesake of Head Constable William K Storey RIC, grew up in America with a strong sense of ‘a skeleton in the cupboard.’ Professor Storey – ‘Bill’ as he has become known to his new friends in Castleisland – knew his great grandfather had died in…… Continue Reading
O’Connell Bridge Castleisland: Setting The Liberator in Stone
While Bourns, the engineer, explained to his Foreman, By his physics, the centring of the O’Connell Bridge, Said this King, and that Queen-post would ever support man, The O’Connell without ever introducing a wedge.[1] There was considerable excitement in Castleisland in late 1831 as the new O’Connell Bridge neared completion: The bridge is a…… Continue Reading
In the Footsteps of Froude: A Fortnight (and more) in Kerry
Eminent English historian James Anthony Froude (1818-1894) had a particular interest in the progress of Ireland in the nineteenth century, and spent considerable time in County Kerry. In 1870 and 1871, he published a two-part essay entitled A Fortnight in Kerry in which he described his sojourns at Derreen House near Lauragh, a property of…… Continue Reading
Search Warrant: Uncovering some RIC Personnel stationed in Castleisland
The Royal Irish Constabulary was formed as a result of the Irish Constabulary (Ireland) Act 1836. The earlier Constabulary Act of 1822 established the County Constabulary, Ireland’s first countrywide police force, which subsequently merged to form the RIC, the Royal appendage being added in 1867. From 1920 to 1922, Royal Irish Constabulary ‘Temporary Constables’ made…… Continue Reading
Field Study: The Discomforting Truism of John B Keane’s Drama
Appeals fall on deaf ears. The people neither see, hear nor say anything – Review of ‘The Field’ in The Stage, 4 November 1965 It is generally accepted that The Field, a 1960s play by the late Listowel writer, John B Keane, is a thinly disguised account of the Reamore murder which took place in…… Continue Reading