The Ballybunion thread

snow scorpion · 21-09-2005 11:30pm

Aww, my little thread has gone past 1000 views! *sniff* I'm so proud.

(I think the population of Ballybunion is about 1300 ... )

Hey, Sandhill, how ya doin'?

It sounds like you found Bally alright. I would dearly love to see a hi-res picture of Doon Road and Ahfona and the Listowel Road all the way into Listowel.

Google says photographing all of Europe for google.earth is "a very high priority."

Sandhill, have you been playing with google.earth? Have you seen what it can do?

snow scorpion · 21-09-2005 11:44pm

They had the animal sales in the street? :eek:

When I was a kid I remember my uncle saying "Tuesday is market day." (Or maybe it was Wednesday.

) At any rate, it wasn't on the street. We went inside and sat in the stands while someone led the livestock into a pen and an auctioneer ran the show.

Market Street! Is that what it was called? Well, makes sense, doesn't it? All these years I've had the picture of it in my head: a long wide street with the market on the right as you make your way to the square, but I didn't know the name of it.

A school near Deenihan's? I don't remember a school. I do remember Brosnahan's Bakery. Red and white on the outside.

I didn't know you lived there. Did you see alfasudcrazy's pics on the first page of the thread? Has it changed much since you saw it last? Last time I was there, there was no Golf Hotel, it was the Central Hotel.

SandhillRoad · 22-09-2005 4:32am

snow scorpion wrote:

They had the animal sales in the street? :eek:

When I was a kid I remember my uncle saying "Tuesday is market day." (Or maybe it was Wednesday. ) At any rate, it wasn't on the street. We went inside and sat in the stands while someone led the livestock into a pen and an auctioneer ran the show.

Market Street! Is that what it was called? Well, makes sense, doesn't it? All these years I've had the picture of it in my head: a long wide street with the market on the right as you make your way to the square, but I didn't know the name of it.

A school near Deenihan's? I don't remember a school. I do remember Brosnahan's Bakery. Red and white on the outside.

I didn't know you lived there. Did you see alfasudcrazy's pics on the first page of the thread? Has it changed much since you saw it last? Last time I was there, there was no Golf Hotel, it was the Central Hotel.

Hi Snow Scorpion,
yes there used to be street cattle fairs in Listowel: in the Square, Small Square and on Market Street. We had to board up the front of our house( about up to 5 feet from the ground) on account of the cattle and the cow dung and afterwards we had to hose the sidewalk."The good old days". Later on the selling moved to the "MART" off of Market Street.Not all houses had to be boarded up, just those ones along the selling route.
I do remember Brosnan's Bakery in BallyB later some of the family went into the pub business on Main Street.
The earliest photo 1950'2 of BallyB in your thread (CONGRATS!) was looked the same in the 1960s when I was there.
The Building on the left was Miss Hawney's Guest House ( mostly took in Priests) The 2 guys on the right looking in the window are looking into Beasley's gift shop, on the left of them was DANA'S a newsagents/gift/candy shop. On the Right of them was J.J.OCarrols ( seen in another photo). On the Left of the 50's photo next to the fancy railings lived the Buckleys ( they owned the Limerick Leader Newspaper), then next to that was Shorti's Pub ( also known as the BUNKER) .
At that intersection began a left turn to CLIFF ROAD which went as far as CLIFF HOUSE HOTEL then began DOON Road and then to Beale on the way to Ballylongford.
Back to the 50's photo:The building on the right with the flag was the CENTRAL BALLROOM and on the left of that was the Central Hotel ( now all torn down and the GOLF HOTEL is there now). The Golf Hotel was at one time called the AMBASSADOR. A couple of doors up from that was the Post Office.
I do thank ALFASUDCRAZY for all the up to date photos.I have not see the 'new' supermarket ,also the Apartments ( probably where the Post Office is).A wet day in Ballybunion can be a dreary day, especially in the Summer- nothing to do but he Bumpers and Casinos!
I much preferred the town in the Winter when the 'season ' was over and the visitors gone.What I miss about it most is the taste of the salt sea air on the lips.
I have been enjoying Google Earth- from The Grand Canyon. to Manhattan to my favourite places in Europe.
Had terrible trouble getting onto BOARDS.IE tonight.
Gleasures used to ( and maybe still do) have the chipper on Main Street BallyB. Best fish /Chips/Sausages in town.A great place to stop after the pubs ( though I have long ago given up the 'sup', it would be good to have the 'Pioneer Pin' again) I still eat my chips with vinegar .Did you ever go to the Pictures in Listowel ?

snow scorpion · 23-09-2005 1:17am

Those guys are looking in Beasley's gift shop?

Last time I was in Ballyb, Beasley's gift shop was across the street from the Central Hotel. The outside was painted a sort of pale yellow. As I recall, it was the gray building you see on the left in this picture.

snow scorpion · 23-09-2005 1:38am

The Building on the left was Miss Hawney's Guest House ( mostly took in Priests) The 2 guys on the right looking in the window are looking into Beasley's gift shop, on the left of them was DANA'S a newsagents/gift/candy shop. On the Right of them was J.J.OCarrols ( seen in another photo). On the Left of the 50's photo next to the fancy railings lived the Buckleys ( they owned the Limerick Leader Newspaper), then next to that was Shorti's Pub ( also known as the BUNKER).

Back to the 50's photo:The building on the right with the flag was the CENTRAL BALLROOM and on the left of that was the Central Hotel ( now all torn down and the GOLF HOTEL is there now). The Golf Hotel was at one time called the AMBASSADOR. A couple of doors up from that was the Post Office.
I do thank ALFASUDCRAZY for all the up to date photos.I have not see the 'new' supermarket ,also the Apartments ( probably where the Post Office is).A wet day in Ballybunion can be a dreary day, especially in the Summer- nothing to do but he Bumpers and Casinos!

I'm going to have to draw a map of all that. When I get that done, I'll have some more questions for you.

Alfa was an absolute godsend with those pictures. I haven't seen the town since 1978. I hope he wanders back to this thread one of these days with more pictures. (I would kill to see a few pics of Ahafona and up the Doon Road.) I think I might have scared him off with my huge barrage of questions on page 2.

As far as getting on the board, that happens to me, too. Sometimes the site pops up on the monitor really fast, but most of the time it's fairly slow. I don't know why. You'd think the page would load fairly quickly since it's almost all text.

Gleasures? Was that the chip van at the entrance to the unpaved lot the buses used as the end of their route? I spent more than "a few bob" there. I remember Denny's sausages costing 4p. each. (Alfa says that lot is a shopping mall now. He posted a picture of it on page 1. I can't quite make out the name of the supermarket. It looks like "Super Value."

I never went to the pictures in Listowel, and I only went once in Bally. I forget what the movie was, but I think the theater was behind the small casino on the north side of Main Street.

Do you know about Radio Kerry?

http://www.radiokerry.ie/index1.php

Three small radio stations broadcasting simultaneously aroound the Kingdom and on the internet! All Kerry, all the time. It's very cool! :cool:

SandhillRoad · 23-09-2005 3:07am

Hello SnowScorpion.
Yes I do listen to Radio Kerry now and then also some Dublin radio Station.It's comforting to hear the Kerry brogue and mentions of places, especially the stores either in Tralee or Listowel. Also ther mention of Kerry place names.Plus the news and talk shows.
I read KERRYSEYE, The KERRYMAN, LIMERICK LEADER AND IRISH INDEPENDANT and some UK Newspapers on the net.
Gleasure was a bit further down, They Owned the ANCHORAGE a B&B and dining room, the Chipper was on the front left of the property. The Gleasure family came from Listowel and had a business in The Square before moving to Ballybunion.A great and kind family.
SUPER VALUE may be the name of the supermarket- I think it is a supermarket chain.
The grey building may have been, in 1978 ,BEASLEYS,I always knew it as CISSY MACKS. My uncle and aunt used to go to the pub next door (RAILWAY BAR) . The pub was then owned by Mr.D. Clancy and his wife Marguerite. He had a farm up Doon Road
I read somewhere where DOON CHURCH was recently sold.
Also I saw on eBay where a Ballybunion guy had a golf ball up for sale that Clinton lost when he was playing golf in BallyB. Starting bid was $5000, I think. Never followed up to see if he had any takers.I did see where the bronze golf ball from the statue was stolen ( as said in an earlier thread). I thought they had moved the statue further down towards the Castle Green.
I once saw ( in 1979) a play of John B Keanes; "THE BUDS OF BALLYBUNION" acted out on the street and the ending scenes were acted near the Castle Green.
I hope ALFASUDCRAZY does not desert the BALLYBUNION thread.At the top of the town and 2 doors from the Barracks , down Main Street,is a Restaurant owned by my old friends 'Bubbles' and Donald Riordan and next door is the Exchange Bar owned by Chris and Christine Hellard.
I am sure thre are a lot of changes since I was last there in 1999.
There are talks of new Hotel and condos.Any questions I will try to answer.

snow scorpion · 25-09-2005 12:19am

It's comforting to hear the Kerry brogue

Isn't it, though. My favorite show is Terrace Talk with Weeshie Fogarty. He has a pure Kerry brogue. He's on Monday afternoons from 1-3 PM. I especially like it when he's trying to get someone's attention and he almost barks at them, "Come here to me now!" If I had a dollar for every time someone barked that at me as a kid, well ....

There's another show I heard only a couple times ... a half hour show that gives advice to farmers ... planting crops ... caring for the livestock, that sort of thing. The host asks questions and a Kerry farmer answers them. That farmer sounds like half my relatives!

I've never heard of Kerry's Eye, I'll have to go looking for it.

The Chipper! That's the place I remember. I don't remember the bus stop being as big as it looks in Alfa's photo, but it has been a long time since I saw it in person.

I saw, too, Doon Church being sold, but I haven't a clue where Doon Church is - and I have relatives living on Doon Road.

Alfa is a cop working (and I assume living) in Tralee. He says he loves driving so maybe he'll post some more pictures of the town.

There are two questions I've been wondering about. When I was a kid and we went to Ireland, usually the first stop we made when we went "into the village" was stop at a shop for Wellingtons for my brother and me. Sneakers on a farm ... not a very good idea. Anyway, the shop was a general store of some kind. I can't remember the name but it was very close to those 4 shops in Alfa's second pic (the one show Clinton's back.) Mikey-Joe's Irish American bar was right around there as well. Do you have any idea what the name of the general store might have been?

Also, where is this Tintean Theatre? The website says it's on Main Street, but where? Somewhere down the East End?

SandhillRoad · 25-09-2005 2:26am

Snowscorpion ,attached photo of Listowel to Listowel thread
that is what market day looked like. If I remember right there were horse sales on market street. On the same day I do not remember.
_______________________________
Back to things at hand: the store you bought the wellingtons was JIMMY LYNCHE'S. Jimmy passed away some years ago.They sold all kinds of items for the house( wallpaper, tablecloths, glassware etc), as well as shoes and wellingtons, socks, jumpers etc .
Jimmy was also the undertaker - at funerals he is said to have passed the Priest the Holy Water (for the blessings) in a bottle. But what the small bottle was, was an old whiskey bottle with the lable peeled off !It did contain Holy Water.

Here at Church in town I used to sit by a lady who lived at Lynches probably over 40 years ago. She was a cousin of theirs from Cork. So years after Jimmy Lynch had passed away, when i was in BallyB I went to visit his widow on behalf of this lady.
From ALFASUDSY's photo I think Lynch's is on the right of the stone house, if that is so I see that Lynches might have a 'For Sale' sign jutting out from the building between the upstairs windows.
I do not know where the Tintean Theatre is. I don't think it was there in 1999 during my last visit.

The last time I spent a long length of time in BallyB was in 1979 for 4 months.
. In the meantime I have been home every couple of years- but stayed in Listowel-, the last been for a week in 1999.Since the late 1980s my family no longer lived in BallyB. ,the house was sold.

snow scorpion · 25-09-2005 4:36pm

snow scorpion · 25-09-2005 5:07pm

1-16
2-10

snow scorpion · 25-09-2005 5:22pm

£73.35 for The Buds of Ballybunion? :eek: I'm not that interested in reading it

SandhillRoad · 25-09-2005 7:11pm

It a hefty price to pay, I am sure it could be found cheaper in Listowel. Anything by John B. Keane is worth the read.

Did you see the movie "The Field"?

I have some of John B. Keanes books that are autographed by the man himself back from 1960s-1990s
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7 West Market Street (corner opposite Beekman Hotel)
Rhinebeck
New York. 12572 USA
(845)876-5555
Thursday- Monday 10:00AM - 5:00PM

sheehyantiques@msn.com ( mention BOARDS.IE in subject line of email)
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We sell :
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At Grand Central Station take the AMTRAK train to RHINECLIFF ( a very nice 1 1/2 hour trip along the Hudson River- sit on the left side of train for the best views)
at RHINECLIFF take a Taxi ( approx$6.) the short 2 1/2 mile trip into the village of Rhinebeck.

We are located smack in the middle of town at the traffic light. on the NW Corner.
____________________________________
Rhinebeck has wonderful restaurants , boutiques, treelined streets, and homes.
We are near the Aerodrome, Hudson River Mansions, FDR Library,Winerys, Farms ( you will need a car to get to these).
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Come visit for the day or longer and see what small town USA is like.
The oldest operating Beekman Arms Hotel is across the street from the store. Also Motels and B & Bs.

SandhillRoad · 26-09-2005 3:55pm

Doon road has changed a lot more private houses houses been built and summer chalets . On Google Earth it is amazing to see the amount of caravan parks. I see in one ALFASUDCRACY photos where a car is parked ON the double yellow line ( looks like it is in front of the Golf Hotel( there is, I think, a Bank Branch there on the corner of the building. Licence plate in full view.

snow scorpion · 27-09-2005 12:34am

SandhillRoad wrote:

Doon road has changed a lot more private houses houses been built and summer chalets . On Google Earth it is amazing to see the amount of caravan parks. I see in one ALFASUDCRACY photos where a car is parked ON the double yellow line ( looks like it is in front of the Golf Hotel( there is, I think, a Bank Branch there on the corner of the building. Licence plate in full view.

You mean 05 - KY - 422?

That's Alfa's car!

I know what you mean about the caravans. The last time I was in Ballybunion all those cars on the right side of Main Street - East End, that was an open field (whoever it belonged to.)

I check for updates at Google Earth every couple weeks or so hoping those high-res pictures will go out the Listowel Road, along "the upper road" as we called it, and up the Doon Road.

But the high-res pictures of Ireland are a strange patchwork, aren't they? I mean, look at the three pictures directly south of Ballybunion ... there's really not much of anything there. That's almost all farmland. But no pictures of Tralee or Listowel - places people will go to.

When I first saw some of Ballyb was in high-res, I figured Google was taking pictures of the golf course. But the pics go well beyond the golf course. And when you stop to think about what was photographed and what wasn't ... well, it's just confusing.

SandhillRoad · 27-09-2005 2:55am

Looking at the photo again he is parked in front of J.J.O'Carrols( across from him would have been the"old castle hotel") and not in front of the Golf Hotel.He was on official business for Snowscorpion!

Looking at the other photos again-the 'new' supermarket is on the left side of the street as you walk from the beach towards the Garda Station approx 1/2 the way up- See attached photo with captions ( thanks to A)

In one photo you see 2 buses ( 1 parked, 1 with lights on) behind the BUNKER Bar( the parked one would be facing The Castle Green), this is a new bus parking area to me. They used to park where the supermarket is now.
I think where the entrance to the supermarket is, right across the street was a little shop called "Green Acres".

In 1999 when I visited ( it was a wet late October evening) my old friends were either on holiday ( the season was over) or not at home. I waited in a pub ( Irish American Bar ?) for a taxi to take me back to Listowel and the first time I realized that I did not anymore have my own home to go to in Ballybunion.
I was going to go home this Christmas ( you then would have a photo of Doon), but my brother in Ireland is to visit here in Nov. Maybe next year PG..
The day" A" took his photos is just the sort of day we had here today-bleak.

snow scorpion · 27-09-2005 4:35am

SandhillRoad wrote:

He was on official business for Snowscorpion!

So nobody better mess with him!

Yeah, I remember the buses parking where the new mall is now. (Jesus, Ballybunion has a mall! Suddenly I'm feeling old.

) It wasn't even paved the last time I saw it.

I didn't go up that street very often where the buses are parked now. When we went to Doon we went up the Church Road and then up the Doon Road.

Green Acres ... Green Acres ... I don't remember that. Maybe they opened since I was there last.

JIMMIE LYNCH'S!! That's the name of the place! I've been racking my brains for months trying to remember that. Thanks, Sandhill.

I realized that I did not anymore have my own home to go to in Ballybunion.

Yikes! That's gotta be a sad feeling.

I was going to go home this Christmas ( you then would have a photo of Doon),

Cool! I tried to send an email to Alfa to tell him the thread had gone past a thousand views, but he has blocked his email so no one can get a message to him. We'll just have to wait for him to wander back this way on his own.

Last spring my brother was talking about going back for the Listowel Races, but I guess he dropped those plans.

Alfa said he took the pictures about 4:00 PM on either May 31 or June 1st.

SandhillRoad · 28-09-2005 2:22am

It would be interseting to hear from the people that are viewing your forum on BALLYBUNION.
There are lots of them !

Are they reading this in BallyB ?

Are they Golfers? Is there a BETTER place to golf?

Ex-Ballybunionites, like ourselves ? They are out there !

Where are you out there ?????????????

Yes it was extremely sad and gutwrenching not to have a home to go to in Ballybunion.It did sink in that lonely cold October night.
Mrs. Crowley taught me inListowel National School-. Once every year one of her past pupils ( I think they lived in America ?) sent back money for her to buy treats for the puipils in her class that particular year.She was avery nice lady ,"Bean Ui Cruili "("Mrs. Crowley" in Gaelic, I think the surname I spelled wrong).

snow scorpion · 29-09-2005 12:34am

Yeah!

Post something you miserable lurkers! Less of this

and more of this

The views are moving up fast, we've already gone past 1200.

I wonder is there any place we could "advertise" for people in Ballybunion to come to the thread? As far as I know, this is the biggest Irish message board on the net.

Hey, Sandhill, know what I found a little earlier today? A competitor for google earth.

http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/

I haven't downloaded it yet, but I'm hopeful they have some better pictures of north Karry.

snow scorpion · 29-09-2005 1:29am

http://www.pbase.com/terryballard/image/29016005

SandhillRoad · 29-09-2005 4:14am

Oh my God what have they done to the Castle? :eek:

:mad:

It is nothing like I remembered.

Attached is photo of how I remember it.

They did a better job on Listowel Castle.

To everyone out there:

what are your memories of Ballybunion?

Ask you Mam.Dad, Uncle, Aunt for theirs also.

Did you eat seagrass ? Perriwinkles (remember that tiny pin)?

Did you ever go for a seaweed bath at MaggiDalys ?.
Gather seaweed from the Black Rocks ?
Venture into the caves ?
Remember when you could take a short cut across the Golf Course to the beach.
Maybe find a few golf balls on the way and sell them to the caddys.
We need MEMORIES.

Let us keep the BALLYBUNION thread alive for all of those people around the world who love it and have happy memories.
Slan agus Beannacht

snow scorpion · 30-09-2005 2:40am

The castle was struck by lightning.

Christmas Day, 1999. :eek:

I have some pictures around here somewhere.

*goes into the back room*

snow scorpion · 30-09-2005 2:44am

Sandhill, this is how you remember it, right?

snow scorpion · 30-09-2005 2:50am

SandhillRoad wrote:

Oh my God what have they done to the Castle? :eek: :mad:

To everyone out there:

what are your memories of Ballybunion?

Ask you Mam.Dad, Uncle, Aunt for theirs also.

Did you eat seagrass ? Perriwinkles (remember that tiny pin)?

Did you ever go for a seaweed bath at MaggiDalys ?.
Gather seaweed from the Black Rocks ?
Venture into the caves ?
Remember when you could take a short cut across the Golf Course to the beach.
Maybe find a few golf balls on the way and sell them to the caddys.
We need MEMORIES.

Let us keep the BALLYBUNION thread alive for all of those people around the world who love it and have happy memories.
Slan agus Beannacht

Never ate seagrass. Brought perriwinkles home and set them on the wall around the front yard. Don't remember the "tiny pin" but I remember their horns.

I've been in the caves. I have pictures - actual photos - around here. If I can find them, I'll scan them.

Didn't wander down to the beach under the golf course too often. I was usually on the other side of the castle.

I do remember the Nine Daughter's Hole. Last time I saw it, there wasn't even a fence around it! :eek:

SandhillRoad · 30-09-2005 4:10am

Yes that is how I remembered the Castle Green.Never heard about the lightning strike. So they saved what they could, but they probably could have restored it

The 'Tiny Pin ', they gave you so you could eat the perriwinkles like escargot.

Haven't heard of the Nine Daughters Hole in years.
Did you ever walk from the Castle Green to the Cashen?
A long walk along the beach on the edge of the golf course

When one could walk freely across the golf links was many years ago,

Many a life was lost in the caves due to the tide and people were not out of the caves in time .I did venture in sometime but we were always warned.

A beautiful beach when the tide was out.

reic · 30-09-2005 6:35pm

Aerial shot of Ballybunion.

snow scorpion · 30-09-2005 11:07pm

reic wrote:

Aerial shot of Ballybunion.

reic!!

Excellent!

Where did you get that?

reic · 01-10-2005 5:25am

From my daughter's geography school book!!

SandhillRoad · 01-10-2005 3:42pm

Thanks REIC,

SNOWSCORPION:
now you can see a little of DOON ROAD.
REIC any possibility of Listowel in the geography book ?

I must have been a seagull in my past life as I can read the aerial view better from the Atlantic side.

reic · 01-10-2005 5:27pm

Unfortunately, no pic of Listowel.

snow scorpion · 01-10-2005 11:05pm

That pic is so freakin' cool!!

The Ballybunion thread

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