No April Fool: Hans Liebherr of Kaufbeuren and Killarney
‘Just a master bricklayer’ – Hans Liebherr’s description of himself[1] Hans Liebherr was born on 1st April 1915 in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, one of three children (one boy and two girls) of Wilhelm Liebherr (1883-1916) and Matilda Arnold (1890-1969). His father was killed in the First World War and his mother remarried in 1922 to master […]
Cottage and Castle: Sizing up History at Coolcurtoga
Flesk Castle, Killarney dates to circa 1809.[1] Its origins are associated with the Coltsmann family, butter merchants of Northumberland stock, who established themselves in Kerry as landlords.[2] Its construction is attributed to John Coltsmann junior Esq, the only son of John Coltsmann Esq of London and Killarney. His achievement was described in an obituary composed […]
‘Words will not Come’: A Tribute to Jeremiah Joseph O’Connor (1877-1957)
I am an old man, sitting under my apple tree. Friends come to see me and get me to talk. They wheedle tales of the past out of me and press me to write them down … I capitulate and desert the apple tree for the desk to write the autobiography which will put an […]
Coolcurtoga: A Story of Ireland
‘We walk on their ground’ On 29 April 1892, the Casey family of Coolcurtoga, near Glenflesk, Co Kerry were evicted.[1] One hundred and thirty years on, the story of this family is told by Mary O’Donoghue of Coolcurtoga who lives and farms there with her husband Sean. Mary, who is now a grandmother, […]
James Blennerhassett Leslie, Ecclesiastic and Historian
Rev Canon James Blennerhassett Leslie, MA, D.Litt, MRIA, died at his home, Tigh Beg, Haddington Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin on Sunday 20 April 1952. He was in his 87th year. Rev Canon Leslie had enjoyed a distinguished career as cleric: He obtained his BA at the Royal University of Ireland in 1888, and his […]
A Sketch of Coolclogher House, Killarney
Castleisland District Heritage has kindly been granted access to Coolclogher House Visitor Book 1950-1961. Coolclogher House, otherwise known as South Hill, Killarney, Co Kerry, is an eighteenth century residence built on the former Herbert Estate, and designed in the manner of Muckross House. Its construction, according to former owner, Mr Hilliard, was in stages: […]
Puedes Creerlo! Campamento Memoir finds home in Castleisland
We didn’t choose which side to be on, as almost no one did in that war – Spanish Civil War Baby[1] Castleisland District Heritage is hardly the place where you would expect to find a memoir about the Spanish Civil War. A copy of the recently published Spanish Civil War Baby, however, has been kindly […]
‘Go to bed, you fools!’ – A Tribute to Fr Patrick Joseph Hartigan (1878-1952)[1]
‘He is the right settler’s poet. If he has not yet been called the Australian Kipling, he will be’ – Montrose Standard, 1922[2] This year (2021) marks the centenary of Around the Boree Log, a collection of verse by Irish-Australian poet Fr Patrick Joseph Hartigan (1878-1952) parish priest of Narrandera, New South Wales, whose […]
Tears and Smiles: Killarney Memoir has Castleisland links
Big Boys Don’t Cry, a book by Ted O’Shea of Muckross, Co Kerry, has just been added to the archive of Castleisland District Heritage.[1] The work provides information on O’Shea genealogy with interesting links to the Ahern family of Castleisland. It traces how the author’s great grandfather, James O’Shea, went as a teenager to […]
Dicksgrove: Notes on the Families of Meredith and Coltsmann
Dicksgrove, near Castleisland, was long synonymous with the family of Meredith, landlords there since the early eighteenth century.[1] Indeed, Richard Meredith (1739-1821), who planted, built upon, and improved the estate, is said to have named Dicksgrove after himself.[2] Meredith’s improvements were said to have been made on the site of ‘the Bailleagh forfeiture.’[3] This […]
