History - Thurles Information

“Nellie Keane’s Boxed Doll” – Short Story By Poet & Author Tom Ryan.

In Thurles, in the 1920’s, there lived a little girl on ‘Pudding Lane and Jail Street’, (Today’s Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa Street). She would grow up to become a Thurles trader.

I remember, when I was a boy, my father John Joe; trading on the side-walks of Liberty Square on what was known as ‘The Bank Corner’, situated at the junction of Liberty Square and Slievenamon Road in the town. My father traded in cabbage plants, fish on Friday’s and vegetables shared from my uncle’s cart.

There, too, traded Nellie Keane, who later went on to have own a vegetable shop in West Gate, where her daughter, Phil Keane, would also carry on a business and a tradition. Phil, who lived in Derheen, had the heart of a poet.

Nellie was twelve years old, and showing early signs of her entrepreneurial skills by doing messages for her mother in Nan Noonan’s shop in Liberty Square, where Scanlon’s newsagents later existed until recently.

On Christmas Eve, down in Noonan’s News agency, Little Nellie Keane was, like all the children in town at Christmas, gazing at the large number of asses, ponies, jennets and carts in town, enabling people to bring home their Christmas goods, which, back then, would include a ‘Hansel’*

[* Hansel – From old Saxon word meaning “to deliver into the hand”, latter being a small gift given at the end or beginning of the year to bring good luck from traders; a practise long since discontinued.]

Everybody was alive with the spirit of Christmas and toasting the spirit of the grand and glorious season. And it was a good Christmas, for business was brisk and people were happy enough, after a war in Ireland and a war in Europe.

And so, that Christmas Eve, as little Nellie Keane looked into that little shop window in Liberty Square, she sighed, when she noted that all the dolls were sold. However, just before she went home, little Nellie spotted this bisque coloured doll; a doll in a box.
Nellie wondered why that particular doll on this particular day was not already sold. “What’s the matter with the doll?” she asked Nan Noonan, a kindly lady, indeed.
“Oh, but that poor doll’s eyes never open, and sure we could not sell it so,” said Nan Noonan.
But Nan observed the wonder of Christmas in the sympathetic child eyes of little Nellie Keane, and her generosity led her over to the box containing the doll with closed eyes. She then handed the boxed doll to little Nellie. She asked Nellie to look after the mysterious doll and to always have nice clothes on
it, to play with it and to keep it pretty, proper and clean.

And so, delight on her face; the boxed doll cuddled in her arms, little Nellie strolled up the side-walk of Liberty Square, in Thurles, not caring how cold and frosty it was; with the snow beginning to cast it’s magic mantle over the whole town. She turned right at the corner of Liberty Square, hugging her precious doll; keeping her warm from the blasts of icy air, absolutely and utterly convinced it was really truly a wonderful world this day in the Watery Mall and Thurles town.
As the jolly carollers sang their songs of Christmas, little Nellie Keane knew this would always be the most memorable Christmas of all for her.

But our little story does not end here. Our little Nellie went home and wondered how she might cure the sore eyes of the little boxed doll. Could there be a way of asking Santa to help the little doll? She prayed to God and Santa on that Christmas Eve, and like little children all over the world, she went to bed early that night, but without her doll. For she felt she should leave her doll downstairs in the kitchen, beside the cosy turf fire, so she would remain nice and warm in that lovely Keane home.
Little Nellie, after a long time kept watch, peering out her small bed-room window for Santa Claus, who per chance might come over the fields, from the Presentation and Ursuline Convents, finally fell asleep.

The next morning she woke up and there were sweets in her stocking. But she could not wait to open such as she rushed down the stairs to give a little hug to her little boxed doll by the fireplace.
She burst into the kitchen and the most amazing and wonderful thing met her gaze. The doll, was now sitting up on a chair by the fire, with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.
“Oh, she was cured,” shouted Nellie, as she danced around the kitchen floor in delight, having removed the doll from its box.

Nellie’s father, Johnny Keane, suspected perhaps the heat from the fire had cured the eyes, or was it the kindness and love of a little girl who now hugged and kissed her little doll, wishing her a Happy Christmas.

But our happy story is still not over, for Nellie Keane grew up to be a much-loved and very kind and popular businesswoman in the Market Town of Thurles. According to her daughter, Phil Keane, Nellie never lost her love of dolls, and always had a present of a doll for Phil herself, on returning to Thurles after trips in Ireland and abroad.
Little Nellie Keane’s daughter, Phil, an old neighbour and friend of mine since childhood, became a world famous craftworker, who designed all kinds of dolls; Indian dolls, Red Indian dolls, Chinese and Japanese dolls, designed in all shapes and sizes, colours and materials.

Phil annually presented dolls and toys to children in need, in various parts of Ireland and Britain.
“I feel it’s nice to give back something,” said Phil, who won over 7,000 awards for crafts and cookery worldwide; an interest fostered by her mother’s love of dolls and by her Aunty Jo’s interest in crafts.
“Nellie loved dolls and she bred that love in me,” Phil told me once.
Well, times have changed, and the Market House in the Square and the men and the
women with the carts of fish and vegetables, (God be good to them), have now disappeared; vanished and gone into Thurles folklore.
I am sure that in the town of Thurles there are many little children now writing to Santa Claus, reminding parents not to forget to post their letters. And, though times and customs have changed, I’m sure that the innocence of childhood has not vanished with the years.
In a way, it would be nice to think that even some of the parents are not buying dolls for the children alone – but secretly for themselves, and, maybe, they’ll find out, like Nellie Keane all those years ago, through the kindness of a shopkeeper in Liberty Square, that there is magic and joy in even the
most bruised and broken toy.

Happy Christmas to ye, all!

Today Was Rememberence Day.

Remembrance Day (or Poppy Day) is observed annually, on November 11th, to recall the end of the First World War and all of its associated hostilities.
Back then, these hostilities were ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” of the year 1918″, at Compiègne, Northern France, following the armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the alliance of states, between 5:12am and 5:20am on that morning.
Its purpose also is to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. It was on the 7th. November 1919, King George V first issued a proclamation which called for a two-minute silence, having read a letter published in the London Evening News of May 8th, 1919, by a Melbourne journalist, Edward George Honey. It was Mr Honey who first proposed a two minute silence in memory of those, who so willingly sacrificed their lives for the relative peace and freedom we sadly no longer enjoy today, [I refer to in particular, the situations in Gaza, Israel, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere].

King George V’s proclamation of 1919 read “All locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead”.

Thurles WW1 Dead
Meanwhile, here in Thurles on today, let us never forget some 73 soldiers, including Victoria Cross recipients; all who were residents of the Thurles area and who lost their lives during WW1.

Anderson John, – Beirne John, – Bermingham Patrick, – Bourke James, – Brett Timothy, – Butler John, – Byrne Patrick, – Carroll Martin, – Carroll Thomas, – Carty John, – Cassidy John, – Cleary Joseph, – Cleary Patrick, – Cleary Thomas, – Coady Edward, – Coady Joseph, – Coady Richard, – Coffey Michael, – Cooke Henry F, – Cooney David, – Cummins John, – Conway Denis, – Cunningham John V.C., – Cunningham Patrick, – Cusack Oliver, – Dea Patrick, – Dwyer Cornelius, – Egan Martin, – Fitzpatrick Joseph, – Gouldsborough Patrick, – Griffin Thomas, – Hackett Martin, – Hanrahan Daniel, – Hayes Daniel, – Hayes Thomas, – Hennessey Thomas, – Horan Joseph, – Jordan Denis, – Kelly James, – Kelly William, – Kennedy Matthew, – Kiely Owen, – Knox Hubert Lt Col., – Knox William Lt Col., – Lawyer Joseph, – Maher Frank, – Maher James, – Maher James Bernard, – Maher John, – McCormack Francis, – McCormack Thomas, – McLoughlin James J, – Meany James, – Mockler Patrick, – Moyler George, – O’Brien Lawrence, – O’Grady Patrick, – O’Shea John, – Power Michael, – Purcell Philip, – Quinlan Joseph, – Ryan Andrew, – Ryan James, – Ryan John, – Ryan Martin, – Ryan Michael, – Ryan Patrick, – Scally Patrick, – Shields Matthew, – Stapleton John, – Sullivan Patrick, – Terry Timothy, – Walsh James.

In all, at least 50,000 families in Ireland were affected by the loss of a loved one, during the First World War.

Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC (1886-1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier himself decorated for bravery on the Western Front and who became one of the leading poets of World War I.
His poetry clearly described the horrors of trench warfare and satirizes the patriotic pretensions of those who, in his view, are responsible for war, fuelled by nationalism, in the form of aggressive, proactive foreign policy.

In honour of ‘Remembrance Day’, we, hereunder, feature one of Siegfried Sassoon poems; the title of which is sadly, rarely spoken about.

Suicide In The Trenches

I knew a simple soldier boy,
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed* and glum,
With crumps* and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye,
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know,
The hell where youth and laughter go.

End

Cowed* Meaning ‘Intimidated’. Crumps* Meaning ‘exploding shells’.

“Truck” Returned To Stone Man On Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

The finial (from Latin: finis, meaning end), which originally donned the flag on the 1798 memorial statue when it was first erected on Liberty Square, Thurles in 1901, has now, at last been, replaced.

**Pic (1)**: **1798 Memorial Flag with finical replaced**.
**Pic (2)**: **Old picture showing original finical prior to accident**.

Accidently broken, together with the tip of the Arming Sword, during the erection of Christmas lighting some years back; while the Arming Sword tip was replaced, alas the finial was not and same vanished.

Back in the 19th century, this finial shape would have been better known as a “truck”, with its original purpose meant to keep a wooden flag pole from splitting.

At the very top of every flagpole can be found a finial, which is not just a decorative piece that users construct. Most finials today appear in the form of a gold ball and a few are observed as an eagle.
Back on September 16th 1898 the flag pole finial on the White House, latter located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. United States, was replaced by a patriotic eagle, same made of aluminium and coated in a gold anodized finish.

A finial ball is truly required for pole maintenance. A number of military flagpoles were at one time topped with gold-coloured eagles, but these proved impractical because flags would become entangled and torn, during high winds; hence the switch to spheres shapes, which eliminated this unnecessary waste and expense.

In the absence of the Stone Mans finical, many local people in Thurles believed the flag pole represented a pike, but of course it never was a pike.

The new finical is made from a left over piece of lime stone slab, which was used to replace a badly cracked piece of limestone previously, in Holycross Abbey, and carved by stonemason and sculptor Mr Philip Quinn.

Corroded 100 Year-old Grenade Located In Tipperary.

A badly corroded 100 year-old grenade located near the monument at Solohead in South West Co. Tipperary was removed to a safe location where it was destroyed in a controlled explosion on Friday last, September 22nd, by the Irish Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

**Corroded** ‘**Mills Bomb’, a fully intact ‘Mills Bomb’ and their inventor English engineer Sir William Mills**.

The corroded device located by Tipperary County Council staff carrying out road repairs, resembled an MK I time-fused fragmentation hand grenade, latter used during the early years of World War I.
The device, according to its original designer, was then the simplest, yet most fool-proof grenade ever manufactured and replaced the existing cast-iron canister, latter set on an 18-inch stick, which was dangerous to use because it often got caught on trench fronts, when lobbed.
However, the MK I was retired from active use before the war ended, and was replaced in 1918 with the improved Mk 2 grenade used through the period of World War II.

Known by a more popular name, the “Mills bomb”, this series of British hand grenades, were used by British and Imperial forces, having been designed by English engineer Sir William Mills, (24th April 1856 – 7th January 1932) who also gave us our aluminium golf clubs, known as Metallic Golfing Instrument Heads.
Some 75,000,000 of these World War I Mills Bomb grenades were manufactured, with their four-second time fuses, allowing the thrower to easily take cover before they exploded.

Numerous, similar devices are located every year here in Ireland, with one such grenade device located in the Rosemount area of Thurles, in February 2018.
On November 16th, 2017, two men, one from Cahir, Co. Tipperary and the other from Clonmel in Co. Tipperary, were arrested having in their possession two fragmentation grenades.
On the 14th of May 2020 a Mills bomb, dating back about 100 years was made safe by the Irish Army having been discovered at Harold’s Cross bridge in Dublin, while on Wednesday 6th of March 2015, a man located a grenade Mills bomb at his home while out gardening in Newtown Lawns, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Earlier on September 22nd, 2009, a World War II ‘Mills Bomb’ was found in Cahir, Co. Tipperary.
In 2016 in the small village of Aughrim in Co. Galway another such device was located, and on Tuesday May 21st 2013 a Mills Grenade was discovered by people digging at their home in Crosshaven, Co Cork.

Most of these devices were brought smuggled home by Irish men who had joined the British Army to fight enemies on the front during World War I, and retained for intended use during Ireland’s fight for Independence, in the years 1916-22. Unused they were hidden away in private sheds or buried, to be located by future generations.

“Murderous Mary” Hanged 106 Years Ago This Month.

It happened this month (on September 13th), 107 years ago, in 1916. Mary, also known as “Big Mary” and “Murderous Mary” was hanged after killing circus employee Mr Walter Red” Eldridge.

The Mary in question was a five-ton Asian elephant who was trained to performed at the Sparks World Famous Shows Circus and was hanged in the Erwin Rail Yard, in Steuben County, New York, United States.
Mr Eldridge was murdered by her some 9.5 hours away in Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee, while on his second day only, employed as her handler.

The star of Sparks World Famous Shows had been “Big Mary”, latter a giant Asian elephant advertised By Charles Sparks on his circus posters as “The Largest Living Land Animal on Earth”.
Mary had been purchased by his Charles Sparks’ father in 1898, when she was four years old and Charles Sparks claimed she weighed over 5 tons and stood 3 inches taller than “Jumbo”, latter the star elephant of the rival Barnum and Bailey Circus. Crowds were enthralled as Mary performed tricks which included playing musical instruments; pitching a baseball and standing on her head.

On September 11th, 1916, a homeless man of whom little is known, named “Red” Eldridge, who had initially landed a part-time job as a transient hotel clerk, was hired as an unqualified elephant keeper by the Sparks circus.

Eldridge was killed by “Big Mary” the following evening. Earlier that day, Mr Eldridge had led the elephant parade, from the front, while riding on top of Mary’s back. Later, while being led to a watering ditch between shows by Eldridge, a witness to the murder, one Mr W. H. Coleman, would later recount that his handler had prodded “Big Mary” behind her ear with a hook, after she had reached down to nibble on a discarded watermelon rind. “Big Mary” suddenly appeared to go into a rage, snatching Eldridge with her trunk, before flinging him against a drink stand and then stepped on his head, crushing him.

Later, contemporary newspaper reports, would sensationally claim that “Big Mary” had “sunk her giant tusks entirely through the body of Mr Eldridge. The animal then trampled his dying form, as if seeking a murderous triumph, then with a sudden swing of her massive foot hurled his body into the crowd”. However, of course female Asian Elephants do not grow tusks and only some male Asian elephants have tusks. Most accounts agree that she calmed down afterwards and did not charge onlookers, who began chanting “Kill the elephant! Let’s kill it.”

As crowds screamed and ran for their lives, while a local blacksmith, Mr Hench Cox, tried to kill “Big Mary”, by firing five gun shots, but the bullets bounced off the thick hide of “Big Mary”.
Kingsport officials quickly apprehended the now injured animal and staked her outside the county jail, where onlookers again gathered.

Meanwhile, the leaders of several nearby towns threatened not to allow the circus to visit, if “Murderous Mary” was included in any further shows. In those days rogue elephants who injured or killed handlers could quietly have their names changed and sold to another circus.
The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the potentially ruinous situation was to kill the wounded elephant in public.
On the following foggy and rainy day, September 13th, 1916, Mary was transported by rail to Unicoi County, Tennessee, where a crowd of over 2,500 people including most of the town’s children assembled in the Clinchfield Railroad yard. Clinchfield had huge, 100-ton derricks they used to unload lumber off their freight cars. Due to flooding Clinchfield refused to send a derrick car all the way to Kingsport, so Charlie Sparks moved his circus south to Clinchfield’s headquarters and repair facilities in Erwin, Tennessee.

In an effort to calm “Murderous Mary”, it was decided to have her walk to the derrick with the other elephant herd, trunk to tail, like they did most every day. When “Big Mary” reached the derrick, circus semi-skilled labourers quickly chained her legs to the rail to keep her still, while the other elephants were led out of sight to avoid observing the horrible event that was about to commence.
By now a silence had fallen across the large assembled crowd gathered, as one of the circus labourers threw the derrick’s chain around the neck of “Murderous Mary’, before fitting the end through a steel ring, before signalling the derrick operator to hoist her up.

The first attempt at hanging, with “Big Mary” struggling resulted in the chain snapping, causing her to fall and break her hip. Her screams sent dozens of adults and children fleeing in terror. Having fixed a second more heavy chain and with Mary now fighting less as the derrick hoisted her into the air it took just a few minutes for the severely wounded Asian elephant to die. The now deceased “Murderous Mary” was buried in a large pre-prepared hole beside the railway tracks, but not before having been examined by a veterinarian who determined that she had a severely infected tooth in the precise spot where Red Eldridge had prodded her with a hook.