Kerry photo's reeling in the years moment for Listowel natives

Irish Independent

22-06-2025

Childhood days when over 60 children from nearby houses played in safe surrounds in what is known locally as 'the backway' now seems like a lost world for those who can remember it.
There are no children living in William Street or Upper William street today, and many of the businesses that once flourished there have either changed hands or changed roles.
Today, the lanes are desolate. Absent is the laughter of children and the sound of their play. But as the late John B Keane once wrote, 'A golden mellow peace forever clings along the little street.'
In fact, John B's son, also John, together with Gráinne Keane-Stack, Catherine O'Carroll, and Marie Mulvihill are captured in a famous photograph taken in 1965 in the backway. They recently returned to the exact spot to retake the photo, marking its sixtieth anniversary.
The backway is located behind Thomas Mulvihill's and John B Keane's pubs, and extends from the back gates of Mulvihill's to McKenna's yard wall. It was a perfect location for sporting events, and even driving lessons!
Football, tennis, handball, bicycle racing, jumble sales, and in later years the all-important ritual of courtship, were a feature of the lane. Marie Mulvihill recalls when the lane was a place bustling with fun, activity and friendship. In May, Marie, Gráinne, Catherine and John returned for the photograph, and in so doing they rekindled many memories.
'We lived and played during a different era back then. The backway was a welcome, safe haven where we got to hang out with the neighbours' children. For the four of us in the photos, it was a most nostalgic day to stand together again for the photograph,' Marie told The Kerryman.
Marie said 65 children regularly played in the backway at one point – all of whom were living in businesses from the top of Upper William Street to the bottom of William Street.
The famous backway boasts of All-Ireland winners and even claims rugby star Johnny Sexton whose father, Jerry, lived in William Street. Cyclist Gene Moriarty's father also sped up and down on his racing bike with children clamouring for a go on it.
'The matches would quite often be very serious events against the lads from other parts of Listowel. There was always someone kicking a ball out there, invariably losing it when it sailed up and over McKenna's high wall. We had great jumble sales, spreading out comics, dinky cars, tea sets, and pretty shook-looking dolls. Even samples of lipstick and make-up from the chemists could be bought,' Marie said.
During the school holidays, Marie recalls being ushered out to the backway, out from under her mother's feet, and not returning until dinner and tea time or when light started to fade.
'There were no cars parked there, but we used to enjoy mart and horse fair day because we would get to pet the donkeys tied to the lampposts. Sometime, misfortunate sheep would be herded down to the back gates of the three butchers shops. I vividly remember seeing mountains of intestines when I'd venture to pop in,' she recalled.
'Damien and Barbara Stack of Stack's Arcade held concerts in their furniture storeroom with entry from the back gate being a penny. We thought we were in the equivalent of a movie set, with stage and curtains, and about forty kids cheering on the older ones who sang in French, mar dhea, and especially the Eurovision winning song in whatever language they won.'
Marie concludes: 'There were very few fights, perhaps because our parents weren't far away. But the boys definitely frequently suffered the indignity of a kick in the shin if they hit a girl with a ball. They were special times for all of us. No doubt.'