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Cathal Kelly - Still Tickling The Ivories at 83
by Eamonn O'Loghlin
At this stage of the game, Cathal doesn't have to bring his rubber bands and thumb tacks with him when he plays the pianos at his local Legion or beloved Galway Arms.
Kilkenny man Darren Holden (of Mooncoin), star of the Billy Joel musical, "Movin' Out", with Cathal Kelly - Christmas 2005 @ P.J. O'Brien's, Toronto.
Back in 1941 during 'The Emergency', he and his band, 'The Black Diamonds' from Castlecomer used to cycle the roads of north Kilkenny and even as far afield as Leix and Carlow. Just about every piano needed some band-aid work before he could take his place with the saxophones, trumpets and accordions in what became known as 'The Bad Kidney Band'. It was like this - all the boys enjoyed a few pints and throughout the night at any given time, there were only half the band members on stage, the other half was in the bar. The only time they all seemed to be together was for the National Anthem and of course to collect the pound that they each got for the night. The trek home was always a challenge with the instruments stored in an ice cream cart that was pulled after the bicycles. One night they lost control going down Coon Hill and all the instruments ended up battered and bruised in the ditch. No doubt they felt like a couple of rough diamonds after that episode.
The Black Diamonds had gotten their name from the coal mines of Castlecomer where at one time over 500 miners were digging for the black gold. This was the domain of Captain R.C. Prior Wandesforde, descended from Cromwellian transplants. He owned the town, the coalmine and just about everything else around Castlecomer, including O'Ceallaigh's (Kelly's) grocery shop (estd. 1901) where Cathal grew up. Cathal's father also owned an old fashioned bakery with an oven that would take 30 faggots (bundles of wood) at a time to make a batch of bread. In those days woodsmen would sell you a 100 faggots for fourteen shillings. Cathal had three brothers and a sister Brid who died very young at age six. Eamon was a confectioner in Dublin and also died young at 31. Diarmuid also plied the confectionery trade in Castlecomer and Seamus immigrated to Canada in the early '50's.
Having completed National School in Castlecomer, Cathal headed for St. Kieran?s, Kilkenny's famous hurling nursery. He had five tough years as a boarder ahead of him including a few floggings from the then President, Dr. Staunton who later became Bishop of Ferns. He tried hard at the hurling but was not Harty Cup or County calibre like his friends, the famed Nicky Rackard and Tommy Maher. He recalls the cuisine of St. Kieran's that included 'Brown Larry & Snake Juice', a type of stale bread with dressing and the extra butter you would get when you served mass - as if you had a choice. In those days St. Kieran's was segregated into the regular population and the "150 Cleassie's" the Stuachain's who were heading for the priesthood'.
The German Professor of Music, Professor Koss, who may have been a musician but was not a teacher, could not stifle the young Kelly's musical talents so Cathal started to learn the piano by ear from one of his friends instead. He also had an eight-piece mouth organ band from confiscated instruments and was known to sing in concerts such songs as 'The Cuckoo'. He narrowly escaped being expelled when he and three colleagues went over the wall and were apprehended.
After finishing in St. Kieran's in 1941 Cathal returned to work at the home business. He joined the Garda Siochana in 1943 and headed for the Blackpool area of Cork City where he was to meet his wife Esther from Dillon's Cross - one of eight girls in the Nolan family. While he was stationed on the Mallow Road, he saved an 11-year-old boy from drowning in the River Lee and he received an award from the Royal Humane Society, signed by the King of England. Cathal enjoyed Cork and the people but his dedication to duty was lukewarm. Chief superintendent Frank Burke in his annual report observed that "crime in the district appears to have disappeared since the advent of Garda Kelly". He wasn't being complimentary. Cathal left the Garda in 1945 and returned to the family grocery and marriage to Esther in 1947. However, after the war, the business started to go down with the advent of supermarkets and lorries selling produce in the square. Life however wasn't all work and no play. At this time he managed to get his golf handicap down to 12 and he was also quite the tennis player. He participated in many local plays and variety shows namely, Buckshot Biddy, Kathleen Mavourneen, Professor Tim and Wigs on the Green where he had to dress up as a woman. The local Canon certainly didn't approve of that scenario. Jokingly, Cathal figures he might have been the first transvestite in Castlecomer but probably not the last.
The writing was on the wall however and Cathal headed for England in 1954 on the mail boat and got a job in London in a wholesale grocery. He later moved to Birmingham and worked on the buses, at Fry's Cadbury and for Nutfield Metal products producing car bodies. He ended up back in London working for Firestone Tires. During these years Cathal and Esther had three of their four children, Loreto, Brendan and Finbar, all born in Castlecomer and delivered by the affable Dr. Joe Dunne. Many in Toronto's Irish community will know Dr. Dunne's daughter, our own Eithne Heffernan.
In 1956 the Kelly's decided to head for Canada and a new life. The Greek liner Neptunia took eight days to Quebec City. During the voyage, Cathal played the piano for the Irish Music nights and met a life long friend in Dubliner, Johnny Nolan who was also heading to Canada for fame and fortune. Johnny passed away in 1998 and Cathal played the piano at his wake in the Galway Arms.
After taking the train to Toronto, Cathal, Esther and the three young children lived for a while with Cathal's brother, Seamus who resided on Algonquin Island. They later moved to Centre Island and then to Perth Avenue in the city proper.
Cathal got his first job with CN where he was loading and unloading trailers. The system allowed him to bid on various jobs, and after working in many departments through the years he spent his last 12 years in the Rate & Pricing department. During his 30 years with CN he was heavily involved with the union, especially Local 76 of C.B.R.T. and the area council. Due to the difficulty they had in pronouncing his name everybody called him Carl. He became the founding editor of the union newsletter "Forward - 76" which he fronted until he retired in 1986. He got to travel from coast to coast representing the union at various conventions and enjoyed the experiences and activities. But there were other memories as when Local 76 adopted a little girl from Honduras under the Foster Parents Plan. Her name was Rosaminta Sanchez and he still has letters written in Spanish and pictures of this little girl taken 25 years ago. He was proud of Rosaminta and proud of Local 76.
The fourth and youngest member of the clan, Margaret, was born in Long Branch and when Cathal worked the afternoon shift, Esther got a part time job at the Robert Simpson Company - Simpson's. Sadly, Esther passed away in 1998, however, all the kids are close by and he has six grandchildren who he sees regularly. Up to recently he visited Ireland every two years and he has great travel memories from Hawaii, Paris, Lisbon and London. Cathal is the current President of the County Kilkenny Association and he has been proud to march with the Black & Amber since the early days of the Parade. He loves to socialize, enjoys the craic and is a voracious reader. If you drop into the Galway Arms during the March celebrations, you're bound to see Cathal tickling the ivories. One of his favourites is, "Ryan's Daughter", and what a job he makes of it. His saxophone may be still at the bottom of Coon Hill and his confiscated mouth organ covered in dust in the halls of St. Kieran's, however, this sprightly 83 year old is still playing by ear (only one good ear now), no thanks to Professor Koss, or the Bishop of Ferns.