05/02/2026
Well said Eamon đź‘Źđź‘Źđź‘Ź
A few evenings ago I was outside The Shebeen between pints of Guinness, having a cigarette, and like always happens in Listowel conversation started.
Someone said something I’ve heard more than once:
“Listowel isn’t what it used to be. Back in the day there were 50 plus pubs in the town. Now there’s only a small handful. The place is dead or dying.”
I understand the emotion behind that. If you measure the life of a town purely by how many pints are pulled every night, then yes Listowel has changed. And yes, pub numbers have fallen a lot over the decades, with reporting over the years pointing to a big drop from the past era to far fewer today.
But here’s where I wholeheartedly disagree.
A town having fewer pubs does not mean it’s dying.
Sometimes it means it’s becoming more than one thing.
Because Listowel today isn’t just a town for the nightly Guinness. It’s increasingly a town where people aged 8 to 80 can find something that suits them, culture, food, music, shopping, coffee, community.
And when you look at Listowel through that lens, the truth is simple:
Listowel isn’t dying. Listowel is evolving.
A proper cultural town not just “we like to think we are”
We’re not pretending to be cultural we’re proving it.
Listowel Writers' Week is Ireland’s oldest literary and arts festival, founded in 1970 with the first festival 1971.
St John's Theatre & Arts Centre a converted 19th-century Gothic church in the Square programmes music, theatre, film, literature and visual art right in the heart of town.
Listowel Races continues to be a major festival week for the town, with the Harvest Festival a huge anchor event.
A dead town doesn’t keep a cultural calendar like that alive. A town that’s dying doesn’t keep bringing people in for stories, shows, and festival atmosphere.
The real heartbeat: independent businesses
If you want to know if a town is alive, don’t start at closing time. Start on a weekday morning. Start on a Saturday afternoon. Look at the streets, the windows, the places people browse and meet.
Listowel has independents that would do any town proud:
Woulfe's Independent Bookshop, a traditional independent bookshop in a town that still values books and ideas.
McGillicuddy's Toy Shop, a genuine institution in the town, part of every Listowel childhood.
Harp And Lion Antiques, antiques and vintage, proper treasure-hunting, the kind of shop that gives a town character and keeps people browsing.
Prifma by Eileen , plants, interiors and boutique homeware: modern retail with taste, right in the centre of town.
The Taelane Store Listowel, an independent fashion destination in Listowel, open since 2006, showing that style and retail confidence belongs here too.
And we’re not missing the practical side of daily life either:
Garvey’s SuperValu, a strong local supermarket anchor, keeping shopping in town and keeping the everyday rhythm healthy.
That mix, books, toys, records, antiques, interiors, fashion, groceries, is what a functioning town centre looks like. It’s not decline. It’s resilience.
Food and coffee: you can’t fake a thriving town
Another honest marker of a healthy town is this: choice. Places people go because they want to.
Listowel has that.
Allo's Bar Bistro Townhouse, Listowel, a standout for food, atmosphere, and proper nights out that aren’t “just another pint.”
Lizzy's Little Kitchen, nutritious, locally loved, and a real example of how the town has embraced modern café culture.
Jumbo's Family Restaurant, award-winning, family-focused, and a cornerstone for locals and visitors alike.
Allie’s Coffee Shop & Bakery, brilliant coffee and homemade baking, and another reason the town centre stays alive during the day.
A dying town doesn’t sustain that. A dead town doesn’t create new habits like “meet you for coffee” or “let’s go for lunch in town.”
Live music that towns envy
This is the one we should talk about more.
Mike the Pies, is not “a pub with the odd band. It’s an award winning live venue that has made Listowel a genuine stop off for touring Irish artists and it won Overall Hot Press Venue of the Year (2019).
And then there’s the Revival Music Festival, bringing serious energy into the Square and reminding everyone what a town centre can feel like when you fill it with music and people.
That’s not a town fading. That’s a town gathering.
Soon Listowel will have its own cinema.
This is a big deal.
Planning has been granted to repurpose the former FCA/Army Reserve barracks into an entertainment centre including two cinema screens.
A cinema is a statement: more for teenagers, families, date nights, rainy Sundays, visitors, more reasons to stay local, more reasons to come into town.
And yes, no out-of-town retail park like Tralee. Good.
Retail parks pull life away from town centres. They drain footfall from main streets and squeeze independents.
Listowel still has the chance to keep something precious: a centre that’s walkable, human, local, where you meet people, you browse, you stop for a chat, you spend time.
So what’s really going on?
Listowel hasn’t died.
It has simply stopped being one dimensional.
If we only measure the town by what it was decades ago, how many pubs, how late it stayed open, how many people were out every night, we’ll always tell ourselves a story of decline.
But if we measure it by what makes a town last:
Culture and festivals,
A working town centre,
Independent shops,
Great food and coffee,
Live music and venues,
Things for families and younger people,
Reasons to meet that aren’t only alcohol…
…then Listowel is doing something right.
My ask to anyone who says “the town is gone”:
Try judging Listowel by what’s actually here.
Buy one thing locally.
Meet someone for coffee.
Bring a friend into town for lunch.
Go to a gig in Mike the Pies.
Go to a show in St John’s.
Bring a child into the toyshop.
Talk the town **up** instead of down.
Because towns don’t become something to be proud of by accident.
They become it when the people in them decide they’re worth backing.
