Brendan Grace leads tribute to late, great character Nedeen

THOSE of a certain age in Tralee will have little difficulty remembering the sight of Needen’s blinkered jennet parked up outside The Brandon Hotel as the man himself charmed the entranced tourists to within an inch of their lives.

The term ‘character’ is all too easily bandied about these days; but when one considers the calibre of ‘Needen’ Kelliher- a more fitting term there is not.

The sight of Ned ferrying tourists along the streets of Tralee while filling them with tales to the clip-clop sound of his faithful nag is a cherished memory for Tralee folk.

While Killarney can boast of many famous jarvey men - in Tralee, Ned will always be number one. He was a warm and kind man and well-known throughout Kerry, and indeed further afield, where no doubt many a tale from Ned still survives in some distant part of the US and Europe.

It was fitting, therefore, that Ned’s family and friends should join together this week to remember him and unveil a plaque in his memory, while a cavalcade was led, appropriately enough, by a horse and cart over Blennerville Bridge in a journey so familiar to Ned who lived in nearby Annagh. And it was his great friend and comedian Brendan Grace who led proceedings, regaling all with his fond memories of the Annagh man.

“We had a lovely get together and it was great to see his old friend, Brendan Grace, there who insisted on us getting a jarvey over Blennerville Bridge to properly remember Needen,” Nedeen’s niece Helen Tansley told The Kerryman.

“Ned would have met Brendan Grace in The Brandon many years ago and in fairness to Brendan, he always said he would come to such an event if one were planned and he did. I was very young when Needen died but I have great memories of helping him to get the mule and cart ready during the summer time. Even years after Ned died I remember Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners calling to our house and he kept in touch with the family for years after, which tells you how he must have felt about Ned.”

Nedeen’s brother Derry took the reins this time in bringing Brendan Grace over the bridge from Hare Street into Blennerville in the most fitting tribute possible to the late Annagh native.

Nedeen’s niece Helen Tansley with children Aisling, Eoin and James and the one-and-only Brendan Grace at the unveiling of the new plaque in Nedeen’s memory.

Nedeen’s brother Donal in conversation with the two famous bearded faces that are Camp’s Mike Neill and Brendan Grace.