TG4’s Hollywood in Éirinn in our very own Cork!
Hollywood in Éirinn
A series in which leading Irish actor Denis Conway takes an affectionate look at how the silver screen transformed and enriched the lives of ordinary Irish people in small communities and generated publicity, money and sometimes notoriety for the location.
When a major movie production machine rumbles into town, anything can happen and frequently does. An invigorating injection of magic, money and mayhem arrives along with it, all contributing to a wild sense of excitement and anticipation.
In this series Denis travels to four such locations, some of which are based in Cork, small villages and towns, in search of the memories of residents who witnessed the high and low jinks during the making of four major Hollywood blockbusters. The Wind That Shakes the Barlem, Barry Lyndon, Moby Dick and Song for A Raggy Boy.
Contributors include film actors Aidan Quinn, Iain Glenn, Jan Harlan and Pádraig Delaney.
Moby Dick 11/10/15 8.30pm
Denis reveals how Youghal in east Cork was chosen as the location for the opening of John Huson’s famous film in 1954. Claud Cockburn, a locally based leading British journalist, was well connected and knew Huston. Claud’s son, Patrick, also an internationally acclaimed journalist, remembers how this came about. As a result, the small seaside town of Youghal was inundated with visitors as Huston’s publicity team went into overdrive, while locals from all walks of life were recruited to assist in the long summer’s filming.
Song For a Raggy Boy . 18/10/15 8.30pm
Denis meets with stars Iain Glen and Aidan Quinn as they recall filming in Baile Mhuirne in the west Cork Gaeltacht in 2003. Far from the harsh subject matter of the film, behind the camera, it was a coming of age summer for a group of young men who were thrown into rural Cork to live among the locals who embraced the film making. With stories from hotel & bar proprietors, extras and the crew nurse, Denis reveals a heart-warming group of people filming a very difficult and sad drama. Produced by Seabed Productions.