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Private Notes
Lelia Doolan's dramatic, vivid and moving portrait of Bernadette McAliskey.
Bernadette McAliskey, née Bernadette Devlin (1947-) is a political activist and former politician. Born in Cookstown, Tyrone, she studied psychology at Queen’s University, Belfast. A member of the People’s Democracy, she participated in the civil rights marches of 1968-69. In 1969, she was elected to Westminster as an Independent Unity member for Mid-Ulster. At 21, she was the youngest woman ever elected. She was convicted of incitement to riot for her role in the Battle of the Bogside in 1969 and was suspended from parliament in 1972 for attacking Home Secretary Reginald Maudling over Bloody Sunday. She lost her seat in 1974 but remained politically active, serving on the National Executive of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) in 1975.
Ireland, for all its faults, was at least a place you could travel to from almost any part of the world and either enjoy or despair at (quite often at the same time) its uniqueness.
From Percy French writing about the tardiness of rural trains, to Leo Maguire’s Dublin Saunter, there are plenty of songs that celebrate the Irish experience – and that’s without going into tunes that are about the long-running spat we've had with the English – but in recent times Ireland has become a more homogenised place as the world gets smaller and rampant consumerism dictates our tastes.
From coffee shops to supporting British football teams, Valley accents to ‘mum’ replacing ‘mammy’ in our lexicon, most of what passes for Irish life these days are just things that have been transplanted from other cultures. All of which is why now, more than ever, The Irish Pub is a crucial piece of documentary-making.
The reason’s obvious: the traditional Irish pub is one of the few things left that we can truly call our own. And it’s not about the décor as many great Irish pubs are Victorian English in style, but about the people who own and run these bars, and the relationships they build up with their clientele.
Director Alex Fegan is a genuinely talented documentary-maker. His approach to The Irish Pub is to be as unobtrusive as possible, and let the cast of publicans and their customers tell their stories in their own time.
Paul Gartlan of Gartlan’s in Kingscourt, Co Cavan is a real scene-stealer, even when he’s standing behind the bar with arms folded, saying nothing. But, really, everyone involved deserves a pat on the back for their contribution, especially Alex Fegan for the variety of pubs and pub owners that get on camera. Even former Republic of Ireland player and manager Eoin Hand gets to sing a song in John B Keane’s boozer in Listowel.
A joy from start to finish, The Irish Pub takes a place amongst a list of the best documentaries I have
Hell’s Kitchen to Hollywood tells the story of the Irish-American men and women who shaped American cinema and helped change the fortunes of an entire people. Mixing travelogue with biography and interview, John Kelly journeys around the States to discover how the Irish in the movies created archetypes that shaped America’s image of itself and how their legacy informs distinctive screen drama that still captivate global audiences.
In this programme the original Planxty line up of Dónal Lunny on bouzouki, Andy Irvine on mandolin, Liam Óg O’Flynn on uilleann pipes and Christy Moore on guitar play the reels ‘Kitty Gone A Milking’ and ‘Music of the Forge’. The concert was filmed in the summer of 1972 in front of a capacity crowd. The original programme was shown as part of a series called "The Music Makers" and was originally shown on 18 June 1973.
Since its launch in 2004, the LUAS has become a moving landmark of Dublin. A Tale Of Two Trams goes behind the scenes of Dublin’s light rail LUAS system, to tell the stories of some of the 80,000 passengers and the staff who support them: from the good, the bad to the anti-social behaviour and fare evaders.
A look at the life and career of country singer Patsy Cline, who successfully transitioned over to the pop music charts and has been named as an influential vocalists.
