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Private Notes
First in the series is a programme dedicated to the famous visit to Tralee of Hollywood sex symbol Jayne Mansfield in 1967 and her battle with the then Bishop of Kerry who tried to stop her performance and told parishioners not to attend the event.
Programme two focuses on the extraordinary life of former Killorglin circus strongman Butty Sugrue, a publican turned boxing promoter who was responsible for getting Muhammad Ali to Croke Park in 1973 for his historic win over Al Blue Lewis.
The third programme in the series explores how Beaufort became the unlikely location for over 20 hugely successful films. In 1910 an American film crew arrived in Beaufort where they began making the very first movies to be shot on location outside of the United States. The films were directed by Canadian Sidney Olcott who was of Irish descent and decided to return to his homeland to make the ground-breaking films.
Programme four attempts to uncover just who the Wild Colonial Boy was. The people of Castlemaine believe that local lad, Jack Duggan, was the famous man immortalised in song, while Australians believe the outlaw is a man called Jack Doolan, born in Castlemaine, Victoria.
Ballydonoghue author Maurice Walsh, who penned 'The Quiet Man,' is the focus of the fifth programme in the series. Although the movie went on to win two Oscars and remains a perennial television favourite, Walsh was paid only a small fee for the rights and rarely spoke of the movie. This programme looks at his early life in Kerry, his career as a customs officer and his eventual emergence as a renowned writer.
The final programme in the series is dedicated to Sneem's William Melville and the amazing story of how he became the inspiration for the Bond character 'M'. The son of a baker, he emigrated to London where he joined the police force and went on to become the first head of MI5 and Britain's most important spy.
