IFI Irish Film Archive

Dark Moon Hollow

Year1971 Duration17m 00s

A documentary style film about an old man’s journey from his home in Roche’s Point to Whitebay, Whitegate, Rostellan, Cork City, Iniscarra, Carrigadrohid Castle, ending up in Gougan Barra where he contemplates the grave of Cork's first Bishop (Saint Finbarr). The wanderer is played by Jim Valentine Dempsey, a gardener for 60 years, and the kindly young Morris Minor driver is played by Maggie Hill. Jim’s musings and the text of “The Heifer” are voiced by Dan Donovan of the Southern Theatre Group.

This Mermaid Films tribute documentary directed by Sé Merry Doyle explores the life and work of renowned Irish painter and architect Patrick Scott. Taking Scott’s major retrospective at the Hugh Lane Gallery in 2002 as a starting point, this lively account traces the artist’s childhood, his background in architecture and his many artistic achievements. Scott’s zest for life and humble reflections on the creative process accompany moving moments at home with his cat whilst working on his signature gold leaf paintings. A fascinating account of the 1950s bohemian art group the White Stag and contributions from Seamus Heaney, Stephen Pearce and Dorothy Walker enrich this celebration of the life and work of the ‘Golden Boy’ of Irish art. Patrick Scott: Golden Boy was produced by Maria Doyle Kennedy and Andrea Pitt, of Mermaid Films, and was commissioned by RTÉ Arts Lives. Patrick Scott was born in 1921 in Kilbrittain, Co Cork. He began his career as an architect where he worked with Michael Scott on CIE’s Busáras before committing to life as a full-time painter in the 1960s. He won a National Prize at the Guggenheim International Award in 1960 and represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in the same year. His paintings have been exhibited worldwide and his work features in public and private collections.

24m 39s

The Coming of the Black Dawn - The Roy Spence Collection

A young man travels to his uncle’s lonely castle to give him a rare tractate. His uncle enlists his help in summoning up the ancient demon Cthulu, using secret rites of Black Magic which involve grave-robbing and murder. As the demon is summoned, the young man fears the worst and is forced to make a life changing decision. Shooting locations like Helen’s Tower and Tulynakill graveyard along with a shrill atmospheric soundtrack makes for a haunting experience. Roy Spence is an award-winning amateur filmmaker. For the past 50 years, Spence has been making and screening a series of remarkable and sometimes eccentric films in his cinema in Comber, Co. Down. The films span many genres from sci-fi to horror to folk-life documentaries shot between 1965 and 1986. His collection of over 40 films (13 documentaries/non-fiction and 29 fiction feature films) is held and preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive.

7m 04s

Republican Loans

In 1919, on the block where Robert Emmet was executed, Michael Collins read a letter from Michael Fogarty, Bishop of Killaloe, pledging financial support to the new self-declared Irish Republic. Filmed at St. Enda’s College in Rathfarnham, (the school founded by Patrick Pearse in 1908), this remarkable film shows Michael Collins, the Irish Government’s Minister for Finance, inviting various prominent Republicans to purchase bonds to help finance the new Republic. Bonds are purchased by 30 named figures, Republicans and survivors of executed 1916 leaders. They include: Arthur Griffith; Eoin MacNeill; Erskine Childers; William Cosgrave; the widows of Eamonn Ceannt, Tom Clarke, the O Rahilly, Joseph Plunkett, and the mother and sister of Patrick Pearse. The film was made during an interlude in the making of Willy Reilly and his Colleen Bawn, a feature- length drama directed by John MacDonagh, which was released the following year. The film played an instrumental role in the success of the Republican Loans campaign. Director John MacDonagh, brother of the executed 1916 leader Thomas MacDonagh (a teacher in St Enda’s) , once said, “in those dangerous and exciting times, no cinema owner would dare risk exhibiting the Republican Loans film so it was planned for a few volunteers in fast cars to visit certain cinemas, rush the operator’s box, and, at gun-point, force the operator to take off the film he was showing, and put on the Loan film”.

9m 04s

Up the Canal

This short film explores how the Grand Canal in Dublin has changed over the years. The voiceover provided by Irish novelist, short story writer and humourist John D. Sheridan, notes how methods of transport have changed and how fewer boats and barges now use the waterway. The aural memories are illustrated by poetic footage of the canal in the 1960s. The director, Margaret Currivan, won first prize for Up the Canal in the 'Film Shows Cup’ at the 1961 Dublin Amateur Cine Society competition (a competition predominantly entered by male filmmakers at the time). Margaret Currivan (b. 1923) was an avid amateur filmmaker, most prolific from 1954 to 1966. Currivan had a keen interest in photography and co-owned Currivan's Photographic Services in Dublin with her husband, Patrick Joseph (PJ). The shop processed and sold film, projectors, cameras and equipment and the filmmaker would, therefore, have had access to equipment, supplies and quick processing. Her films chronicle the story of her family, PJ and children Helen, Dan, and Paddy, engaged in key events including birthdays, Christmases and holidays. Currivan sometimes appears in her films, alluding to partial recording made by PJ. However, the shots are few and authorship is retained by Currivan who is noted to have also meticulously edited her films using a manual reel-to-reel device and splicer.

15m 00s

The Drip

In 1985, two teenagers break into a cinema at night to watch the comical story of a woman waiting impatiently for her boyfriend to return home from the pub. The man’s actions cause utter chaos upon his return home to their apartment. Despite his inebriation he decides to climb, half-naked, out of bed and under the sink to fix a dripping tap. A curious cat surprises him with its attentions causing him to accidentally knock himself out. His long-suffering girlfriend calls an ambulance and, relieved to hear he’ll be alright in the morning, allows herself a little laugh as he is carried off still drunk, still naked, for a night in hospital. This idiosyncratic short film provided a vehicle for the fledgling directorial talents of Trish McAdam, and for a large and impressive cast of young actors including Jack Lynch, Pom Boyd, Mannix Flynn, and a young Aidan Gillen (as Aidan Murphy). This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.

2m 44s

Legend of the Lough

This short travelogue, part of the Pathetone Weekly cinemagazine, features the scenic landscapes of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Stunning footage of the ‘earthly paradise’ includes the upper and lower lakes, the majestic round tower, St. Kevin’s Church, and a ruined monastery. The narrator tells the story of St. Kevin – an Irish saint who lived very primitively in a cave by the lake in the 6th century. Facts are sprinkled with anecdotes: ‘A young woman enamoured with the holy man once visited him, only to meet with his displeasure. Indeed, he would have none of her and pushed her into the water.’ Tourists still flock to Glendalough to experience the spectacular scenery, rich history, archaeology and abundant wildlife. This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.