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IFI Irish Film Archive

West Cork - Father Delany Collection

Year1959 Duration3m 10s
This short film shows a delightful visit to West Cork. The holidaymakers (friends of Father Delany) relax in the garden of Casey’s Hotel, take a boat trip, bathe in the sea and join in an impromptu group singalong and a spur-of-the-moment dance. Father Jack Delany (1906-1980) was ordained in 1930 at the age of 24 and served as a parish priest in Dublin in the 1930s and 1940s. He served mainly around Seán McDermott Street (then Gloucester Street), Rutland Street and Gardiner Street. His films offer a fascinating glimpse of life at the time in inner-city Dublin and include scenes of trips with parishioners, tenement life, school children at play, religious processions, and residents of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity Convent (which housed a Magdalene Laundry).

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