GET THAT MONSTER OFF THE STAGE: THE MOVIE

In this guest post, writer, broadcaster and lecturer Paul McDermott explains the background to his documentary, Get That Monster Off the Stage, which has now been given a full visual treatment. Ciarán Ó Tuama has turned Get That Monster Off the Stage, my old radio documentary about Finbarr Donnelly and his bands Nun Attax, Five... Continue Reading →

OUR FAVOURITE SHOPS

Joe Healy and Ciarán Ó Tuama are important documentarians who have now become regular go-tos for anoraks, buffs and collectors. In dipping into the collection of stills and Super 8 videos they took around the streets of Cork city from the late 1970s onwards, and publishing digitized versions of that work on-line, they’re doing God’s own work for those of us who grew up during the decades when successive governments often forget that we existed. Their photos and film clips, many of which capture the heart or cardo of the city, are increasingly valuable resources to social historians and their work.

CYPRESS, MINE !: TRASH TALK

Jim McCarthy’s photograph on the front of ‘Exit Trashtown’ could have been taken in Cork at any point during the 1980s. In that snap, a lorry’s fog-lights pop the mist as it passes an abandoned fishing boat that’s run aground on the banks of The River Lee. Take your pick of the metaphors: you’re spoilt... Continue Reading →

THE HARVEST MINISTERS TAKE DUNDALK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxxGaDzLD_o It’s over twenty-five years ago now since, one Saturday evening, Ken Sweeney set his mother’s runaround for Dundalk and sped the pair of us up the road, out of Glasnevin and onwards to Mister Ridley's. The two of us were softly obsessive about one of our many favourite bands, The Harvest Ministers, a Dublin outfit who’d been making... Continue Reading →

THE FRANK AND WALTERS #1

A version of this post originally appeared on-line in conjunction with Sir Henrys 2014. I first met The Frank And Walters in Cork in the summer of 1990, back when I was rapt and ready to roll into the breach on their behalf, whatever the job. The years since have taken all of us to places... Continue Reading →

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