Spellbinding videos on the Liffey shown in Kilcullen
 |
| Nessa Dunlea, chair of Kilcullen 700; Martin Blake, cinematographer; and Bridget Loughlin, County Kildare Heritage Officer. |
The River Liffey Stories videos have been produced over a number of years by the Bailey & Blake video production company, in a collaboration between the Heritage Offices of Wicklow, Kildare and South Dublin County Councils.
A segment about Kilcullen was filmed earlier this year and was included in last night's presentation.
Beginning with a look back to how the course of what was to become the Liffey was likely dictated by how the sheets of the last Ice Age melted, the series then moved to an explanation of the source of the river from the blanket bog that covers the granite of the Wicklow Mountains.
As the videos progressed, those present were treated to many stories about the history, geology, flora, fauna and the people associated with the river. The presentations were narrated by Oliver Fallen Bailey, and shot by content creator and photographer Martin Blake.
In some superb cinematography and meticulous editing, there were items on Poulaphuca Falls, the life of swans on the Liffey, the restoration project at Ballymore Mills being undertaken by engineer Harvey Applebe, and the glory of Straffan House through whose lands the river flows towards Dublin.
The development of Newbridge from a nowhere place to a large town through the building by the British of a major strategic barracks there was detailed with the help of Paul Cooke of the Newbridge Local History Group. Naas-based historian Liam Kenny reported on the building of the Leinster Aqueduct over the Grand Canal in the late 18th century. He also touched on the parallels with the later railways and today's motorways, which converge near that historical area.
A piece on the Connolly Folly and the Wonderful Barn at Leixlip was a 'warning from history' as to how a meteorological anomaly can quickly overturn the fragile food system on which we all depend. These edifices date to the the mid-1700s part of the so-called 'Little Ice Age', and effectively are monuments to the Famine.
Other stories told last evening include 'A Daring Plan' in 1922, where historian James Durney gave the background to a group of Kildare Irregulars who plotted to hijack a plane at Baldonnell Aerodrome and bomb the Dail. A rhyming monologue by Martina O'Reilly encapsulated the story of Jonathan Swift's awkward relationship with Esther Vanhomrigh, 'Vanessa' in one of his poems.
The concluding film of the evening was the Kilcullen 700 segment filmed earlier this year and featuring the yarn bombing of the bridge as well as historical reflections on the foundation of the town from the earlier Old Kilcullen monastic settlement.
County Kildare's Heritage Officer, Bridget Loughlin, commended the work of the producers, given the very limited budget afforded to the project. She said the series has prompted consideration of a number of events that could be held at various places on the Liffey in Kildare, which would 'reclaim the river for the county' as opposed to it being mainly looked at as the river through the capital city.
Martin Blake, representing the production company, said what had started out as a project 'with a broad canvas' has resulted in a 'legacy' of stories about the river and its communities. "We have only scratched the surface," he added. "The stories are unlimited and the project is such a pleasure to do."
Nessa Dunlea for Kilcullen 700 thanked all involved with the project for including the Kilcullen segment, yet another incidence of 'putting Kilcullen on the map'.
Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy
