New footage shines light on athlones boating past

The Shannon Boat Rally of years gone by has been brought vividly to life in a newly digitized vintage newsreel.

The video, recently uploaded onto YouTube, by the by the Associated Press and British Movietone, comprises of black and white footage of people boating in Hodson Bay, possibly in the 1960s.

AP has made more than 550,000 videos available online, dating back to 1895, including footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the assassination of JFK, and videos of icons like Elvis Presley and Muhammed Ali.

It’s thought there is close to 1 million minutes of Irish footage among the newly released newsreels taken throughout the 20th century, some black and white and silent, others in full colour with sound or commentary.

AP’s description of the Hodson Bay footage states that they are “low shot boats of all shapes and sizes moored in Hodson Bay” along with “several scenes of cruisers departing, being guided by Commodores Boat (Bunting) through Lough Ree” and cruisers heading towards Athlone.

Water skiing in Hodson Bay is also captured on the rare newly released film of the boating scene as are “pretty girls on a cruiser entertaining for morning coffee”.

Check out the video here: