1989 Moate video brings back many memories

By David Flynn

There was a journey down memory lane for many Moate citizens recently when a video was shared on Facebook showing two parts of times past - life in 1989, and another view of further back decades showing old favourite Irish traditions.

The video, which was taken from a segment of the 1980s Irish language RTE programme ‘Iris’ showed many aspects of Moate life in the last century.

The video can be seen here

The footage was filmed around the cultural and heritage centre, Dún na Sí during its early days, and local participants made their heritage centre stand out, by displaying the different works and traditions. The programme was broadcast on RTE on Saturday, April 8, 1989.

Men were featured in the video building stone walls, cutting water reeds by boat with a sickle and sailing the boat full of reeds home, and more men were later shown thatching roofs.

Women were featured in the kitchen of Dún na Sí making - colcannon in a black skillet pot and also a brown cake, and preparing a pound of butter. The ‘Colcannon’ traditional song was sung in the background.

Joe Ganley who has run the Ganley School of Dancing since 1976 appeared in the Moate video leading a group of around forty young boys and girls in set-dancing.

“I remember the programme very well and unfortunately a lot of the older people in the video have died since then,” said Joe, who still teaches in Dún na Sí today.

Joe originally learned dancing at the Pauline Cunniffe School of Dancing, and has been teaching since 1972, four years before he set up his own dance school.

“Dún na Sí had been open a couple of years before the programme was made, and the film crew came down and wanted to see the thatching and other traditions,” said Joe. “The dancers were from five years of age upwards and we still do that in Dún na Sí every Wednesday night. I’ve seen all those children in the video grow up and now some of their children are coming to me.”

Joe’s daughter Emma was one of the children in the 1989 video, and today Emma has expanded the Ganley School of Dancing to Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, where she runs her own dance school.

“One of the men in the video talking Irish was Tim Casey who was an Irish teacher in Moate,” said Joe. “He was a Kerry man and I once went to him for Irish lessons. He was very good. The man that came in the door in the video was the late Frank Bracken. He was instrumental, along with my father in getting Dún na Sí built. Pat Sheerin was doing the stonework, making the wall. It brought back a lot of memories.”

Joe recollects that there are many changes and differences now from how traditional dancing is taught and the way the music is played for the dancers. He also said how Riverdance, which happened in 1994, changed Irish dancing

“You would have had to use a tape recorder back then, but now it’s all on a phone in your pocket,” said Joe. “Riverdance made it popular for boys to dance, and before that you could be dancing in halls on sawdust floors. Riverdance lifted the perception of Irish dancing and gave it a boost.”

The programme also featured a traditional band of young boys and girls playing accordions and tin whistles. They were playing the tune, ‘Fainne Geal an Lae’ or ‘The Dawning of the Day’.

Moate man Michael O’Brien shared the archive video on his Facebook page after recognising many of the young and older people involved in the production.

“In the vintage footage of Dún na Sí from 1989, I was struck by the tapestry of familiar faces, some still among us, others who have since passed,” said Michael. “It’s a testament to the enduring vision of its creator, the late Frank Bracken and the dedicated individuals who have nurtured this cultural gem from its inception, enriching our heritage with each passing year.”

Kathleen Malone from Mount Temple was shown making colcannon in a skillet pot in the RTE programme.

“I still make the colcannon and the boxty,” said Kathleen laughing, thirty-five years after seeing herself in the 1989 video. “I got the skillet pot from a relation, Jane Malone from Clonegan. Dún na Sí was four years built at the time.”

Kathleen remembers seeing ‘Iris’, the night it was broadcast on RTE, but hadn’t seen it again, until it surfaced recently.

“It didn’t bother me a bit being in front of the camera, because we were doing our own thing,” said Kathleen, who is a long-time member of Mount Temple Drama Group. “I think the woman playing the music was from Tullamore. Mrs. Conlon made the brown cake and cooked it in the oven, on the fire. Mrs. Keaveney made the butter in the kitchen area. Both of them have now passed on. I think it was all filmed one Tuesday afternoon, and it took them a long time getting it all together.”

Kathleen said she found it an honour to be asked to take part in the ‘Iris’ programme.

“It was great to be asked to be in it, and I was excited at the time to be getting the skillet pot to work with,” she said. “It was great to see the programme again after all the years.”