This article is from page 34 of the 2008-04-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 34 JPG
did for Cong in County Mayo – plenty of tourism and visitors decades after the film was released.
The Canadian production has al- ready contributed to the local econo- my in off peak holiday season.
St Mary’s Hall, Teach Ceol and
Fennels have all been rented by the 8Q0-strong crew, as well as renting lo- cal holiday homes.
“It 1s a blessing,” said well-known publican Seamus Carmody
“Sure it is an ideal place for a film. The estuary down there is beautiful and it would sell any film,” he add- ed.
It is not just the contribution such a venture has made to the economy, the filming also brought an air of excite-
ment to the community last week as the locals got involved in the drama.
‘I don’t know what I am going to do next week when they are gone. It will be so quiet. They have been here six weeks painting and everything, and the filming has been this week,” said postmaster Pat Galvin.
‘There has been a fantastic reaction from the people around the village.”
The local fishermen got involved in the filming on Tuesday last, as did the
Kilkee Marine and Rescue Service.
All of the extras on the film were local people, who caught the eye of one of the producers Kevin Tierney for their professionalism.
“It is very nice to have background action that looks real,’ he said.
Among the local stars were De- borah Hunter, Jack Sheehan, Brianna Byrne and Elizabeth Byrne from KOT corer
‘The crew are lovely and encour- aging,’ said Ms Hunter, who was amused by the stocking she had to wear.
Little Jack Hunter looked very handsome in the 1960s boy’s clothes, with Brianna proving a very pretty Tl Oeearee
Ten-year-old Saoirse Quinn from Cooraclare was absorbing all of the detail of the day. With her beautiful red hair in pigtails and wearing a lit- tle grey hat she looked the perfect schoolgirl.
Mum Geraldine was kitted out in a coat – like her mother would have ve) u OF
There was a lot of standing around for the Irish extras, but they had al- ready learnt some of the tricks of the trade, as Geraldine showed off the warmers she wore in her shoes. Like a lot of the mothers involved, she had taken her daughter to the auditions after they received notice through their speech and drama classes. It was while enrolling their children that the Mums and Dad’s also got roped into the adventure.
The filmmakers hope that all of the local people will be seen in cinemas worldwide soon, in the film that tells the story of a young Canadian ge- ologist that comes to the Burren and falls in love with a young Irish girl who is about to enter the convent.