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We are delighted to announce our release of this
Classic 2 DVD set.
featuring
soundtrack music
by
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We
are delighted to announce our release of this fine recording.
Old Ireland
2 DVD Set.
As seen on R.T.E. Nationwide.
Script & narration by writer & RTE broadcaster Liam
Mac Con Iomaire
featuring soundtrack music by Irelands greatest accordian player, Joe Burke of east Galway.
Produced by Michael Lyons.
The Irish
Post: "I have just been viewing a double DVD set entitled Old Ireland and
it is simply wonderful".
The Irish World:
"Much like the fire they gather round, 'Old Ireland' will delight you and
warm you right through".
In
a nostalgic trip down more than 60 years of memory lane, Old Ireland illuminates
the customs and practices in traditional farming life of the 1940s and 1950s.
It
documents in evocative detail the transition from loyal horse to modern tractor,
a development that would change the landscape of farming forever. Harking back
to the day when the meitheal was the greatest of all blessings, it recalls an
era when neighbours gathered together to cut the turf and save the hay. This
was a time when the completion of the biggest farming tasks called for the liveliest
celebrations of the year.
There was the rhythmic cutting of corn with a scythe, reaper and binder, the
stacking in the fields, the procession to draw it home and the grand affair
of the threshing in the haggard.
Old
Ireland depicts the making of a sheepcock and how it was used to feed animals
in the winter, and the painstaking work of spraying potatoes manually and with
the horse. With the blessing of kind weather, this was followed by the digging
for potatoes before the business of preparing animals for the long winter got
underway.
Before
modern machinery altered the face of farming and the rural way of life, Ireland
was a country of the rambling house, a nation of people who gathered around
the turf fi re to tell stories, sing songs and listen to the sweet sound of
Irish music. This pure tradition is revived in Old Ireland with
a music session in a thatched cottage in the company of Joe Burke, Ann Conroy
Burke, Eileen O’Brien and Tommy Devine.
Old
Ireland 2 DVD set
DVD One:
Depicting rural ireland of the late forties and early fifties this video was
made in South Roscommon and East Galway. It brings back memories of a tiime
when many of us lived in thatched cottages, turf was the only fuel for cooking
and heating and the cow was milked by hand. It shows the transition from horse
to tractor and how the neighbours gathered together to help each other with
cutting the Turf and saving the hay. It was a time when cutting the corn and
treshing was one of the biggest events of the year. it brings back memories
of the rambling house and how people
gathered around the turf fire and told stories, sang songs and listened to Irish
Music.
Old
Ireland Video/DVD Two:
continues to depict farming life in rural irland during the late forties and
early fifties. It shows the cutting and saving of hay, the making of a
sheepcock and how it was used to feed the sheep in the winter, the spraying
of patatoes manually and with a horse. The cutting of corn with a
scythe and reaper and binder, stacking it in the fields, drawing it home and
threshing it.
The digging of potatoes and a winter scene of feeding the sheep. Finally traditional
music and song in a thatched cottage in thte company of Joe Burke, Ann Conroy
Burke, and Eileen O'Brien and Tommy Devine.
Press
Reviews
The Irish Post
20.11.09
Engaging Ireland
EVERY now and then something truly special arrives in the post.
I have just been viewing a double DVD set entitled Old Ireland and it is simply
wonderful.
It is the brainchild of Galway man Michael Lyons who observed over the years
that the old ways were going and would be gone forever and therefore needed
to be preserved on film for future generations to appreciate.
It is a nostalgic trip covering the changes to the customs and practices in
traditional farming life in the Ireland of the 1940s and 1950s. It is brilliantly
done and against a soundtrack of great traditonal music
played by Joe Burke, Ann Conroy Burke, Eileen O'Brien and Tommy Devine.
This DVD also represents the lifework of Michael Lyons. He purchased and renovated
most of the farm machinery used in the film and captured them working over a
three year period. It is a fascinating documentary narrated by Liam Mac Con
Iemaire who also wrote the script and the production is such that at no time
did it lose your attention for a second.
It shows the old farming methods before the arrival of the tractor and other
machinery which transformed farming life. It recalls the days when neighbours
gathered around to help with cutting the turf and saving the hay. There was
the cutting of the corn with the scythe, reaper and binder, the stacking in
the fields drawing it home and the big finale of the threshing. It was altogether
a simpler life but back-breaking work for the men and women who toiled daily
on the land.
it is interesting to see the different old tractors and the various pieces of
machinery that emerged as a result of the tractor and you can only marvel at
man's ability to invent and adapt. You are aware of the music all the time which
compliments perfectly but it never overpowers.
Every now and then you suddenly realise that you are listening to a particular
tune whether it be The Rocks Of Bawn or The Coolin or Carolan's Concerto or
any of the reels, jigs or slow airs that run like a thread through the production.
The film closes with a session in a thatched cottage with Joe Burke and aforementioned
friends which is how it must have been back then.
This DVD set is a superb piece of work and a historical treasure which would
make a fantastic present and I am indebted to my friends at Copperplate who
are handling the release. Elaine Sheridan
The Irish World
27.11.09
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
While it might not strike too many chords with the younger generation, 'Old
Ireland' will take a lot of Irish people on a wave of nostalgia, back to the
old rural customs of the 40s and 50s.
A double DVD set, 'Old Ireland* (Universal) - as seen on RTE - shines a sepia-coloured
spotlight on the old traditional farming practises of those decades.
This documentary, narrated by broadcaster Liam Mac Con lomaire, documents in rich and vivid detail the passing from loyal old horse to modern tractor, a development that was to ultimately change the face of farming.
Looking back to a time when the greatest of all blessings - and social events was the meithal (harvest), it recalls an era when neighbours shared a bond, and would gather together in order to save the hay and cut the turf.
As 'Old Ireland' reveals, there was something hypnotic in the methodical cutting of corn with a scythe, reaps rand binder, stacking in the fields, the procession to draw it home and the grand affair of the threshing in the haggard.
Once all the hard work was done came the biggest celebrations of the year, where the locals really let their hair down. Indeed, this documentary is not only about the mechanics of farming, it's about an entire community, and its way of life, a nation of people that would gather by each other's roaring fires, telling stories, singing songs and listening to the odd jig and reel after a hard day in the fields.
Old Ireland revives this fading tradition, with a music session in a thatched
cottage in the company of east Galway accordion master Joe Burke, Ann Conroy
Burke, Eileen O'Brien and Tommy Devine. Much like the fire they gather round,
'Old Ireland' will delight you and warm you right through. The perfect Xmas
present, we reckon!
If you'd like a
copy of 'Old Ireland', call Cpperplate Distribution on 0044 (0)207 585 0357,
or email copperplate@talktalk.net. Shelley Marsden
The Irish Post
13.11.09
DVD gives reminder of older Ireland
A NEW DVD that takes a nostalgic trip down more than 60 years of memory lane
is available now to buy.
This special edition entitled Old Ireland illuminates the customs and practices
in traditional farming life around the 1940s and 1950s.
It documents the transition from loyal horse to modern tractor — harking
back to the day when the meitheal was, according to some, the greatest of all
blessings.
Old Ireland depicts the making of a sheepcock and how it used to feed animals
in the winter.
It also shows in great detail the rhythmic cutting of the corn with a scythe,
reaper and binder, the stacking in the fields, the procession to draw it home
and the grand affair of the threshing in the haggard.
Before modern machinery altered the face of farming and the rural way of life
Ireland was a country of the rambling house, a nation of people who gathered
around the turf fire to tell stories, sing songs and listen to the sweet sound
of Irish music.
This pure tradition is revived in Old Ireland with a music session in a thatched
cottage in the company of some great Irish musicians.
This double DVD set is produced by Michael Lyons and available through Copperplate.