Image Source: The National Library Of Ireland
The story of how a romantic feature film was made in Cashel in 1931 is to be examined in a new documentary series on Tipp Mid West Radio commencing on Friday February 7th.
Tom Hurley, who specialises in researching undocumented stories, is producing the series about the film “Sweet Inniscarra” which was filmed in Cashel, Rockwell College, Fethard, Clonmel and also at Penrose Quay and Inniscarra village in Cork. The film’s producer, Emmet Moore, had visited Ireland frequently from the US and produced promotional films at his own expense to promote Ireland as a tourist destination and to give an accurate portrayal of Irish people. To help with costs, amateur actors feature in the film, with Mae Ryan and Sean Rodgers playing the leading romantic couple – Ryan’s Central hotel formerly on the Main street in Cashel features in the film – the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1958.

Image Source: The National Library Of Ireland
The 72-minute film was significant in that it was screened in various parts of Ireland and abroad admittedly to mixed reviews – it was also the first film to have audio produced in Ireland as the industry progressed from the silent era. Tom Hurley profiles the film’s producer and director Emmet Moore in the documentary and will also reveal if he was able to find a surviving copy of “Sweet Inniscarra”.
The series will run for 6 weeks beginning on Friday February 7th after the 11am news bulletin on Tipp Mid West Radio and will also be repeated on Tuesdays at 6.30pm.