Famous pubs, famous individuals, age-old prayers, long-held traditions, love, romance - a new series of Muintir na nDéise brings the people of An Ghaeltacht centre stage. The new series will run from Tuesday the 25th from 6.30 pm on WLR FM. In this new series, ten individuals talk about life, loss, and faith in Gaeltacht na nDéise.
The all-Irish series, which was made for WLR FM over the last year, features participants who describe growing up in this all-Irish speaking area of west county Waterford and what the place means to them today. Some of the guests sing too during these half-hour interviews and explain why certain songs continue to resonate with them throughout their lives. In the series, which was recorded and edited by documentary maker RoseAnn Foley, participants talk about the changes they have witnessed in the last thirty or more years, they remember their parents, their teachers, their first days at school, their experiences of work, and their own families growing up. Speaking to the writer Catherine Foley, they share songs and prayers, they speak about their beliefs, their travels, and their careers and they discuss the hopes they have for the language and the relevance of the Gaeltacht in their lives today.
The two earlier series, Muintir na nDéise 1 & 2, have already been singled out for praise, winning the News & Star Green Room Award 2022 for best radio series, and being shortlisted as best Craoltóireacht le Gaeilge at the Imro Radio Awards 2021 and the Gradam Cumarsáide an Oireachtais 2020 awards. The producers RoseAnn Foley and Catherine Foley, of the An Corsaiceach production company, conducted the interviews for this third series in Baile na nGall in An Rinn.
The first interviewee is Páid Ó Cuirrín, a career diplomat, who is proud to say his name is the first in the roll book of Meánscoil San Nioclás where he attended from the year it first opened its doors in 1959. He has served in Irish consulates and embassies around the world including Boston in the US, Uganda, Zambia, Lesotho and South Africa. Today he is retired and lives in An Rinn with his wife Johanna.
In the second program, Bríd Nielsen recalls life at home in An Rinn when her family’s famous pub, Mooney’s, attracted established musicians such as the Fureys, Séamus Ennis and the Clancys throughout the 1960s and 70s. She talks about her work in Dublin, her travels to New York, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and her return to her home place to live with her husband, Per Nielsen whom she married in 1984 and their daughters.
In the third program, Tomás Ó Meachair, a great sportsman and family man, tells Catherine about his job as an ambulance driver over many years in west Waterford. He remembers school life, his passion for hurling and football and he recalls the devastation he felt after the death of his youngest son, Diarmaid.
Anne Higgins, the fourth interviewee in the series, is a Waterford woman whose father, Dick Madigan, was owner of one of the city’s most famous pubs. Annewas a teacher in Meánscoil San Nioclás for many years and here she recalls her time as a child attending Scoil na Leanaí in An Rinn and how the experience left her with a lifelong love of the Irish language
In the fifth program that Conchúir Ó Ceallaigh, recalls his childhood in Waterford city, his ordination as a priest in 1988, and his appointment as parish priest of An Rinn agus An Sean Phobal. He talks about what it was like for a city man to move to live in the Gaeltacht.
In program 6, Pádraigín Ní Chadhla, who is a proud Sean Phobal woman, talks about growing up on a farm, her parents, her early life at Scoil Náisiúnta Bhaile Mhic Airt and her career as a teacher at the famous primary school, Scoil na Leanaí in An Rinn, a post which she held for 35 years.
Mícheál (Micí) Ó hUallacháin features in program 7. Born in Dungarvan in 1953, he recalls falling in love with the Irish language when he was a student at the Christian Brothers School, citing his Irish teachers such as Sylvester Ó Muirí who inspired him. He moved to live in An Rinn in 1978. Working for Eircom for 40 years he went on to have many other jobs – such as as a TG4 sports commentator, a pub manager, and working alongside Liam Clancy as tour manager. Micírecounts the heartbreak he felt when the great ballad singer died in 2009.
The guest in program 8 is Caitlín Tóibín, another proud Sean Phobal woman who grew up in a home where her parent’s love of music was a huge source of inspiration. She recalls her school days, her father working in the tannery in Dungarvan, singing at various venues with her sisters over many years and the decision to take on the running of the local post office with her husband in 1983.
Program 9 features Dómhnall Ó Murchadha who grew up in An Rinn and was a student at Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne and later at Meánscoil San Nioclás. He recalls working in Waterford Crystal and his life after thirty-five years at the Dungarvan plant. He recalls meeting his wife Mary whom he married in 1980. He describes his love of the Irish language, of history and of singing with Cór Fear na nDéise.
In the series' final program, traditional singer Ann Mulqueen talks about her life as a singer, her childhood in Castleconnell, and her love of the people she met in the pub when she ran it with her husband Tomás Ó Céilleachair. She remembers how lonely she felt when they sold Tigh an Cheoiland moved to a new house in the Gaeltacht.
The new series, which was made with funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee, will be broadcast over the next 10 weeks every Tuesday at 6.30 pm on WLR FM. Bainigí taitneamh as an tsraith.
Muintir na nDéise a Trí
Program 1 – Páid Ó Cuirrín…………………………..………….Tues 25 July 2023
Program 2 – Bríd Nielsen………………..……………………….Tues 1 Aug 2023
Program 3 – Tomás Ó Meachair…. …………………………. Tues 8 Aug 2023
Program 4 - Anne Higgins……………………………………….Tues 15 Aug 2023
Program 5 – An tAth Conchúir Ó Ceallaigh……………….Tues 22 Aug 2023
Program 6 – Pádraigín Ní Chadhla……………………………Tues 29 Aug 2023
Program 7 - Micheál (Micí) Ó hUallacháin ………………Tues 5 Sept 2023
Program 8 – Caitlín Tóibín ……………………………………….Tues12 Sept 2023
Program 9 – Domhall Ó Murchadha ………………………..Tues 19 Sept 2023
Program 10 – Ann Mulqueen ………………………………….Tues 26 Sept 2023
