By Penny McGovern
For this winter issue we present a couple of cheery Christmas crackers from the IFI Archive Player. See festive crowds gathering in 1960s Dublin city centre and South Wall to cheer as brave swimmers take a chilly dip and Santa water-skis up the Liffey.
DUBLIN CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Gael Linn / 1962 / 3 mins
In December 1962, traffic in Dublin is at a standstill as crowds gather on O’Connell Bridge awaiting Santa’s arrival. Rudolph et al. must have been resting for the big night, as Santa chose a rather unorthodox method of transport—water-skiing his way up the River Liffey to mark the beginning of the festivities. The streets are lit up with a canopy of fairy lights, and each shop window is adorned with gifts and decorations. Shoppers bustle through Moore Street and Henry Street, ready to snatch up a bargain, as the children gaze at the classic toys and goodies on display.
‘Amharc Éireann’ (‘A View of Ireland’) was Ireland’s longest-running indigenous newsreel series, produced by Gael Linn and distributed to cinemas throughout the country to promote the Irish language. The first 36 issues were produced as single-topic films that were released monthly, followed in 1959 by weekly multi-story newsreels featuring a broad range of topics, from hard news stories to lighter magazine-style items. Between 1956 and 1964, 267 editions of the newsreel were produced for cinema exhibition.
MOONMEN
Kieran Hickey / 1965 / 9 mins
In the winter of 1964/5, members of the Half Moon Swimming Club brave the grim winter seas at Dublin’s South Wall, as captured by renowned and prolific director of dramas and documentaries Kieran Hickey. This was Hickey’s first film and it offers the viewer an opportunity to eavesdrop on a moment in time. It provides a rare honesty and authenticity thanks to Hickey’s location recording of the unscripted conversation between the swimmers.
The film follows one club member on his bicycle journey through Dublin’s docklands, Ringsend and Irishtown, and along the South Wall to the Half Moon Club, which is located midway down the wall. He joins fellow club members for a winter swim, and later they participate in the chilly annual Christmas Day race. The Half Moon Swimming Club was founded in 1898 and continues to uphold a long-standing winter sea-swimming tradition on the Great South Wall to the present day.
For more seasonal content, look out for our ‘Christmas Crackers’ on https://ifiarchive-player.ie/, a delightfully varied collection that will trigger all sorts of memories of Christmases past.
Penny McGovern is Digital Platforms Officer at the Irish Film Institute.
Moonmen:
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Dublin Christmas Lights:
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