Long, hot summer we melted with Mel

AS WE return to the more familiar Irish climate – clouds and showers punctuated with the odd glorious weekend – comparisons with previous good summers has become a regular conversation opener of late.

Many lists are topped by 1995, but not just for its sizzling temperatures – it was also the summer when ‘Braveheart’ practically took over Ireland. Up to then, the biggest blockbuster productions had been ‘Ryan’s Daughter’ in Dingle back in 1970, and ‘Excalibur’ around the Wicklow hills in 1981. Suddenly, in that same year Seamus Heaney won the Nobel prize for literature and ‘Father Ted’ first appeared on TV, Mel Gibson (right) and his Hollywood cavalcade rolled into Trim and turned the whole country into a 13th-century battleground. This was an Ireland still shrugging off the economic downturn of the late 1980s, and with nary a sign of the Celtic Tiger anywhere on the horizon – little wonder stars like Brian Cox, Patrick McGoohan, Sophie Marceau, Catherine McCormick and Brendan Gleeson dominated the headlines every week.

Taking over Trim and its castle as his production headquarters, Gibson was a familiar sight around the Co Meath town – no security, bantering with the locals, always in and out of shops.

And the fact that the American star had a stunt double who was the exact spit of him also wandering the same streets gave rise to much confusion: “Mel didn’t leave Lenihan’s till well after midnight yesterday,” was often countered with, “Impossible, sure I was with him in The Malt all night!”

Also, like directors John Ford and David Lean before him, Gibson was particularly taken with the eagerness of the community to get fully into the ‘Braveheart’ spirit. Most locals got part-time work as extras and quickly became attuned to 5am set calls, itchy woollen period garments and make-up magic very different to the kind found in High Street beauty bars.

In a film that had multiple Celtic tribes clashing on the battlefield, the effective Scottish ‘dirty face’ look was discovered using an elixir of moss peat mixed and water rubbed well into the skin.

Men were encouraged to grow their hair and beards long – adding to much discomfort on those frequent August days when the mercury hit 30 degrees. But nobody was complaining – they were making a mint in overtime and would eventually be part of an Oscar-winning movie.

Heady stuff indeed. Even to this day, when ‘Braveheart’ is shown on TV, Trim locals still gather to pick each other out in their different guises. Like all sets, there was a lot of hanging around – a minor trial offset by the constant presence of the catering trailer – everybody put on weight that summer.

Striding through it all was Gibson, a chieftain leading an army of thousands – and who earned the respect of the many Irish Army officers who saw in him a kindred spirit.

“He was a natural leader and knew how to get the best out of people,” one captain recalled. “He saw everything, no detail escaped him, and if you weren’t doing it right you didn’t get a third chance.”

Such respect for the commanding American wasn’t in evidence everywhere, however. Gibson did take one weekend off from his multiple ‘Braveheart’ duties that August – to visit Ireland’s oldest festival, Puck Fair in Kerry. Strolling around Killorglin at its festive height, he ventured toward the raucous merriment of a popular hostelry as the clock nudged 2am.

Politely demanding admittance from the doorman, the Hollywood superstar said: “I’m Mel Gibson and I’d like a drink.” Giving him a lingering gaze from head to toe, the guardian responded with these immortal words: “I don’t care if you’re a personal friend of Charlie Haughey, my instructions are to let nobody in.” Even movie royalty mind their manners at Puck.