Killarney photographer Michelle Cooper Galvin can’t wait for Friday. She’s seen her grandfather’s film ‘The Dawn’ – Ireland’s first talkie – countless times but this time it’s a little bit special, as she explains...

“I REMEMBER us going down to our cinema in KIllarney and watching it as children; it was always a central part of our family.”

Michelle Cooper Galvin can’t wait for Friday. She’s seen her grandfather’s film on the big screen umpteen times before, but thanks to help from Kerry ETB, this week’s first digitised screening of ‘The Dawn’ will showcase Thomas G Cooper’s classic in a quality that hasn’t been witnessed in years.

“It’s been screened even in recent years, but the film had taken a bit of wear and tear; it was brittle. It’s been an ambition of ours to digitise ‘The Dawn’ and now it’s in great shape for a film of its age,” The Kerryman photographer said.

As you’d expect, Michelle is well able to recall the film’s story. Thomas G Cooper was a hotelier, taxi-driver, qualified electrician and mechanic who developed a passion for cinema. This passion, coupled with a hunger to promote Killarney’s beauty, led to “The Dawn.”

Cooper travelled to London in the 1930s and purchased the camera he used to capture his renowned film. He used his skills to put together lighting equipment in his garage, and the producer and director co-wrote a script with DDA Moriarty and Donal Cahill.

“The film is best known for being Ireland’s first full-length talking film, but there’s more to the film than that,” Michelle said.

“He used silhouetted scenes and other techniques that would have been unusual for their time, so it was a pioneering film in more ways than one.

“He also banded together locals to act in ‘The Dawn’ and fill other roles. It’s often commented by people who see the film how excellent those amateur local participants were at the tasks they were given. I think it’s because they either lived through the War of Independence or even participated in it - they were able to bring their experiences into their work.”

“It also put Killarney on a new pedestal, as the world became aware of the beautiful Kerry town.”

Michelle’s son Diarmuid became involved with Kerry ETB, and incited a greater interest in ‘The Dawn.’ The digitisation project stemmed from there, and Michelle is now looking forward to seeing the end product on the big screen.

“My grandfather opened Killarney’s first cinema, and my cousin runs it today, On Friday, ‘The Dawn’ returns to that cinema - its home”