Hollywood comes to south Wicklow
THE quiet South Wicklow village of Tinahely will be transformed into a Hollywood set today as a US television crew films scenes from a hit American sitcom.
The crew will be filming the series four finale of Younger - a comedy starring well known US actor and former Disney star Hilary Duff.
Created by Darren Star, the show tells the story of a forty-something divorcee who pretends to be in her twenties in order to secure her dream job.
Tony Award winner Sutton Foster plays the lead role and the cast also features Debi Mazer and Molly Bernard.
While most details about the project are being kept under wraps, it has been confirmed that a pub scene will be filmed in O’Connors bar in Tinahely.
The pub is run by Orla and Darren Kavanagh and the couple are delighted that the O’Connor’s name will be used in filming.
‘We don’t know what exact plans they have for the premises but we do know that they will be keeping O’Connor’s which are delighted about. We just know that in the programme some of the characters are at an Irish wedding. Some of the scenes will be filmed in Dublin and then the rural ones will be done down here in Tinahely,’ said Orla.
‘It was Tinahely as a village that attracted the film crew to start with. They will be using some other premises and have already put up a few different signs,’ she added.
It is understood that the pro- ducers were keen to change the name from Tinahely to something more typically Irish, to appeal to the American audience but it was eventually agreed that the village will retain its name for the programme.
‘It will be called Tinahely in the show which is brilliant so when it is on TV people will recognise the name and it might even attract visitors in the future,’ Orla said.
The original filming date was pencilled in for yesterday, Tuesday, but a late change to the schedule saw the Tinahely shoot pushed back a day.
‘It’s no trouble for us. We will now just be closed on Wednesday instead of Tuesday and when we reopen we will be selling drinks for €3.50 as a thank you to all our locals for their understanding while we were closed.’