The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
A closer look at life in Baile ’n Lochaigh
LIFE in Baile an Lochaigh will be explored through the eyes of the locals in the first episode of a new television documentary series entitled Bailte, which goes out on TG4 tonight (Wednesday).
The series, which was produced by Dingle-based Aniar TV for TG4, explores life in rural Ireland by way of talking to local people about the connection they have with their home place, the influence the landscape has on their lives, the culture that informs them, and how they make a living.
Presented by Síle Nic Chonaonaigh, the series also delves into the pride people take in their community, which is often not just the place where they live but also where they work and where they have roots stretching back for generations.
As well as the advantages of country living, the series also hears about the difficulties of living in remote area, such as rural depopulation, lack of basic services, unemployment and the uncertain futures of both the farming and the fishing industries.
Locals who contribute to the programme on Baile an Lochaigh include sheep farmers John Joe Mac Gearailt and Johnny Tony Ó Muircheartaigh, Bernie Pháid Ní Mhuircheartaigh, Sean Moriarty and Katie Scott of Seaview Equestrian Centre, Seamus Mac Gearailt of Micilín Muc sausages and Michael T Moriarty who is from Dingle but has close links with Baile an Lochaigh. The programme will be shown at 8.30pm this Wednesday.
On February 20, also at 8.30pm, Baile na nGall will be in the spotlight on Bailte and other programmes in the series of 13 half-hour documentaries will look at life in Cill Rialaigh in South Kerry, Heilbhic in the Ring Gaeltacht, and other villages and townlands from Galway to the Aran Islands and Donegal.
The series was produced by Aniar TV, which is based in the Údarás na Gaeltathta offices in Milltown and is now in the second year of a four-year contract to supply music and documentary programmes for TG4. The production company, which was set up in 2017 by Niamh Ní Bhaoill from Baile an Fheirtéaraigh and Seán Ó Cualáin from Carna employs four people in Dingle but this number increases to meet the demands of its filming schedule, which includes a series on the tradition of Galway hookers starting on TG4 this Thursday and a programme on the Dublin Tradfest due to be broadcast in late February. Aniar TV has also produced a seven-part series of documentaries on GAA clubs, entitled ‘Ár gClub’, which will go on air from February 7 and will include CLG An Ghaeltach in one of the programmes.