Redwood Castle hosts screening of locally produced film for Heritage Week

THE first event of Lorrha and Dorrha Heritage Week 2023 was hosted by the heritage sub-committee of Lorrha Development Association and Coleesa Egan of Redwood Castle on Thursday last.

This free event took place in the intimate setting of an upper reception room, where guests were treated to a screening of a locally produced film called MacEgan’s Curse. The script for the original play and later the film was written by Declan Houlihan, Corrigeen, in Spring 2016.

The film charts the journey of O’Sullivan Beare’s march with his one thousand followers from the Beara Peninsula, through the parish of Lorrha and Dorrha, as he headed towards Brefni, in January 1603. He fled Beara to escape English invaders.

One wet evening in the Summer of 2016, the play, directed by Peter Semen, was staged in the grounds of Redwood Castle, with the help of local actors from Lorrha, Redwood and Rathcabbin.

At the suggestion of Coleesa Egan, the play became a film. Peter Seman created a narrator’s part in the form of a tour guide. Peter co-produced the film with James Heenan, who also played the part of Cam O’Sullivan. Enlisting the help of Slovakian cameraman, Peter Rakoci, the film was shot in several locations around the River Shannon, Dominican Abbey, Lorrha and Redwood Castle. The film’s production involved the goodwill of about thirty people from Lorrha, Redwood, Rathcabbin and Ballymacegan, and included actors, production team and locals who loaned equipment and costumes.

The film was first screened on Culture Night in September 2017 with funding from Tipperary County Council.

Following the screening on Thursday evening last, guests enjoyed refreshments at a long table in the castle gallery. The historical facts and the story of the film’s production had piqued the interest of those present. The production team and actors happily answered questions for a couple of hours. Those who attended the event in Redwood from abroad and locally were mesmerised by the film’s journey and Redwood Castle itself, a true Norman Castle dating back to the 13th century. The descendants of the Houlihans, Sullivans and Donoghues, who travelled with O’Sullivan Beare in the 1600s still survive in the parish today.