Midwest Radio - Documentaries

A two-part documentary series recorded both in Ireland and Argentina on one of Mayo's Unsung Heros Admiral William Brown.This is part1

The Road Travelled A summer series of programmes as Tommy Marren is in conversation with people from around the region who are now retired and who speak about their journeys in life.This week Tubbercurry native Jackie Coogan talks about his fifty years as a barber. From Tubbercurry to the bright lights of Chicago Jackie dabbled in the music business too and talks candidly about his life experiences.

The Road Travelled A summer series of programmes as Tommy Marren is in conversation with people from around the region who are now retired and who speak about their journeys in life.This week Tommy speaks to Delia Henry from Charlestown chats to her about her life as a national school teacher and her numerous hobbies. Now in her 102nd year Delia is an inspiration to all of us.

The Road Travelled A summer series of programmes as Tommy Marren is in conversation with people from around the region who are now retired and who speak about their journeys in life.This week Tommy speaks to Terry Reilly

The Road Travelled A summer series of programmes as Tommy Marren is in conversation with people from around the region who are now retired and who speak about their journeys in life.This week Tommy speaks to Sr. Agnes Curley from the Sisters of Mercy talks about life as a nun, a golfer and a bridge player!

White Star, Black Night is a documentary about the Titanic Centenary Commemorations that were held in Laherdane this April 8th - 15th 2012. We speak to the relatives and friends of the 14 people who travelled from the parish of Addergoole on the Titanic 100 years ago. Those 14 people represent the highest proportionate loss from anyone area on the Titanic. Inthis documentary, we remember those people.

As 2011 has been designed Year of The Volunteer Midwest Radio produced a series of Sunday documentaries based on the works of voluntary organisations in the region that includes Macra na Feirme, St. Vincent de Paul, Mayo Mountain Rescue and the RNLI. Macra na Feirme continues to grow and in this programme we speak to various Macra groups from the region and find out what makes the organisation such an attraction for young people based in both rural and urban areas of Connacht.

As 2011 has been designed Year of The Volunteer Midwest Radio produced a series of Sunday documentaries based on the works of voluntary organisations in the region that includes Macra na Feirme, St. Vincent de Paul, Mayo Mountain Rescue and the RNLI. The Mayo Mountain Rescue offer valued assistance to the emergency services in the county. We take a trek up Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday 2009 to find out why these volunteers put their lives on the line.

As 2011 has been designed Year of The Volunteer Midwest Radio produced a series of Sunday documentaries based on the works of voluntary organisations in the region that includes Macra na Feirme, St. Vincent de Paul, Mayo Mountain Rescue and the RNLI. The services offered by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul go way beyond offering meal vouchers and clothes. In this documentary we find out how the various branches of this voluntary organisation have expanded to cope with the current recession and why their work is so important to those in financial crisis

As 2011 has been designed Year of The Volunteer Midwest Radio produced a series of Sunday documentaries based on the works of voluntary organisations in the region that includes Macra na Feirme, St. Vincent de Paul, Mayo Mountain Rescue and the RNLI. We travel to Ballyglass to take a guided tour of the Mayo RNLI base. The centre is run on a voluntary basis by men and women who risk their lives on our stormy seas to rescue those in need. We find out about the training programmes in place that ensures that all volunteers are trained to the highest standards.

A unique insight into the working of Castlebar's Order of Malta unit. We talk to many of the volunteers who work from their busy base at Pavilion Road

The No Name Clubs are growing from strength to strength across Connacht and in this documentary we speak to many of the young participants who enjoy being involved in this organisation because of its alcohol and drugs free policy.

Being caught for weed nowadays means being caught by the police for possession of an illegal drug such as cannabis. But in the Ireland of the 20th century weeds of a more innocent variety could land a farmer or landowner in court. The Noxious Weeds Act of 1936 was constituted to deal with the problems caused by noxious invaders such as ragwort, thistle and dock. The Act allowed for any person responsible for land on which noxious weeds were growing to be fined upon conviction. This programme entitled “The Blight of the Buachallan Bui” was commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland under its Sound and Vision Scheme. Contributors to the 40 minute programme recall how members of the Garda Siochana used to patrol the highways and byways of rural Ireland on bicycles peering across stonewalls and hedgerows to detect breaches of the regulation. Among the contributors to the programme is retired vet Charlie Lydon from Westport who says there was good reason for the strong regulation as ragwort was po

This programme recalls the Bona Fide rule which meant that a person could only get a drink in a public house on a Sunday if he/she had travelled in “good faith”, three miles, along a public roadway. The Bona Fide rule, introduced by the British government in Ireland in 1872, remained in place until 1960. Contributors to the programme include many of those who frequented pubs in the 1930s through to the 50s when the rule applied and governed the opening and closing times of public houses. Denied a legal drink in their local on a Sunday resulted in ingenious plots and plans devised by publicans and drinkers to avoid getting “caught on”. If “caught on “ the non bona fide drinker faced heavy fines and could be named and shamed in the local press. Publicans risked losing their licenses for breaching the legislation. Retired gardai and publicans together with patrons recall their experiences in what now seems a different world. The programme is presented by international award winning journalist Teresa O’Ma

This programme looks at a time in Ireland when not having a light on your bicycle at night was regarded as a serious offence. If a cyclist was caught by the gardai at night without a light they could face a court appearance and a fine together with the humiliation of being named and shamed in the local newspaper. Among the contributors to the Midwest documentary are people now in their seventies / eighties who were before a District Justice on this offence. They include Mary Livingstone of Castlebar who recalls being caught in Balla without a light by a garda at a roadside checkpoint and Aughagower man Aeneas Noonan who tells of happy days cycling between Aughagower and the dance hall in Westport carrying a young lady on the handlebars of a bike without a light and being summonsed as a result. Others interviewed for the 40 minute documentary include gardai, and retired District Judge Bernard Brennan from Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. The series has been commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority under the Sound

Mayo person of the year and meiteal awards Live from City West Hotel Dublin Presented by Paul Claffey,Teresa O Malley & Noel Howley,

Mayo People Of The Year Awards 2009.Live from the Castlecourt Hotel Westport.Presented by Gerry Glennon & Teresa O Malley

A special Christmas Eve treat for our listeners as the Cairde Youth Drama group – based in Castlebar – but featuring young people from all parts of Mayo – take to the airwaves with an original radio play entitled Santa’s Magic. The play was written and produced by Aileen Keogh. Sit back and enjoy!

This documentary features a weeklong trip taken by Mayo pilgrims to Medjugorje in October 2009.Presented by Tommy Marren

Mayo’s Holy Men and Women is a four-part documentary series broadcast on Midwest Radio that looks at the lives of four Mayo natives who were viewed by others as “holy people.” The series, presented and produced by Teresa O’Malley and Liamy Mac Nally, focuses on internationally renowned Attymass native Rosary Priest, Fr Patrick Peyton; the founder of the Association of Handmaids and Stewards at Knock Shrine, Dame Judy Coyne; the Foxford born alcoholic priest said to have special powers, ; and the controversial Achill-based visionary, Christina Gallagher. The series was commissioned by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland under its Sound and Vision Scheme.