and
More Extraordinary, Ordinary Women
with
Karen Minihan and Ciara Buckley
Thursday December 12 2024
at
8pm
in
Clonakilty GAA Club, Ahamilla
Extraordinary, Ordinary Women
Ordinary women in West Cork played a huge role during the War of Independence and the Civil War. 'Extraordinary, Ordinary Women' is a short documentary based on Karen Minihan's book. The documentary focuses on four women from the book who lived throughout West Cork, from Ardgroom on the Beara peninsula through to Clonakilty.
Presented by Karen, she interviews living relatives of the women:
Ellen Holland from Clonakilty, devoted most of her time to the National movement, along with her sisters Mary and Margaret set up the Letter Branch of Cumann na mBan.
Rose O’Connell from Main Street, Skibbereen, owned a prominent butchers shop. Reddy O’Regan, Rose’s grandson speaks about Rose’s sons who disagreed and fell out over which side to take during the War.
May O’Driscoll from Skeaghnore, was a secretary of her local Cumann na mBan branch. From carrying dispatches for the IRA to home nursing May’s life was certainly impacted by her contribution to the cause.
Using footage from present day locations in stunning West Cork, hidden stories unfold from these turbulent times.
This project is funded through Cork County Council as part of the ‘County Cork Commemorations Grant Scheme’
More Extraordinary, Ordinary Women
More Extraordinary, Ordinary Women is a short documentary based on Karen Minihan's second book. The documentary focuses on three chapters from the book, all women involved in Cumann na mBan and women who emigrated after the War.
Matilda Mary Mulvey (nee Dudey) from the Beara Peninsula played a significant role in the Irish War of Independence in the area, Karen interviews her grandnephew David Dudley.
Tess and May Buckley who lived in Castlehaven. These two sisters were members of the local branch of Cumann na mBan. Nephew Con O'Callaghan speaks to Karen about their experiences during the revolutionary period.
Finally in Kilbrittain, Karen meets with cousins Eugene & Mary Walsh who recount the lives and times of their grandmother Molly Walsh (nee O'Neill) and her sister Maud O'Meara (nee O’Neill).
Writer and Presenter:
Karen Minihan is a native of Clonakilty, which, she says, continues to influence her work and imagination. She has worked in a variety of roles, including: theatre director, performer, writer and drama teacher, on projects large and small. She particularly likes to work creatively and collectively with other artists and creatives and analyses this in her blog and podcast series, Take a Chair: Talking Theatre and Creativity (karenminihan.ie/take-a-chair/). Her writing is mostly for the stage, although the Extraordinary, Ordinary Women project has been the focus of her work since 2022. There are two books in the series, a performance, Extraordinary, Ordinary Women: Live! and short play, Home Rules, performed by Bandon actor, Pauline O'Driscoll, which travelled on a tour around West Cork and islands. And of course, there are these two short documentaries.
Director
Ciara Buckley is Director and Producer at Wombat Media a video production company based in West Cork. A native of Castletownshend, she is passionate about history and especially women’s stories from the War of Independence and Civil War. Ciara directed ‘Engagement and Endurance: Cork City Women During the 1920’s’ when she heard about Karen’s book she was extremely excited about the opportunity of making a documentary about women in her native West Cork.