Killarney, May 1929

Much of this video was taken on the corner of College St. and Lewis Road in Killarney in May 1929, Main St. appears too. The recording originally comes from the archives of the University of South Carolina. Here a link to a blogpost I put up about it. ildaite.blogspot.com/2018/03/k...

[@adamclad]

What a great video. My grandfather was from Fairgreen Killarney and would have been 100 in August, so he'd be 9 when this footage was recorded. It's really interesting to see what he would have seen as a young boy.

[@dylendog]

Little girl singing is just so beautiful

[@peneleapai]

Yes and so natural

[@11abrook]

Like listening to an angel.

[@larryoconnor7094]

Was, she's dead.

[@patrickodonnell4109]

Fascinating to see and hear what life was like in those days. Thank you

[@kyshtakyshta3248]

I want to be Buried there with my Grandparents ,damn Covid, Australia to Ireland seems so far away

[@dub_dub1504]

I can recognise the street lay out but Killarney has changed beyonf recognition now. Even in the 25 years I've lived here it's changed so much. Thanks for the upload.

[@sbrg2240]

God, I can't get over how the original sound was included in this film. So few films recorded by foreign companies in Ireland about Irish life, kept the original sound before the mid to late sixties. Top quality upload!

[@dennismcelholme3290]

its been added

[@movinon1242]

I cannot see how there could have been a corresponding bit of audio to that wee girl's song. It changed with her when she would tilt her head down, and to get someone to perfectly recreate that song... I cannot see how its possible without a level of technological intervention that could not possibility by justified.

[@edmundpower1250]

@@dennismcelholme3290 You obviously haven't watched the video. The original sound is included and you would have realised that if you watched it

[@hetrodoxly1203]

@@edmundpower1250 It would be very easy to add the sound by computer and make it look more convincing than if it had been recorded originally, if this was recorded at the time it was cutting edge technology, the film and the sound were recorded separately, it was only 2 years earlier that the first sound film had been released 'The Jazz Singer' and that was limited in the sound it produced.

[@edmundpower1250]

@@hetrodoxly1203 look and listen from the sixth to the seventh minute. Of course it's the original sound. Don't always doubt the technology of the time

[@dennyoconnor2404]

the footage begins at College Square then east on College Street to the intersection at Pound Row now called Collins place at Christy Sweeney's pub, then proceeds east along Fair Hill cottages then past the old bend after the railway bridge, the wall on the left is where the Great Southern 'Torc' Hotel was later built and is now demolished, notice the steam from a steam engine inside the wall and The Great Southern Hotel peeping through the trees in the far right, next is Curtin's Cross with the ivy covered wall that is enclosing 'Cronin's of the Park' estate, now owned by Daly's Superstore, continuing up Upper Park Road to the Ballyspillane - Tirnaboul intersection a very sharp turn with high walls which were knocked and widened in the late 1950s a big Round-About is there now. . . . Note the scenes alternate back and forth which makes the continuance confusing. Hope this will jog the memories of us old timers and inform the youngsters. . . Best wishes from Denny O'Connor.

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

Amazing detail there thanks a million for that!

[@dennyoconnor2404]

thanks Charles for sharing this awesome footage, I hope you can find some more like it, stuff like this proves to the younger people; how far we have come in two to three generations, best wishes from Denny O'Connor.

[@philipdee1415]

Thank you Denny

[@kateguilfoyle5155]

Thank you for your explanation, Denny. Question: the old lady with the donkey at the end, when the man says,’Cut johnny’, what is she saying? If it was a horse, I would have assumed he was going to spook at the camera, but I cannot imagine a donkey spooking and it did not look like she had trouble with control. Is ‘way’ a form of talking to the donkey (like whoa?)

[@peneleapai]

@@kateguilfoyle5155 Did you find out ? I could be wrong, but listening without seeing your comment, i heard her saying "Gwan.. " (didn't hear any "way" being uttered 🤷🏻‍♀️ The lady is saying, "Go on, .. go on, .. go on out of that ... " We sometimes say in Clare, "gwan... Gwan out of that" (but in different context)

[@PlanetImo]

She was a good little singer.

[@killianb6365]

What a time to be alive where we can go back in time!

[@dazzamcg2369]

If we could time travel I'd live in 1929 as a happy man. Sick to death of hearing drunk muppets roaring their heads off coming out of mcsorleys every weekend.

[@josewallace6759]

Now that's fantastic. I am Argentinian, son of Irish and I think I have been around those places when I last visited Ireland in 2018. It is a beautiful document where you reflect the old times that my father told me about that Ireland I never knew.

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

I´m from Killarney, but work a-lot in the theme of the Irish in Latin America. I´m currently living in the south of Mexico. Fijate en los videos recientes que subí, canciones irlandeses esrito en las Pampas en los 1870s. Gracias José! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIXSl4uDprSZaaM&ab_channel=CharlieO%27Brien

[@user-hh5tz8if5s]

Beautiful Irish singing voice

[@marypaterson53]

I wonder why we look at this and say “poverty,” when what we might really be seeing is simply - in this footage - no cars, no billboards, no big box stores, no gas stations or cafes, no vortex jackets or Nikes…

[@Lee-nh5bb]

No plastic! Beautifully made wheels for the carts; every one a work of art. The local rubbish dumps wouldn't have had the plethora of non-organic matter that we have today.

[@timsmusic7349]

They were self sufficient. They didn’t need welfare checks to survive.

[@randomuser3476]

@@timsmusic7349on the contrary they did that how Killarney came about they would sell stuff their for money for rent and thus Killarney became a market of sorts and later down the decades a commercial town

[@weekendwet1]

.. and no Muslims

[@tomr4376]

We are living in such a privileged time now than the poor souls in this clip and we are still not happy

[@Lee-nh5bb]

They all seem to have a purpose; a simple one perhaps, but a purpose none the less. They are part of a community. They were lucky.

[@jeremiahkerry]

Basically, the streets are the same. I used to watch wealthy tourists taking tea in the Great Southern Hotel - face pressed against the railings. Now, I stay in the Lake Hotel where Walt Disney, Queen Vic and Charlie Chaplin stayed.Life has been good to me.

[@dRadHarry]

Thanks for uploading/sharing this. Very interesting.

[@elizabethohalloran200]

What amazing footage complete with newly developed sound. Thank you for sharing it Charlie. My mother was 13 years old then and lived only 15 miles away in Castleisland.However, that was quite a distance when the only mode of transport was a donkey/ cart or maybe a bicycle in hilly terrain. My grandmother wore this type of clothing and lived up the hill in a tiny cottage in Glounsharoon( Paddy and Bessy Murphy). My mother Mary Murphy married a Cork man, John O’ Halloran and I grew up near Bandon. She became a widow at 30 with 5 children of which I’m the youngest…we immigrated to NY when I was 14. Now, Ireland is the 3rd richest country in Europe behind Luxembourg and Switzerland! Thank you again for this time traveling gem. I’ve shared it with younger family members and they loved it.👍☘️💚💚

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

No problem Elizabeth. I´ve family in New York too myself. My dad used to be an altar boy in a church near the black valley, he says the priest was the only person with a car, otherwise it was all horses and carts lining each side of the road leading to the church.

[@elizabethohalloran200]

Yes, the priest dropped by our national school in Templemartin in his nice shiny car and we leapt to our feet when he entered the room. Our pony and trap or a rickety bicycle took us to Mass or the local little shop. I wouldn’t trade those years/memories for all the tea in China! ☘️😊👍🙏💚

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

@@elizabethohalloran200 thanks for sharing that Elizabeth;) here’s a film I did a while back a New York Irish story “A Captain Unafraid” kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2PThKqdibOqe6c

[@jamescoughlan8193]

The really elderly lady hunting her donkey on might have been born at the time of the famine or not long after

[@veronicasweeney9588]

this is just lovely the lovely Angeles .and the beautiful irish singing voice of the little girl feeding the chickens .my mother would have been a lovely young girl then and my father and my grandmother would more than likely been alive. I would have loved that way of life and our Beautiful irish language. 💚💚💚🙏🙏🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪💯

[@patdoyle3686]

Brilliant not a mobile phone📲 in sight no motor cars🚘 just donkey power and willpower great people ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@edmundpower1250]

Brilliant!? The cruelty inflicted on those poor donkeys was horrendous

[@treborsirrah7916]

Brilliant great quality film ,If I was to go back to those times I would open a shop to sell caps, tobacco and donkeys

[@Lee-nh5bb]

I'd sell shawls!

[@neliusreynolds1237]

I never thought that the '' Bells of Shandon'' could be heard in Killarney.

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

I needed some audio to put under the title screen and used the bells from the bit from Cork I'd deleted! Well spotted ;)

[@peneleapai]

@@CharlieOBrienTF NICE! .. to hear the adjustments, behind the scenes

[@kittykitkat4968]

The little girl sang well

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

This is stunningly brilliant, it is a little like a scene out any old western film way down near the border of Mexico, the only difference is very few horses mostly very fine donkeys and no guns but kids with happy laughter, the sheer beauty but of that little girls singing and she feeds the young ducklings I would be happy to spend a few weeks in that town at that time

[@veronicasweeney9588]

than you for sharing this great video . I love the little donkeys and all my ancestors. Proud to be irish 😀💚💚💚🙏GoD bless Ireland 💯🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

[@dylendog]

When God was in people's lives

[@teresamargett2666]

Reminds me a little of the Wild West USA, God Bless Ireland forever,,❤️

[@kaspar_1982]

what a quiet world this must have been.

[@hodders9834]

Donkey's are the best, so patient, and solid.

[@terrycasey9651]

Showed the video to my father. He reckons the latter part of the video might be out in Beaufort, judging from the mountains in the background at around 7:20. Maybe someone can confirm.

[@Blainelyne]

Is it Ross road at the end of the video?

[@denisoconnor7217]

The end is at the top of Park Road 'upper' at the intersection of Ballyspillane housing estate and just further on, where the goat is, is entrance to the Tiernaboul commercial section where the Killarney Printing plant is now located....all these pictures looked like this up to the late 1950s ... it was the early 1960s when County Council began taking down the high wall at the then sharp turn that turned left to Tiernaboul and made that corner much wider, later they made a Roundabout when Pretty Polly nylon stocking factory was established inside of where that high wall was... the estate inside the wall was owned by the Lord Kenmare land agent by the name of Daniel 'Cronin of the park' his descendants died out and Mackey Shea and Jackie Daly bought the lands in 1960s ....

[@jamesdolan4042]

Extraordinary clear and quality footage in poverty stricken rural Ireland for the 1929 period. After the television was invented just two years earlier in 1927. The movie camera involved must have been the most advanced technologically, and the cameraman the best in the world. I know that my own Irish family photographs or more commonly dageurerotypes from that period are extremely rare, and the images are very blurred, with a rustic yellow background and without character or expression.

[@janettedavis6627]

James Dolan I saw documentary on Sydney Australia in 1948 I was shocked Australia was very poor too.

[@kevindoran9389]

Moving pictures and television are 2 completely different things invented 40 years apart.

[@scotnick59]

Rare and wonderful video.

[@jimmyrichardson67]

Stayed in The Royal Hotel here in 2014. Loved it

[@helencoupland8331]

Those poor donkeys bless them and not treat much better today 😪😪

[@patrickball2493]

Just can't get over the amount of donkeys. Everyone back then, seems to have a donkey. Very useful animals. I suppose they were cheap, reliable and able to carry goods from A to B, without trouble, alas slowly.

[@liamhayes1011]

Donkeys are tough, smart, self-possessed and beautifully adapted to an extraordinary range of environments, from the boglands of Ireland to the parched interior of Andalucia - and beyond. The donkey is one of the most admirable - and valuable - of all domesticated animals.

[@PatrickJoe2]

@@liamhayes1011 Good observation my friend. Jesus knew this and that is why he chose to ride one.

[@troleary]

I remember still some donkeys in Corcaigh in the late 60s early seventies. Shawls too down the older part of town !

[@peneleapai]

On the particular day this was filmed, could it not have been a Market day or Fair day, that more donkeys + cars (as used be called, i hear tell) about . . ?

[@tidningsboije5568]

@@peneleapai Looks like it

[@stephenlever419]

Would love to see this film colourised

[@sean864]

This is great footage

[@Seansaighdeoir]

My mum would have been around 6 then and born down the Well Lane pottering around the town so...

[@peterpauldonoghue7024]

18/11/2021 It was on the rte news this evening that an old film from 1920's was found in America showing footage from around Cork and Kerry .. Something about a dog smoking a pipe !!

[@voraciousreader3341]

Man, those donkeys....talk about a rough life, pulling such loads with those tiny little hooves! The one with grandma near the end was with pregnant with twins or carrying a huge worm burden, God knows! My husband and I have owned Irish terriers for 25 years, so I’m always looking for one in these old films, but I’ve never spotted one....this film didn’t have a single dog!

[@michaeloruaidh3605]

To all saying the donkeys were treated badly is totally untrue. Back then people relied on the donkeys for transport and farming. The animals were treated very well and fed well unlike the way donkeys are treated all over the world today. People need to get there facts right before making these statements

[@karenwaddell2680]

Thank you

[@peneleapai]

The wee snippet of amhrán there ~ at around 05:50 ~ does anyone know the name of tune? One I've not heard before..

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

Its called Sail Óg Rua, its a Connemara song, heres some more info including the lyrics sung.. ildaite.blogspot.com/2018/03/killarney-1929.html

[@danmccoy82]

@@CharlieOBrienTF Thank you

[@tidningsboije5568]

1:31 poor thing looks tired, thirsty, and hungry, (!) 🐪 .

[@shaunwilson7148]

I remember '29.......in a previous life of course

[@dee22466]

Still less than a hundred years since how far Ireland had come but how low now too God have mercy on our wee ireland

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

Our period film, Macalla Chill Áirne (The Killarney Echo) which recreates a Victorian era musical tour of Killarney's lakes is also on this channel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHOaYY2wYpeMlac

[@piercebyrne23]

My mother was born in Johnstown in co Kildare and this was the family transport into Naas for the groceries.

[@j.obrien4990]

amazing how much a place can change in 100 years. What was the primary language used in Killarney in 1929?

[@olearyma57]

Exclusively English (or sort of English).

[@augustinedennis4865]

Did they have sound films,as in this clip ,in those days?

[@jimbobjimjim6500]

Yes, from 1927 onwards.

[@seandelap6268]

You could tell just by looking at this how hard and downtrodden it was in the rural west of Ireland in comparison to many other parts of western Europe at the time.

[@Roscoe.P.Coldchain]

I honestly don’t think it looks down trodden at all..? If anything it looks cleaner and peaceful, yes the roads look dusty but I would swap it for now ..

[@movinon1242]

1929 was pretty awful the world over...

[@hastii36]

Super interesting!!!👍👍👍

[@dubinatub1]

My grandmother was 17

[@user-hh5tz8if5s]

So wish it was like this again miss the real Irish people simple living in a clean safe beautiful place so different now / will we ever get our country back so sad over commercialised greed has taken over. the lovely Irish people make Ireland not the big business people who suck the life force out of us

[@angelasharpe6348]

Amazing.

[@72mossy]

My grandmother would have been living in Behagne Castlecove a few miles outside sneem at the time, she would have been 18 at the time, She was O leary

[@szymondombrowan1368]

Does anyone know what the girl feeding the geese is singing about? does anyone know the Gaelic language?

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

Heres the translation at the end of this blogpost I put up about the video.. ildaite.blogspot.com/2018/03/killarney-1929.html

[@szymondombrowan1368]

@@CharlieOBrienTF thank you very much, i like archives like this

[@kyshtakyshta3248]

what language is the little girl singing in? My Great Grandfather From Kilrush Clare would have been 25

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

That’s the Irish language, I put the lyrics and other info in the blogpost link under the video if you want to have a look.

[@kyshtakyshta3248]

@@CharlieOBrienTF thankyou

[@marcp3788]

4:10 that kid could pass for a modern teenager with that hairstyle and long sleeve polo shirt

[@Lee-nh5bb]

I know! " Now lads, just lean on the donkey and act natural like." 😆

[@LizMcNamara47]

How important the donkeys were to their way of life then

[@lorrainemulluns9645]

My dad would have been 2 years old then I can't believe it he was born in Tipperary

[@roadwarrior8560]

you can't believe he was born in Tipp?

[@paddyo3841]

Wish we could return to the old days and ways

[@thiest1205]

My old granny would hate seeing all that good fertiliser going to waste, The milkman on his horse and cart once asked her what she wanted it for, she told him she puts in on the rhubarb, 🤣🤣 he told her he gets custard on his 🤷‍♂️

[@roseanne9986]

They used it also for flowers

[@thiest1205]

@@roseanne9986 she swore by it for her roses 🌹

[@itaomahony502]

Interesting how selective the filming is. It shows the Ideal American romantic view of “old Ireland” If you look closely in the background of the rural scenes taken in the square you will see a few very elegantly dressed ladies who were completely ignored by the narrative. I find it interesting from the Irish perspective to see the American perspective and slant on one siding the story to fit with their expectations of a culture.

[@mauricekelly4439]

Ireland is simply elegant.

[@davidmccarthy3055]

People were content and happy with there life no anxiety or mental health issus unlike now greed jealousy sudomy have full control

[@slimsterslim6531]

Nothing changed much then.

[@jimmymorgan3324]

Me. Old. Fellow. Was from Killarney ,And. Born 17th. March 1922. ( yes paddy’s day) named Patrick Horgan , tanners fron New street. &. Ball ally lane, GREAT. insight,

[@nikkioshea4139]

Oh fabulous

[@sorayaluiz4920]

Que musica e essa que a menina canta

[@CharlieOBrienTF]

Perdón no hablo portugués, pero español si... el nombre de la cancíon es "Sail Óg Rua" cantado en gaelico (ó como nosotros llaman la lengua "Irlandes.") Aquí en el blog sobre el video hay las letras que canta la niña ildaite.blogspot.com/2018/03/killarney-1929.html

[@juankuklinsky9853]

what a song singing a girl wich feeding a ducklings ? plese

[@marianlynch4829]

The poor donkeys ..

[@dayanafer7571]

Cuidado con la luz roja !...el semáforo está parado !...

[@bartonseagrave9605]

Why didn't they show the Mosque.

[@joebrennan.4389]

We might be going back to that way of life sooner than we think......

[@weekendwet1]

I didn't see the mosque anywhere.

[@mikeglynn3676]

very young and the very old all that remain it seems

[@edmundpower1250]

The inbetweeners were at work

[@mayam1141]

Poor donkeys...

[@myopinion4600]

The carts were balanced so the wheels took most of the weight. But the donkey did have to pull. To be fair the donkeys look well fed.

[@sandrap.6530]

Where did all the horses & donkeys go? I never knew what a harsh life these animals had in Ireland

[@Truthwillalwayswinoverlies]

Harsh? there were well fed and look after donkeys are built strong like the Irish Gaels. All the harshness on animals and people was done by British empire throughout the world Ainmhithe salach go bhfuil impireacht Shasana 🇮🇪❤️🇷🇺⚓✝️☦️🙏🏻

[@sav7568]

So few cars.

[@ViveSemelBeneVivere]

It was 1929, in a county in the southwestern tip of Ireland, in a country on the western tip of Europe, rural and remote from big urban centres, so of course very few cars.

[@marymcsherry1965]

@@ViveSemelBeneVivere Even in Dublin then there weren't many cars. Most people cylcled, walked or took the tram

[@dazzamcg2369]

Only the rich could afford cars. The working class had to use horse/donkey and carts

[@1907jdee]

can't hardly get around anymore with all the tourists!

[@Truthwillalwayswinoverlies]

Tourist you say it's not the tourist it's the filthy rotten rapooouegueee migrants being let in to our nation by EU for the great replacement and trying to destroy Irishness and culture with there kalgari plan Ireland for the Irish Tál 🇮🇪

[@user-hh5tz8if5s]

And the economic migrants on the gravy train the Uchrains should go home we have no room for all these they will destroy the tourism as it's for the Irish people the tourists come for the friendly welcome something these others no nothing about

[@teresacullen682]

💚💛☘

[@opinionday0079]

Jesus its more like 1829

[@blenderocean]

Or developing countries of the past fifty years.

[@dechannigan2980]

Before rubber tyres, noisy iron rims

[@johnscanlon2598]

They see me rollin they hatin Tryna ketch me riding dirty

[@nikolaodonnell6813]

B

[@recipio6561]

The Republic was only seven years old ...............but still dire poverty.

[@johnoriordan7419]

Little did we think in 2021 we'd have the worst most corrupt, bought government since the foundation of the state

[@thomasberry1772]

We live and always have in a false reality and somebody's or some experiment but who's.

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

Back in those days, there was not much talk about electric vehicles, the poor old donkey did most of the hard work and worked much more often than then fancy lazy horses who only pulled a plow a few times of the year or a cart of hay or chickens or ducks going to the market town where they stood around telling horsey jokes and tall tales and drinking Guinness and smoking their pipes with not a care in the world because they know that the hard works would be carried out by the donkeys

[@user-lx5ue4wm5k]

To think everyone in this film are dead now

[@shane6115]

The woman in their shawls like a seen from the famine, a bit depressing looking to be honest…

[@blenderocean]

Reminds me of India.

[@jasonfallon4968]

No iPhones or bullshit.

[@briananderson8330]

Some of the donkeys needed the attention of a blacksmith.

[@chrishultgren777]

One man tried to save Europeans

[@thenflywjaz6917]

The ass-and-cart 1929. Always fascinating to get a glimpse into the past, but dear God, the cameraman didn't have much imagination, did he ? I always feel sorry for the poor aul donkeys. Having to stand in the one spot for hours on end, blinkered so they can only see straight ahead, and at the end of a wearisome day they are unceremoniously yanked into action and made to haul huge overloaded carts and their lazy-ass owners home.

[@martinbyrne6643]

We all waiting to see your camera work , don’t keep us waiting now 🥸, no lazy people back then .

[@thenflywjaz6917]

@@martinbyrne6643 We all waiting ? Jesus.

[@ciaranbyrne62]

Now they're all driving Audi's and 4x4's🤣

[@jamesbovington8218]

Lovely but wasn't this when the Church had unlimited power? Wasn't Ireland held back by the Catholic Church?

[@frankbolger3969]

No.

[@jamesbovington8218]

@@frankbolger3969 So all those stories of teenage mothers being forced to give up their babies are untrue?

[@frankbolger3969]

@@jamesbovington8218 No, sorry, didn't say that, but that "unlimited power" myth is a black legend.

[@olearyma57]

@@frankbolger3969 They had unlimited power over my feeble mind.

[@frankbolger3969]

@@olearyma57 Bad people exercised their power wrongfully then as now, but the Church never had "unlimited power " and never had any more than the civil authority was willing to cede to them. That's why it is important that the two are never conflated.

[@staffy4389]

She's heading to Dunnes stores. Ah the poor animals, this is why I don't like people.

[@copthis5978]

Pre-Nintendo irish Donkey Kong 🐒🐵

[@jamiegwhite30]

at 5:30 travis pastranas grandad...lol

[@jamiegwhite30]

5:29, the first nitro circuit

[@MrHotlipsholohan]

Less than 100 yrs ago ,, only 10 decades and look at how much life has changed in that time ,,,,,,no global warming then ,,,,,,,a simple but happy life it seems

[@Jen-lg4hp]

No global warming now either! Remind me of that the next time I sit freezing in the cold because I can't pay for fuel thanks to the corrupt government's 'carbon tax'!

[@josephfinnegan151]

​@@Jen-lg4hp Earth NOT a globe !! See Eric Dubay's Remarkable You Tube Channel for further details.

[@josephfinnegan151]

5 years before Gay Byrne was born !

[@blahblahblah85]

Why are the men dressed smartly, while the poor women wear blankets and shawls