DUBLIN PORT SUPPORTS FILM ON LEGENDARY POET

For generations of Dubliners, Pat Ingoldsby epitomises the city’s humour, its wit, its unwillingness to conform to what others expect it to be. Just like Pat himself.

Those of us who remember the 1980s grew up with years presenting iconic children’s programmes on RTE, like Pat’s Hat, Pat’s Chat and Pat’s Pals. A renowned playwright and newspaper columnist, he is also a the streets of the city, where he sold his poetry and short story collections, most notably outside the Bank of Ireland at the junction of College Green and Westmoreland Street, where he was almost a permanent feature for decades.

Film Director Seamus Murphy set out to capture the essence of the man in the 2022 documentary, The

Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby, which was part-funded by Dublin Port Company, along with Screen Ireland and MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland).

Seamus Murphy’s curious camera roams inside the unique world of the cult Irish writer. Pat’s poems and that catches his interest.

Pat’s poetry and with Dublin City,” notes producer Tom

Supporting Artistic Endeavours

Seamus was already working with Dublin Port Company on a photographic exhibition, so he knew the company the city and Port in some way.

“I was working with Lar [Joye, Heritage Director, Dublin of the Bull Wall and all sorts of other fascinating things about the Bay and its history,” Seamus recalls. “It suddenly made me think about Pat Ingoldsby, who I was already the bay opposite the Port for many years. He had written lyrically and wonderfully about the waters surrounding Dublin. Straight after his talk, I discussed with Lar the unpretentious, funny, and worldly-wise. his Dublin persona. He immediately saw the connection

Financial Support From Dublin Port Company

explains. “We were working on an extremely tight budget but in Pat’s poetry. We could donate our own extra time and budget, but we needed to pay for extras such as the music licences for the pitch-perfect music soundtrack our editor research and follow-up. So the extra funding from Dublin regard, and were timely in responding when needed.” isn’t always easy, as both Tom and Seamus admit.

Lar and his team understood this from the beginning. There were many natural sympathies here between something that runs through much of his poetry. Boats, slipways, tides, storms, ferrymen - these all feature return to the sea when he needs to settle his compass and take stock.” states. “Funding cycles can sometimes be necessarily shooting. Dublin Port were there at crucial moments when the cameras had to roll so that key parts of the story were not missed.”

“The early support from Dublin Port has been crucial in funding elsewhere and build other partnerships, Tom notes.

Unless you are working in the mainstream, funding for art projects often needs multiple sources of support, Seamus contends. Additional funding at key stages “will often

Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby had a cinema release in Ireland the same week that Hollywood blockbusters and equal their appeal,” he confesses, noting how that would facing cinemas, when two years of pandemic habits

Wonderful Reaction

Independent describing it as “an elegant portrait of Dublin’s great literary outsider”, while Hot Press

“It’s got a great reaction,” says Seamus. “The media got chance to capture and celebrate one of Ireland’s unsung greats. After screenings, there are always outpourings of connection with Pat from his TV and radio days, from reading his poetry or from meeting or knowing him. So catching him in time, just before he stopped selling his books on the street and disappearing publicly and test of time.” as good as it can be. So the extra sponsorship from wanted to make.”

Tom is keen to praise Dublin Port Company for the timely funding from Dublin Port is crucial as it is not necessarily tied to any particular output or timeframe. It based on a belief that good things will come. There are no constraints or demands connected to their funding patronage which is to be celebrated.” in 2022 and was released commercially in Irish cinemas considers the whole enterprise worthy of the time he spent collaborating on it. In 2023, we expect to play at national broadcaster.”

The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby is directed by Seamus Murphy, and produced by Tom Burke for Broadstone Films. Released by Breakout Pictures.