May 20, 2003
Hands
Daid Havelin rightly sings the praises of the Irish TV series, Hands, which is being repeated on RTE 1 on Tuesdays. Last night's programme was about the skill of making hurleys in Kilkenny. The programme was made in 1982 and featured a very young Brian Cody selecting a hurley for the all-Ireland final. I need something that will crack the thickest head, since we are meeting Cork in the final. Ok, he didn't ACTUALLY say that but the twinkle in his eye as he tested the strength of a hurley stick indicated what he was thinking.
While the documentaries are excellent (with a beguiling lack of self-conciousness on the part of the participants), I wish that RTE would append a "where are they now" coda to each documentary. Many of the professions shown in the documentaries, such as basket-weavers, blacksmiths, thatchers, have become much scarcer in the last two decades since the programmes were made. It would be interesting to see how many families were still following the tradition.
Posted by Monasette at May 20, 2003 11:07 PM