Film producer to launch 17th Autumn Gathering

THE renowned film producer, lecturer and theatre director, Lelia Doolan, will launch the 17th Lady Gregory Autumn Gathering this weekend.
“Both Ms Doolan and Lady Gregory have a lot in common. Both were or are rebels and both promoted the arts as entertainment but also as a means to express a political opinion or to spotlight a struggle. Lady Gregory is credited with writing most of the explosive nationalistic play, Cathleen Ní Houlihan, with WB Yeats, who later wondered ‘Did that play of mine send out/certain men the English shot?’” mused Marion Cox, one of the organisers.
At the recent Galway Film Fleadh, co-founded by Ms Doolan, her film, Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey, won critical acclaim for its portrayal of Bernadette McAliskey, a veteran of the Battle of the Bogside during the Northern Troubles.
“Ms Doolan began her career in RTÉ. She had a battle royal over her insistence that an RTÉ crew should be sent to Vietnam to ensure that viewers got an unbiased opinion of the war there. She was stopped by the Government at Dublin Airport. She resigned as head of light entertainment in protest at the political and commercial policies of RTÉ and set up her home in the Burren,” outlines Ms Cox.
Ms Doolan was responsible for the popular rural soap opera The Riordans and she produced the successful film, Reefer and the Model with director Joe Comerford in 1987.
Ms Doolan will speak on the opening night of the popular Autumn Gathering, a non-academic literary weekend at Coole, which includes talks about the life and times of Lady Augusta Gregory, a guided walk through the famous woods and a candlelit dinner in the renovated stables.
Subjects this year include Lady Gregory’s Diaspora by local historian Sr Mary de Lourdes Fahy and an opportunity to hear Judith Hill discuss aspects of her new biography of Lady Gregory.
Other speakers include Angela Bourke of UCD School of Irish and Celtic studies, Brian Walker of Queen’s University, Belfast and drama consultant, Cecily O’Neill. There will be music and a tour of Kilmacduagh monastic site among other events.
The Friday evening in the Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort, with Ms Doolan is free to the public but because of limited space, there is a modest charge for the other events. Full details are available from Ms Cox at 086 8053917 or by emailing monaleen@msn.com.