TG4 documentary on unique Irish Western
Date Published: {J}
In the summer of 2010 a documentary TV crew gained access to the set of Return of the Gunhawks, probably the last Western to be filmed on this island.
Return of the Gunhawks is a sequel to the Western, Gunhawks, which was shot in 1973, directed by Tommy Maguire. It stars Aodh Óg Ó Duibheannaigh (well known from the popular TG4 series, C U Burn) as ‘Irish’, a Gaelgoir who has drifted across to the wild west from Donegal .
The documentary, An Cowboy Deireanach (The Last Cowboy), follows Aodh through filming and off set as he’s put through his paces as a cowboy.
Return of the Gunhawks, which is also directed by Tommy Maguire, featured many of the cast from his previous film, The Gunhawks, which he wrote and filmed in the Sperrin Mountains. That early Western was a labour of love for the keen film fan, and most of those involved were his friends and neighbours.
“These men were all amateur actors and are aged from their late sixties to early seventies”, explains the documentary’s producer, Cyril Kelly. “Understandably that created its own problems during filming. The film’s director, Tommy Maguire, wanted the works in this one; bar fights, horses, shootouts and even a hoe-down and the documentary provides a ringside seat as the action unfolds.”
The TG4 documentary produced by Soup Stone Productions will be shown on Sunday, October 16 at 9.30pm and is repeated the following Wednesday at 11.30 pm.