‘A community that has refused to die’

‘Loughmore to the Front: The Birth, Decline and Revival of a Community’, the new documentary film by Nicholas Ryan-Purcell, will be screened in Nenagh cinema next week.

Nicholas’ latest work sees him tracing his ancestral line all the way back to the 12th century and the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, which led to the emergence of the Purcell ruling family in Loughmore. The last baron of Loughmore Castle, Nicholas Purcell, was the film producer’s great, great, great, great, great-granduncle and the man after whom he is named.

In ‘Loughmore to the Front’, Nicholas embarks on a journey through history to showcase his famed forebear, “Sarsfield’s right-hand man” and one of the signatories of the Treaty of Limerick. The journey brings him to Nenagh, Holycross, Thurles, Limerick and back to Loughmore, where Nicholas seeks to understand how the parish “saved itself from dying” after the Purcells vacated it over 400 years ago.

PARISH PRIDE

This is a story of parish pride that highlights many aspects of Loughmore’s interesting history, including of course the story of the Cormack Brothers. Nicholas visits Nenagh Heritage Centre – once the county gaol – to recount the brothers’ fate with the help of Ger Meagher, who gives a tour of the old gaol site. Nicholas then visits the Cormacks’ burial place in Loughmore, where John and Geraldine Egan sing their song.

The title of this documentary, ‘Loughmore to the Front’ was a battle cry from the Jacobite war in which Nicholas’ Purcell ancestor was involved. The words were revived for a Land League banner in the 1800s, which was used when the Cormack brothers were brought home from Nenagh for reburial in 1910.

It has been used at many local celebrations since, including those of Loughmore-Castleiney’s GAA club’s illustrious past. Shot in the glorious afterglow of Tipp’s All-Ireland victory last summer, this occupies a large segment of the film, the producer noting the pride that the Purcells – who had their own hurling team in the seventeenth century – might feel at seeing their legacy alive in the modern game.

Also among those featuring in this production is Mary Fogarty, Manager of the Cottage Tea Rooms in Loughmore, who talks about co-founding (with the late Maeve O’Hair) a new business in the village and the surprising success it has had. The local national school is also highlighted, where teacher Oisín Ryan talks about his recent 42km fundraising run from Nenagh to Loughmore.

‘IT’S ME’

Loughmore Castle features heavily in the documentary and there is even a visit from the Cork Supernatural Society in search of spirits extant within the remains. Calls in the name of name of Theobald are met with a response: “It’s me.”

In ‘Loughmore to the Front’ Nicholas interviews a whole host of well-known people associated with the parish. GAA referee and former Templemore Town Clerk Tom McGrath, Monsignor Maurice Dooley, Holycross historian Tom Gallagher and Loughmore-Casteliney GAA President Pat Cullen are but a few to mention. Loughmore Drama Group also features, re-enacting the past of what the producer terms “a community that has refused to die”.

Nicholas grew up in the west Tipp village of Emly and moved with his family to Cloughjordan in 2006, attending the CBS in Nenagh thereafter. Having studied TV and film at the Ballyfermot College of Further Education, his film work includes an award-winning documentary on the horse Gordon Lord Byron and a candid insight on his own life, ‘This is Nicholas: Living with Autism'. He also wrote a book about living with autism titled ‘Anything is Possible’.

Local audiences can watch his new film, ‘From Loughmore to the Front’ at the Omniplex Cinema in Nenagh on Wednesday, November 19, at 7.30pm. It will also be screened at the Omniplex in Limerick at the same time on Monday, November 17.