Rare footage of the Claddagh people revealed in Irish documentary from 1934
Entertainment

Rare footage of the Claddagh people revealed in Irish documentary from 1934

LIFE in rural Ireland in 1934 has come to life, at least on film. 

The rare video footage, entitled Ireland: The Melody Isle', was produced by James A. Fitzpatrick, an American-born producer and journalist.

The travelogue is so called as, James A. Fitzpatrick notes, "most of [Ireland's] famous landmarks have been revealed to the outside world in song."

The documentary about Ireland in 1934, features footage of the turf industry in Ireland, primarily the process of footing and drying turf, as well as footage of the Killarney Lakes and Blarney Castle.

Also featured is the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme which was set up  in the 1920s by the Irish Free State on the river Shannon in Ardnacrusha, Co Clare.

A short segment of the documentary also centres around the Irish mother, as demonstrated by five Irish women who are featured in traditional dark shawls and clothing. The narrator describes them as "Mother Ireland", awaiting their sons who have "caught their fortune across the four corners of the earth."

The 9-minute film also features incredibly rare footage of the people of the Claddagh Village who, as featured here, were reclusive from other communities in Galway, spoke only Irish and did not marry outside their own people.

Mr Fitzpatrick became eponymous with travelogues as he was dubbed the "voice of the globe" for producing and narrating several travel documentaries for Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

The video, which has received over 48,000 views so far, was uploaded to YouTube by The Travel Film Archive who specialise in travel documentaries between 1900 and 1970.

Check out the video here...