A chance meeting with a Cork County Council road crew gives one man a chance to demonstrate his prowess on the fiddle.
While working on a feature about John B Keane, Frank Hall chances upon some Cork County Council road workers tarring a stretch of road between Kiskeam and Boherbue. The men led by ganger Maurice O’Keeffe, are Jerh Murphy, Ned Dennehy, Dan Scannell and Michael Helihy. Thady O'Connell watches on from his tractor.
Frank Hall initially wants to know if the men have seen Eddie Bradley, but the subject soon turns to turns to the difference between fresh tarring and loose chippings. Maurice O'Keeffe explains that loose chippings means there is a dangerous surface and Ned Dennehy adds that they could break the glass in the car.
Maurice O'Keeffe does not have a preference but decides fresh tarring gives a better result. He then asks Frank Hall if he has a fiddle in his car.
If you had a fiddle I'd play a few tunes for you.
When Frank Hall cannot provide a fiddle, Maurice O'Keeffe sends him on an errand to collect his own fiddle from his home in Kiskeam so he can play some music while the men take their lunch break. Frank Hall agrees and asks if the trip will take five minutes to which Maurice O'Keeffe replies,
If you go fast enough it will take you less.
Frank Hall returns with the fiddle and sits down at the roadside with the men to have a cup of tea while Maurice O'Keeffe plays for them.
This episode of ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ was broadcast on 2 October 1974. The presenter is Frank Hall.
