Shinrone in Offaly is chosen for a television experiment attempting to show aspects of life in a rural Irish village.
'Our Parish' was a series of eighteen half hour programmes that were broadcast live from the village of Shinrone between 12 April and 16 June 1964. The ambition was to give a comprehensive picture of a rural community reacting to the changes that modern life was bringing. The editor of 'Our Parish' was Patrick Jennings and the producer was Michael Monahan. It was hoped the series would appeal to all viewers and not just to the farming community.
The village of Shinrone stretches from the road between Birr and Roscrea westwards into North Tipperary, and consists of Shinrone proper, Ballingarry and Brosna.
The post office in Shinrone, County Offaly.
A view on to the main street of Shinrone, County Offaly.
In the introductory episode, the Parish Priest of Shinrone Canon John Hannan briefly introduced each of the 18 programmes. Viewers got to see the district of Shinrone and meet some of the people they would be watching in the weeks to come. Much of the opening episode took place at the local céilí.
Canon John Hannan in Shinrone, County Offaly.
On 13 April 1964 viewers visited the workshop of blacksmith and farmer Willy Cavanagh in the Ballingarry district.
Blacksmith William Cavanagh, Ballingarry in the parish of Shinrone, County Offaly,
Metal workshop in Ballingarry in the parish of Shinrone, County Offaly.
The cameras also visited Timothy O'Meara's farm near Brosna, considered typical of the area.
Tim O'Meara on his farm near Brosna in County Offaly.
Members of the O'Meara family on their farm near Brosna in County Offaly.
Critics of the series felt there was no need for so many programmes to tell viewers about Shinrone. Some of the episodes felt like they were being forced to fill out the planned programme length. This led one viewer to write a letter published in the the RTV Guide on the 1 May 1964, denouncing the series as dull.
However the last six programmes of the series were a revelation. These dealt with issues such as farm inheritance, schooling and vocational training, health services in rural areas and the future of the farmer and small country towns and villages. The issues were separately followed up in personal reports by John Skehan, John O'Donoghue and Fred Desmond.
The final programme of the series looked towards 1984 with speculations about the future of Shinrone and rural Ireland given the immense social and economic changes that would undoubtedly occur. In this episode John Skehan interviewed Canon John Hannan.
According to JPM in 'The Irish Press’, 20 June 1964, page 11,
The best programme I saw in the ‘Our Parish’ series was the last. It also confirmed my earlier impression that there was no need for so many programmes to tell us what we eventually learned about Shinrone, County Offaly. John Shehan’s interview with the Parish Priest told us in a few moments what it had taken hours to tell us over a period of weeks.
A woman smiles from her car window, in or near Shinrone, County Offaly.
Traveller family in Shinrone, County Offaly.
In 1967 the 'Discovery' team returned to Shinrone to see what, if any, changes had taken place in the community.
There are no known recordings of any episodes 'Our Parish'. A number of photographs of the people and places featured in the series were taken by the RTV Guide photographer Roy Bedell. A sequence of some of his photographs were used in an RTV Guide preview for 'Our Parish' published on 10 April 1964.
