The people and village of Ballineen are the stars of this opening sequence for 'Hall's Pictorial Weekly'.
The village of Ballineen (Béal Átha Fhínín, meaning 'mouth of Fineen's ford') is located on the River Bandon, approximately 43km southwest of Cork City.
When ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ production crew visit Ballineen, people going about their daily business take the time to pose and wave to the camera.
This episode of ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ was broadcast on 5 April 1978.
Once a week, from June to September, the ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ film crew would arrive at a town or village in any county in Ireland. They would film the people and the place and return to RTÉ where the footage was edited and put to music.
This short film of around one minute’s duration formed part of the opening sequence for that week’s episode. But no-one knew which location had been chosen, and it was not advertised as part of the programme billings in the RTÉ Guide or newspapers.
So with this in mind people the length and breadth of the country tuned in religiously, in case it was the turn of their town or village to have its few minutes of fame.
