The people and village of Ballindine are the stars of this opening sequence for 'Hall's Pictorial Weekly'.
The village of Ballindine (Baile an Daighin in Irish meaning 'town of the fortress') is located along the N17 just south of Claremorris.
When ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ production crew visit Ballindine, a farmer can be seen herding sheep, school children wave, a man plays a tune on his button accordion, two men drink pints of Guinness in their car, as other locals go about their daily business.
This episode of ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ was broadcast 26 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.
