The people and town of Rathangan in Kildare are the stars of this opening sequence to 'Hall's Pictorial Weekly'.
Rathangan in the west of County Kildare lies on the fringe of the Bog of Allen some 55 kilometres from Dublin. The town is close to the County Kildare village of Allenwood. It is also near to the town of Edenderry and the village of Clonbollogue, both situated in County Offaly.
The Slate River and the Grand Canal run through the Rathangan. A boy is seen fishing on the banks of the Grand Canal.
On Main Street Rathangan, the grocer and newsagent Alo Hackett is buzzing with shoppers. Other businesses include Dunne's Drapery and the pubs T J Byrne and Mac Donald.
This episode of ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ was broadcast on 11 October 1973.
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. 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 unfailingly tuned in, just in case it was the turn of their town or village to have its few minutes of fame.
