Series 1, Episode 2
The Liffey is an intimate portrait of a river and the people it meets on its way to the sea. The six-part documentary series captures the lives and stories of a diverse group of people who are unified by one thing, the river Liffey.
This six part series is written by Joseph O’ Connor and narrated by Angeline Ball.
Episode 2 – Industry
The Liffey has been harnessed to create electricity, to drive an economy and to provide a gateway to the world.
Gary Reilly, a crane operator with Doyle Shipping Group, gives us a birds-eye view of Dublin Port.
Archaeologist Christiaan Corlett tells us about a forgotten community in Blessington Co. Wickow which was wiped out by the construction of the Poulaphouca Dam and Caoimhe Fitzpatrick from the ESB brings us into the dam itself.
Historian Donal Fallon leads a walking tour of Dublin’s quays to explain how a brilliant engineer and many brave dock workers shaped the Liffey into the river we see today.
Broadcast date – 22nd May 2022, RTÉ One, 7.30pm
People featured in episode two:
Gary Reilly, crane operator, Doyle Shipping Group
Christiaan Corlett, archaeologist
Caoimhe Fitzpatrick, Supervising Engineer, ESB
Donal Fallon, historian
Series Overview:
The Liffey is an intimate portrait of a river and the people it meets on its way to the sea. The six-part documentary series captures the lives and stories of a diverse group of people who are unified by one thing, the river Liffey.
For some it’s a workplace, for many it’s a playground but for others it has defined and inspired their lives. There are artists and engineers, kayakers and dockers, swimmers and boat builders, the Navy and the Fire Brigade.
Rising in an anonymous bog in the Wicklow Mountains, the Liffey traverses Kildare before becoming the heart and soul of Dublin. This documentary series goes on a journey with a river brimming with history and overflowing with stories.
This six part series is written by Joseph O’ Connor and narrated by Angeline Ball.
Episode 3 –Sustenance
The Liffey offers food for body and soul. Anglers take us fly fishing in Clane and a man who can’t live
without his ice-cold dips in the rural Liffey enters the historic Liffey Swim for the first time. We also visit a
Dublin Port diner to meet the man who has fed truckers for twenty years and who also does his best to
offer guidance to local youngsters.
Episode 4 – Inspiration
Some people pass by the Liffey without giving it a second thought but for others it’s a source of inspiration. A young kayaker, who has spent his life in or beside the river, is inspired to take on the Liffey’s toughest test. An esteemed author who has made the river his life’s work travels to its source and an artist who has made the river his art gallery takes the plunge.
Episode 5 – Transport & Transport
The Liffey provides access to the rest of the country through its canals and to the rest of the world as it joins the Irish Sea. We follow a man building a boat in his shed near the Liffey in Blessington and see him take the first steps on his trans-Atlantic voyage in the mouth of the river Liffey. We meet rowers in the historic St Pats’ dockers rowers club and an historian tells us about some of the Liffey’s most iconic and least celebrated bridges.
Episode 6 – Conservation
The Liffey needs a helping hand as nature falls foul of human behaviour. We go on board the Liffey Sweeper which removes rubbish from the urban river, the Kildare Bat Group keep tabs on the bat population in Newbridge and two amateur photographers see what they can snap in the Liffey’s plush fields.