Episode 2 – Reformation
As Cork’s Juliet Murphy and Dara Ó Cinnéide of Kerry describe the primal lure of a leather ball, Episode Two takes off through the halcyon days of radio, when Michael O’Hehir visualised scores and score-settling for those gathered around the wireless. A controversial overseas odyssey saw the All-Ireland final travel to New York while, back in Ireland, new visions from Northern Ireland sweep away the southern order and bring the Sam Maguire across the border for the very first time.
About Hell for Leather – The Story of Gaelic Football
Hell for Leather – The Story of Gaelic Football tells the story of a game born out of necessity, dreamt up by a nation in search of a social identity and an indigenous sport that could challenge the pre-eminence of foreign games. The game later took root in the northern counties and became a truly all-island proposition – a game of and for the Irish people. A sport with a presence in just about every village in Ireland, Gaelic football has a hugely important legacy – this is the story of that legacy.
Over 5 years in the making, the series is the first major television history of the game exploring the evolution of Gaelic football from its inception to the modern day, and the incalculable contribution which the sport has made to Irish life.
Filmed in cinema-quality 4K, the series also features the final television interviews conducted with GAA legends Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Kerry’s Seán Murphy and Mick O’Dwyer, Dublin’s Jimmy Gray and Mayo’s John O’Mahony.
The entire series consists of over 80 interviews conducted with, among others, Michael Murphy, David Clifford, Jack McCaffery, Juliet Murphy, Shane Walsh, Brian Fenton, Mick O’Connell, Cora Staunton, Joe Brolly, Tony Hanahoe, Colm Cooper and Briege Corkery. It also features contributions from managers past and present – Jim McGuinness, Padraic Joyce, Seán Boylan and Kevin McStay.
Produced by Crossing the Line Productions, the series was commissioned by RTÉ’s Head of Specialist Factual Content, Colm O’Callaghan and produced in partnership with Coimisiún na Meán and made with the support of incentives for filmmaking provided by the Government of Ireland and the generous sponsorship of Collen.
