Film about Boyle men who served in Vietnam War to be screened in King House
Michael Noone and Gerry Duignan pictured this summer during filming for ‘A Roscommon Snapshot’. They are holding an original Roscommon Herald newspaper clipping of the photograph, which inspired the short film.
A short film ‘A Roscommon Snapshot’ inspired by an old Roscommon Herald photograph of three Boyle men reading the Herald while serving for the US Airforce in Vietnam will take place in King House this Thursday evening.
The film’s creator, Kathy Raftery, a native of Cloonlee, Ballinlough, became intrigued by the photograph when it was republished again last year in the Herald, exactly fifty years later.
“When I saw the photograph appear in the paper, I said that looks like a really interesting story - three men from Boyle meeting up in Vietnam. So I wanted to focus on the photograph and the story around these men,” she explained.
At the height of the Vietnam War, the photograph, which made the front page of the Roscommon Herald on February 18th, 1972, features Sgt. Gerry Duignan, a native of Ardcarne, Boyle; Capt. Paddy Feely, late of Abbeytown, Boyle, and Sgt. Michael Noone, Cornagrea, Ballyfarnon. What makes the photo even more fascinating is that the three men didn’t know each when the photograph was taken.
Michael moved back to Ireland in 1996 and now lives in Jamestown, North Roscommon while Gerry Duignan now resides in Rinn, Croghan, also in the north of the county. Paddy Feely passed away in September 2019 in the United States.
Both Michael and Gerry will be in attendance at Thursday’s screening in King House. Patricia Hopkins, Paddy Feely's sister, and her daughter Mary were also interviewed as part of the documentary.
Kathy, who works as lighting technician at RTÉ, has developed an interest in the Irish serving in Vietnam and has already made a radio documentary ‘Mayo Boy, Vietnam Hero’. It focusses on a childhood friend of her mother’s, Patrick Gallagher, who served in Vietnam and became a hero after throwing himself on a grenade to save other soldiers.
She is currently working on a full feature documentary on the Irish in Vietnam, and the three Boyle men will feature as part of that production.
Admission to ‘A Roscommon Snapshot’ in King House on Thursday, October 18th is free and open to everyone. Doors will open at 7.30 p.m. with the screening at 8 p.m.. The music for the 12 minute film is by Roscommon visual artist Leonara Neary with Peter Clyne on camera and Fernando De Juan as Editor.
• Fetket Ltd. and ‘As This Leaves Me Here: A Roscommon Snapshot’ is supported by the Roscommon County Council Creative Ireland Programme, an all-of-Government five-year initiative, from 2023 to 2027, which places creativity at the centre of public policy. Further information from creative.ireland.ie and ireland.ie.
