LMFM Documentaries

'This documentary looks back on the career of Bunny Cox, the late Dundalk jockey, breeder and trainer, and one of the North East's greatest horsemen.

He rode his first winner at the age of 13, was Irish champion amateur jockey on 5 occasions, and then went one to carve out a successful training career. 

Furthermore his family were synonymous with the town, and were one of the biggest employers in Dundalk for many years. 

The programme is presented and produced by Colm Corrigan.'

Stories from the Boyne

A 1-hour radio documentary for LMFM Radio

Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee

Stories from the Boyne, a new radio documentary by Little Road Productions Ltd., will broadcast at 12noon on Thursday December 26th 2024 on LMFM Radio.

Stories from the Boyne is a one-hour radio documentary that traverses the river’s winding bends as it flows through Louth and Meath from its mouth at Mornington to the Mary McAleese bridge, with all interviews taking place with a new audio-visual perspective of viewing and discussing the land from the water, as opposed to the usual perspective of looking at the water from the land. 

From an aural perspective, the voices we hear along the river seem to travel in a unique way across the water from a moving vessel, depending on so many factors on the river landscape. Whether it’s the roar of traffic as you get closer to the imposing Mary McAleese bridge on the M1 to the roar of the seagulls as you get closer to the sea at Mornington, the aural landscape of the Boyne is varied and unique, especially when paired with the voices of those telling stories that create a sense of place and time. 

These voices include members of the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service who provide a 24 hour emergency rescue service along the River Boyne, 365 days a year, who discuss the key points of interest along the river from Mornington to their base on the Marsh Road, followed by members of Inver Colpa Rowing Club, who bring us along the river in one of their rowing boats from the Marsh Road to the Mary McAleese bridge.

On this journey, the rhythmic sound of four oars entering and exiting the water in unison, the thud of the turning of the oars in the oar locks as the rowers feather for the next stroke, and the ripples caused by passing boats that lap against the carbon-fibre hull of the boat, all create a calming and unique acoustic backdrop to the many historical, geographical and social conversation points along the way as we pass through the town of Drogheda.

Stories from the Boyne invites the audience to journey along with these storytellers, who offer a glimpse into the past, present and future of this important and infamous stretch of the river.

The documentary was funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee

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A Fiver for a Tenor

A one-hour radio documentary for LMFM

Funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee

A Fiver for a Tenor, a new one-hour radio documentary from Little Road Productions Ltd., will broadcast at 12noon on Monday October 25th on LMFM.

A ‘Fiver for a Tenor’ is a one-hour radio documentary that will transport us back to May 1963, when a then unknown tenor took to the stage of the Town Hall, Dundalk for his first ever solo performance not in an opera outside of Italy. His name? Luciano Pavarotti.

‘A Fiver for a Tenor’ explores a story that at first read, could be dismissed as local legend. But as we dig deeper, even local legends are often grounded in fact.

It was the spring of 1963 - Eamon de Valera was President and Sean Lemass, Taoiseach. In the South of the country, preparations were well underway for the visit of US President John Kennedy early in the summer. In Dundalk, on May 7th, a group of opera lovers who together formed St. Cecilia’s Gramophone Society were on their way to Belfast to see a performance of Puccini’s La Boheme in the Grand Opera House. Waiting nervously behind the scenes before his performance on that day, was a man whose name would soon become recognised world-wide. That name was Luciano Pavarotti. 

A few days later, the then 27-year was to perform in Dundalk, stopping over with other Italian singers as he was travelling to Dublin to take part in the opera Rigoletto hosted by the DGOS - Dublin Grand Opera Society (as Opera Ireland was then called) - in the Gaiety Theatre. 

The sum paid for his performance in Dundalk? Five punts, with each ticket sold for a half crown. Five days later, on May 12th 1963, the now world-famous Pavarotti took to the small stage of the Town Hall in Dundalk and performed his first ever solo concert outside of Italy, to a small but appreciative audience and accompanied only by a piano. He performed Che Gelida Mamina from Puccini's La Boheme, La Donna E Mobile from Verdi's Rigoletto along with a role in the Duet from Puccini's Butterfly.

‘A Fiver for a Tenor’ explores the story behind how such a world-famous name began his international solo career on a humble Town Hall stage in Ireland. Helping us piece together this story is Sr. Leonie Marron, a lifelong friend of Monsignor Peter Shields, who helped organise the night.  Sr. Leonie recounts the strange rules that existed in the church at the time that meant that Monsignor Shields could organise the trips for the Society to these concerts to places like Dublin and Belfast, but was not allowed to attend many of the performances as it was forbidden by the Archbishop of the Diocese. Also interviewed are Paddy Brennan of the DGOS and Niall Morris, a founding member of ‘The Celtic Tenors’, who staged a show about Pavarotti’s life. 

In the creation of this 1-hour radio documentary, ‘A Fiver for a Tenor’, we seek to elevate what was once local legend to the realms of fact and in doing so, recount an almost unbelievable tale for a modern audience.

The documentary was funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee.

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