Hall’s Pictorial Weekly in Ardara, Co. Donegal, Ireland 1976

Ardara in County Donegal and its people are the stars of the opening sequence for ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’. Ardara in Irish Ard an Rátha meaning ‘high rath’ or ‘high ring fort’ is located on the river Owentocker in southwest Donegal. People go about their daily business, and the presence of the camera crew attracts interest from young and old. Two of the town’s hostelries are shown here, Nancy’s pub and FX Cannon’s corner shop and bar. 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 the theme music added. 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 tuned in religiously, in case it was the turn of their town or village to have its few minutes of fame. This episode of ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ was broadcast on 27 November 1976.