Strumpet City (RTE TV) [1980]

"Strumpet City" (1980)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233110/

Frank Grimes ... Father O'Connor


David Kelly ... Rashers


Angela Harding ... Mary


Bryan Murray ... Fitz


Brendan Cauldwell ... Hennessy


Cyril Cusack ... Father Giffley


Denys Hawthorne ... Mr. Yearling


Daphne Carroll ... Mrs. Bradshaw


Eileen Colgan ... Mrs. Mulhall


Vinnie McCabe ... Pat


Donal McCann ... Mulhall


Ruth Hegarty ... Lily


Laurie Morton ... Mrs. Hennessy


James Murphy ... Willie Mulhall


Edward Byrne ... Mr. Bradshaw


Mairin D. O'Sullivan ... Miss Gilchrist


Gerry O'Brien ... Joe


Tom Irwin ... Carrington


Peter O'Toole ... Jim Larkin


Ronnie Walsh ... Doggett


Pat Laffan ... Fr. O'Sullivan


Eileen Murphy ... Maisie


Donal Farmer ... Keever


Don Foley ... Hegarty


John Franklyn ... Silverwater


Tom Jordan ... Farrell


Larry Murphy ... Policeman


Brenda Doyle ... Mrs. Farrell


May Ollis ... Mrs Bartley


Patricia Martin ... Nurse

Strumpet City is a historical novel by James Plunkett set in Dublin, Ireland, at the time of the Dublin Lockout. The

Dublin Lockout (Irish: Frithdhúnadh Mór Bhaile-Átha-Cliath) was a major industrial dispute between approximately

20,000 workers and 300 employers which took place in Ireland's capital city of Dublin. The dispute lasted from 26 August

1913 to 18 January 1914, and is often viewed as the most severe and significant industrial dispute in Irish history.

Central to the dispute was the workers' right to unionize.




The novel is an epic, tracing the lives of a dozen characters as they are swept up in the tumultuous events that

affected Dublin between 1907 and 1914. It was immensely popular when it was published; the writing is direct and

powerfully evokes the terrible poverty and the peculiar intimacy of pre-independence Dublin. One theme is the essential

goodness of people and the tenderness which survives the brutality of deprivation. The popularity of the novel also owes

something to events in Ireland in the early '70s, as the Troubles made the more traditional iconography of the

insurrectionary period troublesome and economic success that fostered nostalgia for the mythical vanishing Dublin of

tenements, working class heroes, and vagrant balladeers.

In 1980, it was made into a successful TV drama by Radio Telefís Éireann, Ireland's national broadcaster. Two years

in the making, Strumpet City has been RTÉ's most ambitious and expensive production to date. The script was written by

Hugh Leonard, and Peter O'Toole played Jim Larkin, the union leader. The cast also included Cyril Cusack as the

alcoholic priest, Father Giffley, Donal McCann as the Larkin supporter, Mulhall, and David Kelly as the destitute

"Rashers" Tierney. Frank Grimes won a Jacob's Award for his portrayal of the young Catholic curate, Father O'Connor.





Made by Irish TV, Strumpet City is a drama of real epic scope following a likeable group of characters across Dublin in

the early 1900's. From trade unionist Fitz to the Larrakin Rashers Tierney, then there is country girl Mary who believes

Dublin is full of streets paved with gold; Whilst Father Giffley watches over it all with an air of weariness.