‘An Mhuc Dhubh, Traein Bhaile na Finne’(The Black Pig: The Fintown Station), a doc from Belfast based company The Picture House, will air on TG4 Sunday 14th December, at 9.30pm and will repeat on Tuesday 16th at 8pm.
The documentary centres on The Fintown Station closed in the 1940s. Originally opened in the nineteenth century, the railway played an integral role in shaping Donegal’s history. The documentary traces the days when the railway service brought industry and jobs, to the poverty that meant many of the journeys taken on the train were the last glimpses of home. Through archive footage and childhood memories, the documentary recreates the 1940s and the world of ‘An Mhuc Dhubh’, the Fintown train. St. Colmcille predicted the Donegal Railway in the 6th Century when he said that a metal pig would run through the hills of Donegal, blowing black smoke from its nose.
Directed by Gráinne McGuinness and produced by Gavin Halpin, ‘An Mhuc Dhubh’ looks at how Ireland has evolved in a short space of time, with memories of the past set in modern day Donegal and was filmed in September - October of this year.
Contributors to the doc include the Greene Family; the children of the last station masters at Fintown, now in their 60s and 70s, Jimmy McElvey & Thomas Gildea, who have vivid memories of the train as children; and from Oliver McDevitt & Seamus McElwee from ‘Comhlacht Traenach na Gaeltachta Lair’ who re-opened the station as a ‘heritage train’ visitor attraction in 1995. Despite several difficulties, the railway now operates as a successful tourism centre and is a centre of local social activity.
Picturehouse are currently in development on programming dealing topics such as St Colmcille and the issue of dementia alongside other commercial productions.