This is a fascinating look at Dingle Peninsula just before David Lean came and changed things forever more. At the time of filming in 1967, the village consisted of only 180 people. It is a documentary by American anthropologist Paul Hockings and Mark McCarthy about the effects of modernisation on the inhabitants of Dunquin and the outlying Blasket Islands. They chart how the fishermen’s lives were changed forever by the introduction of commercial trawlers, the destruction of the family unit due to emigration, and how reliance on the tourist industry contributed to the decline of the traditional culture it celebrates. 

The Village is pure ethnographic cinema. Both informative and entertaining, it features a cast of colourful local characters and visitors, including the postmistress, who dispenses sweets, gossip, and pensions; the innkeeper Muiris O’Caomhanaigh, otherwise known as ‘Kruger Kavanagh’, a returned migrant who had reputedly worked as a Hollywood agent and became de Valera’s bodyguard. The film was produced by the UCLA Ethnographic Film Programme and features a score by Sean O’Riada. The film was digitally remastered in 2020.