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Dublin: https://www.lighthousecinema.ie/film/brendan-gleesons-farewell-to-hughes
Galway: https://www.palas.ie/film/brendan-gleesons-farewell-to-hughes
“For me, Irish music was always wild and emotional and evocative. Hughes’s pub was where it lived.
Hughes’s was a fascinating place anyway: a hub for fruit-sellers, fishmongers, lawyers, judges and the accused, seeking respite and sustenance from early morning on. In the evenings the musicians and their music took over, in all their glory and madness. What a fascinating milieu.
Hughes’s is gone. In 2021 it closed its doors. Its passing meant an awful lot to me. This is a celebration of what went on there”
– Brendan Gleeson
To some it was an unassuming pub on a side street behind the Four Courts in Dublin City centre. To musicians, dancers, singers and listeners, it was a mecca of traditional music for over 35 years. In 2021, Hughes’s pub closed its doors for the last time; the echoes of musical memories left buried in its walls.
Brendan Gleeson played there often. It was a kind of hideout for him — its musicians and music providing a blanket of escape.
Filmed over five days in January 2022, Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s records and interviews various musicians, dancers and singers as they gather one last time to revisit the magic, with archival footage inserted throughout to tell the story of Hughes’ contribution to both the traditional music community in Dublin and the city as a whole. In a time when Irish traditional music is reaching levels of popularity it never has before, the story of Hughes’s pub is a genuine representation of traditional music sessions and those involved in them.
After its DIFF premiere sold out within 24 hours, Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s will be screening at Dublin’s Light House Cinema and Galway’s Pálás Cinema starting Saturday, 2nd March. For tickets visit lighthousecinema.ie and palas.ie.
“An affectionate and moving look
at how our culture defines us”
★ ★ ★ ★
Sunday World
“A classy, charming portrait of a proper Dublin institution.”
Sunday Independent
Brendan Gleeson is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed actor. Born and raised in Dublin, Brendan grew up surrounded by Irish traditional music, spurring a lifelong passion. A talented fiddle player in his own right, Brendan’s musical gifts were depicted in 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Ciarán Ó Maonaigh is a director and fiddle player from the Gaoth Dobhair gaeltacht in Co. Donegal. Ciarán works mostly in the field of music documentary making. He has directed five series of ‘Sé Mo Laoch’ documentaries on heroes of Irish traditional music for Aniar TV, Sibéal Teo & TG4. Other director credits of his include an acclaimed documentary on his late grandfather entitled Francie Mooney – Áit i Mo Chroí. He has produced music documentaries for TG4 including Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí and John Doherty – Ar Leirg na Gaoithe, which was awarded the Celtic Media Award for Best Arts Documentary in the Celtic countries in 2013. A recipient of TG4’s Young Musician of the Year, Ciarán also works as a fiddle player in the fiddle trio ‘Fidil’.
The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) is home to the largest, most comprehensive collection of Irish traditional music, song, and dance in the world. ITMA digitises, preserves and offers free universal access to valuable recordings, photographs, manuscripts, and other archived materials that would otherwise be lost. ITMA is a living archive serving a living tradition, at the core of that is its philosophy to engage contemporary artists with archival materials to inspire new art. In recent years, this philosophy has manifested itself through ITMA’s own productions, which include its Drawing from the Well YouTube series and the upcoming series Taoscadh ón Tobar, which will air on TG4 in 2024. As ITMA is a registered charity, Irish-based donors can see their donations augmented by the State through the CHY3 charity tax relief form, which means all donations above €250 will be worth an additional 44.93% to ITMA at no additional cost. For potential donors based in the USA, ITMA is a registered 501(c)3 organisation.
Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s featuring Brendan Gleeson | Directed by Ciarán Ó Maonaigh | Duration: 60 minutes
