Emerald Germs of Ireland

Nine radio plays adapted from the Patrick McCabe book of the same name were aired on Ireland’s RTE radio 1 in July 2000. The music was devised and arranged by Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer.

  • The Turfman From Ardee
  • Whisky On A Sunday
  • Old Flames
  • South Of The Border
  • The Garden Where The Praties Grow
  • Love Story
  • Stop! Hey, what’s That Sound?
  • Three Lovely Lassies From Bannion
  • 21 Years

The plays featured a high profile cast including Niall Toibin, Pauline McLynn, Pauline Flanagan, Pat Kinevane, Joan O’Hara, Mick Lally, Mikel Murfi and Gina Moxley. They are based on the life and times of Pat McNab, who lives with his mother on the house on the hill outside Gullystown and within a striking distance of Tommy Sullivan’s Select Bar.
Each story has a title of a well-known song or ballad ranging from ‘Love Story’ to ‘The Garden Where the Praties Grow’. The first play in the Emerald Germs of Ireland series is ‘The Turfman from Ardee’. It stars Joan O’Hara, Pat Kinevane, Niall Toibin, Séan Rocks, Pat McGrath, Ciaran Owens and Kathy Downes. Don Cockburn returns to read the news and Jimmy Magee and Lorna Madigan also make an appearance.