TV review: Cois Siúire is an ideal escape from Instagram and war
The River Suir flowing through Waterford City
(TG4) is like injecting the Irish countryside into your veins.
Affably navigated by host Colm Mac Gearailt, it follows the course of the River Suir down through Tipperary and Waterford and into the sea. There is nothing new here. But it’s beautifully shot and perfectly paced, an ideal escape from Instagram and war, with natural eye candy that will make you make plans to go for a long walk over the weekend.
You might even buy the book, Cois Siúire, written by Annraoi Ó Liathánn, which is used as a reference. Mac Gearailt uses it to trace the source of the river on high ground in Tipperary, and we’re off. They pile on the background bodhrán during this bit, but it fits because there is magic in a gush of water springing up out of the ground and ending up as an ancient motorway.
It’s not all rivers and trees. Next up is the story of a cartoon villain, John Rutter Carden, a local landlord and brute of a 19 th century man, according to Mac Gearailt, who liked stalking women and firing his canon at tenant farmers from the roof of his house. There’s a quirky insert with an artist who makes funny-looking pigs with the plastic used to wrap silage, before Mac Gearailt takes to a boat and slides downriver past Templemore, stopping at the Garda Training College for a piece that felt like a recruitment ad for the Gardai.
B ut it doesn’t outstay its welcome, and we’re back out in the river after a couple of minutes, on to stories of ancient murders and unjust executions, a further reminder that lovely views don’t make for peaceful living.
Out of nowhere, we come across Liam Ó Maonlaí playing the harp in Semple Stadium in a pair of Crocs. It shouldn’t work, but he’s a good subject, positioning the Trip to Tipp festivals in the 1990s as an important bridge back to our ancient culture, when you thought it was two-litre bottles of Cider and sleeping on the ground.
The first of four episodes comes to a close here as Mac Gearailt glides on towards the sea.
In one way, these shows are easy to make. Like Mac Gearailt in the boat, you just let the river guide you along, stopping at places of interest. But there is a craft that separates the every-day documentary from a piece of work like this, proper story-telling that slows down your breathing so you can take it all in.
This is four hours of telly in total. But it doesn’t feel like it.
Give it a watch.
