Dowtcha kid: Nativity story gets a Cork retelling in new RTÉ film for Christmas Eve
The Cork Nativity: Some of the participants in the film due to be shown on RTÉ on Christmas Eve
It’s going to be a very Cork Christmas, with a host of Leesiders set to feature in a nativity film airing on RTÉ on Christmas Eve. The five-minute film features various Corkonians, each reciting a line from the story of the birth of Jesus. They include Late Late Toy Show star, Adam King; Cork Penny Dinners' Caitriona Twomey; an appropriately pregnant woman; and a real shepherdess.
The Cork Nativity is produced by Glanmire-based Bo Media, who created the film in the hope of highlighting the Rebel County.
“RTÉ put out a tender around mid-November, saying they wanted to do something around the gospel for Christmas Eve,” Derek Nagle of Bo Media explains.
“Looking at the constraints at the time and wanting to push Cork on TV on Christmas Eve, I thought that we should do it in Cork and show off the sights and sounds and people of Cork at Christmas.”
Nagle sat down with researcher, Eannai O’Sullivan, and director, Paddy O’Shea, to tear through their contacts and find participants who represent the city and county.
Ten days later, the team had curated a list of a range of Cork natives, from shepherdesses to a nurse and expectant mother, Naomi Lynch, to narrate the traditional biblical tale.
“Every individual was so helpful. From the volunteers of Cork Penny Dinners and the staff in CUMH to Naomi — who had her baby the day after shooting — and Deborah [Oniah], whose family live in the Direct Provision centre in Mallow," Derek says.
“There’s a girl in the video, Gillian McCarthy, she’s a shepherdess and herself and her mum run a farm out by Doneraile. It’s brilliant to see two women, Gillian is 23 and her mum is in her 60s, running this farm, so it was nice to feature them as much as we could.”
The video opens with beautiful sweeping footage of the River Lee and a few lines from Pascal Scott, of Killnascully and The Young Offenders fame.
A younger narrator soon takes over, telling the story from outside Bishop Lucey Park. The camera then switches to Cork Penny Dinners, before taking a drive out to the McCarthy’s farm.
Other narrators include children from the Rebel Wheelers basketball club, a teacher from Mallow, Midleton firefighters, members of Crosshaven's RNLI, and Cork’s newest celebrity, Adam King.
Of course, a Cork nativity would never be complete without a shot of the Shandon Bells, a pan of Cobh cathedral, and a view of the luminescent Patrick Street Christmas light display.
“You know, you see celebrities on TV every day,” Derek says. “The one thing that was key to us was to give the voice to the normal people of Cork who are working hard every day.”
- The Cork Nativity airs on Christmas Eve at 8pm and Christmas Day at 9.55am on RTÉ One
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