Chaplin’s retreat marks his memory with film festival

In a county where legends are mostly of the footballing variety, Kerry celebrates one of its most famous “blow-ins” with a dedicated comedy film festival this weekend.

Charlie Chaplin, who made Waterville his summer home with his family for almost 20 years during the 1950s and 1960s, was one of the picturesque town’s most famous visitors — a fact already underlined by his much-photographed statue overlooking the seafront.

Having initially visited Waterville at the urging of his friend Walt Disney for the fly-fishing in Lough Currane, the iconic star of classics such as Modern Times, The Little Tramp and The Great Dictator, made The Butler Arms Hotel his regular residence, along with his wife Oona and family.