Bright new dawn for classic 1930s film

A re-mastering of The Dawn, the Killarney-inspired 1930s film that was Ireland’s first full-length talkie, drew an extraordinary crowd at the Killarney Cineplex for its first screening.

Among the audience at the first screening at the cinema still run by the Cooper family — descendants of Thomas G Cooper, the brains and the brawn behind the film — were several descendants of the local cast.

Jas BS Lawlor, the local ESB manager and an electrical engineer, was the technical director to the film and was also in charge of the photography. His son Tony arrived from Dún Laoghaire. He was able to spot his mother, Bríd Lawlor, who had a walk-on part during a street scene and was pregnant with him at the time.