A SUSPENSE-filled tale of love and murder, running at the Lime Tree Theatre until this Saturday, February 8, has one local county councillor whetting his lips.
Cllr Pat Fitzgerald has heralded Druid Theatre Company‘s Limerick run of ‘The Colleen Bawn’ this week as a “homecoming”.
Based on real events which took place in Limerick in 1819, it recounts the murder plot of young Catholic Irish girl Ellen Hanley by Anglo-Protestant John Scanlan.
According to Cllr Fitzgerald, who ran the Colleen Bawn Festival in Croom from 1974 to 1988, the story is one that has it all. Known in County Limerick as “Mr Colleen Bawn’, it is also one that Pat is very passionate about.
“I am in discussions with the film industry in North Carolina about making a film about the Colleen Bawn. It could be as big as Angela’s Ashes; it’s a very dramatic and authentic story. This would be something major for the region and if it happens would be one of the biggest things to ever happen in Limerick,” he predicted.
“There’s a major drive on to entice film crews over from the States to make the film and we’ll be talking to Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan, for assistance. It has massive potential,” he said.
Organised by Cllr Fitzgerald, the Colleen Bawn Festival was an annual event, that raised significant funding for the purchase and development of the GAA field in Croom.
Asked if he would in the Lime Tree Theatre for Druid’s version of ‘The Colleen Bawn, he replied, “She’s coming home. I wouldn’t miss it.”
