On this day in 1918, a film adaptation of C.J Kickham's novel Knocknagow opened at the Empire Theatre in Dublin. It has been described by Denis Condon, lecturer in Film Studies in Maynooth, as “the most significant film made in Ireland during the silent period.” You can see the film in full, for free, by clicking on the link below.
Set in 1848, the film concerns the relationships among a large cast of characters who live on or adjacent to the lands of the absentee landlord Sir Garrett Butler, particularly in the village of Kilthubber and the hamlet of Knocknagow. The film was shot almost entirely in Mullinahone and Clonmel.
The film is based on Kickham's 1879 novel of the same name and was the Film Company of Ireland's (FCOI) most ambitious film up until that point. It starred Nora Clancey, Brian Macgowan and Cyril Cusack amongst others. It was suggested that part of the national interest in the film may be explained by the fact that it tried to make accessible a novel that some critics argued was very widely bought but very little read.
Sources:
Edward Ryan was born in Tipperary on this day in 1840(probably in Ballingarry).
After emigrating to America, he went on to become one of themost successful businessmen in the copper mining region of Michigan’s UpperPeninsula.
When he died in 1900, the local newspapers in the towns ofHoughton and Calumet referred to the Tipperary man as the ‘Merchant Prince ofthe Copper Country’ and referred to stories of his remarkable career andservices to the local community.
Ryan’s estate was worth $922,000 when he died and he was atone time considered to be the wealthiest Irishman in America according to theGreen Bay Gazette of 14 December 1900.
Ryan’s family emigrated to Wisconsin in 1844 when Edward was four years old. In 1854, he moved to Houghton which was emerging as the business and commercial centre of the copper district of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. While his brothers both working in the mining industry, Edward took a job with Ransom Shelden, one of the most successful pioneer businessmen in the Copper Country and from whom Ryan learned a lot.
In 1862, at the age of just 22, Ran was elected Sheriff of Houghton County. Ryan’s election to the important position of sheriff highlights how large the Irish community was in Houghton County barely twenty years after settlement in the Copper Country had begun. Many of the Irish immigrants were from mining areas back in Ireland such as Allihies in West Cork and Ballingarry and Silvermines in Tipperary.
In 1864, instead of seeking re-election, Ryan opened his own general merchandise store in Hancock, close to the town of Houghton. Three years later, he opened a second store in Red Jacket Village. Although every ethnic group had their own general store, Ryan’s was the largest. Judging from advertisements in the ‘mining Gazette’, his stores sold a wide range of goods – groceries and alcohol, clothing, boots and shoes, housewares and more. By 1870, still only 30, he was one of the wealthiest men in the region.
Soon after, Ryan diversified his business interests. He founded the First National Bank of Calumet, and co-founded the Peninsular Electric Light and Power Company. In 1883 he, amongst others, conducted explorations Gogebic Iron Range and operated several successful mines there. He was also heavily involved in the community. He served nine consecutive terms as President of Hancock, he was a member of the Hancock School Board for 28 years and was a member and leader of St Patrick’s Benevolent Society, a mutual benefit society organised by Hancock’s Irish community in 1860. Although he never sought political office after his brief term as Sheriff in the 1860s, he remained active in Democratic politics and was selected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876 and 1892.
Edward Ryan died in Hancock on 14 December 1900 at the age of 60. He was predeceased by his wife Alice Cuddihy, with whom he had ten children. Ryan had been in poor health for several years and had cut back on his public activities. As he withdrew from public life, the local papers featured articles extolling his multifaceted community service over many years. He was widely respected for his community service, his generosity to the Church, the local Irish community and the people of Hancock and Calumet.
Incidentally, the size, and political and economic power, of the Copper Country Irish community had been in decline for nearly a decade before Edward Ryan’s death. Many from the community migrated west to hard rock mining towns, especially Butte, Montana, which gradually eclipsed the Copper Country as a mining centre in the 1880s. What was once a vibrant Irish community in Michigan is now evidenced primarily only in overgrown graveyards and street names.
Sources:
William H. Mulligan Junior, “From the Beara to the Keweenaw: the migration of Irish miners from Allihies, county cork to the Keweenaw peninsula, Michigan, USA, 1845 – 1880” in Journal of the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland, 1, pp. 19-24.
William H. Mulligan Junior, “The Merchant Prince of the Copper Country: One immigrant’s American success story” in Tipperary Historical Journal 2004, pp 151-160.
Green Bay Press-Gazette, Friday 14 December 1900, front page.
