Misplaced Pages

#885114

33-551: It opened in 1958 under the management of Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman . Since then, it has evolved through many managements and owners. It has been the base for many successful Irish and international productions, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold , Fair City , Braveheart , My Left Foot and Veronica Guerin . The studio struggled through several changes of ownership in its early years, entering receivership in 1963, 1971 and 1972. After several ownership changes,

66-591: A company owned equally by U2 manager Paul McGuinness and show business accountant Ossie Kilkenny . Under managing director Kevin Moriarty, the studios thrived during the 1990s and 2000s as the Irish film and television industry expanded. Notable productions during this time included Far and Away (1992), The Tudors (2007-2010) and Camelot (2011). Following the opening of rival Ashford Studios , Ardmore began to struggle financially. In 2013 Siún Ní Raghallaigh

99-534: A consortium made up of Mary Tyler Moore Enterprises , Tara Productions (Ireland) Limited, and the state National Development Corporation. Tara CEO Morgan O'Sullivan attempted to attract major international film and television productions to Ireland, but several planned MTM productions failed to materialise, and when MTM was sold to the UK company Television South in 1988, the MTM stake was sold to Ardmore Studios International,

132-775: A number of notable pictures in the 1950s and 1960s. Dalton was born in Fall River, Massachusetts , to Irish-American parents James F. and Katharine L. Dalton (née Riley). The family moved back to Ireland when he was two. He grew up in a middle-class Catholic background in Drumcondra in North Dublin and lived at No. 8 Upper St. Columba's Road. He was educated by the Christian Brothers at O'Connell School in North Richmond Street. He joined

165-458: A street set, known as 'The Lot', was built. In 1994, the studio hosted Mel Gibson 's Oscar-winning Braveheart . In the 2000s, Ardmore turned increasingly to servicing international television production. Major productions included The Tudors , filmed between 2006 and 2010, Camelot , filmed in 2010, starring Joseph Fiennes and Eva Green , Byzantium , directed by Neil Jordan, in 2011, and Penny Dreadful from 2014. In January 2017

198-415: A then-unknown Liam Neeson , Gabriel Byrne and Ciarán Hinds , at the studios and in the local hills of Wicklow. Also produced during this decade was John Huston 's The Dead , based on the short story by James Joyce and starring Huston's daughter, Anjelica Huston . The withdrawal of government funding effectively closed the studios in the early 1980s. For several years the lot fell into disrepair but

231-512: A water tank facility. In the early 1980s a handful of service provider companies were located on the lot. Under O'Sullivan's management, the range of Ardmore-based service and facility companies increased to include other specialised related businesses. These include: Companies located at Ardmore studios include: 53°11′48″N 6°07′30″W  /  53.19667°N 6.12500°W  / 53.19667; -6.12500 Emmet Dalton James Emmet Dalton MC (4 March 1898 – 4 March 1978)

264-823: Is Irish actress Audrey Dalton . Emmet Dalton died in his daughter Nuala's house in Dublin in 1978 on his 80th birthday, never having seen the film that Cathal O'Shannon of RTÉ had made on his life. During the making of the film they visited the battlefields in France (including Ginchy and Guillemont on the Somme), Kilworth Camp in Cork, Béal Na Bláth, and other places that Dalton had not visited since his earlier years. He wished to be buried as near as possible to his friend Michael Collins in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, and

297-856: The Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922 and was one of the first officers – a Major General – in the new National Army established by the Irish Provisional Government of the Irish Free State . The Treaty was opposed by much of the IRA and the Irish Civil War between pro and anti-treaty factions eventually resulted. Dalton was in command of troops assaulting the Four Courts in the Battle of Dublin which marked

330-528: The 1940s with David Lean on such films as Brief Encounter (1945), Great Expectations (1946), and Oliver Twist (1948). His first film as director was Stranger in Town in 1957. However, he is best remembered for bringing the Agatha Christie character Miss Marple to the big screen for the first time in 1961 with Murder She Said . He directed three more Miss Marple adaptations: Murder at

363-620: The 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (RDF) as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant. By 1916, he was attached to the 9th Battalion, RDF, 16th (Irish) Division under Major-General William Hickie , which contained many Irish nationalist recruits. During the Battle of the Somme in September 1916, Dalton was involved in bloody fighting during the Battle of Ginchy , in which over 4,000 Irishmen were killed or wounded. Among

SECTION 10

#1732801253886

396-645: The British and fought for Ireland against them. As assistant director of training, he became close to Michael Collins and was involved in the Squad , the Dublin-based assassination unit. On 14 May 1921, Dalton led an operation with Paddy Daly that Dalton and Collins had devised. It was designed to rescue Gen. Sean McEoin from Mountjoy Prison using a hijacked British armoured car and two of Dalton's old British Army uniforms. Dalton followed Collins in accepting

429-651: The Irish government called in its loans, the studios were placed in receivership, in a bid to release it from labour agreements with local film unions. In 1975 Sheamus Smith became managing director of the studios and film director John Boorman assumed the role of chairman. The studios were renovated and renamed as The National Film Studios of Ireland, and subsequently hosted several major movies including The Purple Taxi , starring Fred Astaire and The Great Train Robbery starring Sean Connery . In 1981, Boorman filmed his $ 11.5 million epic Excalibur , where he cast

462-579: The Irish treaty negotiating team. He was military liaison officer for the treaty talks. During the Irish Civil War , he held one of the highest ranks, as major general, in the pro-Treaty National Army but resigned his command following the death of Collins. Dalton later founded a film production company in London and founded Ardmore Studios in Wicklow together with Louis Elliman in 1958, producing

495-513: The building of a serviced studio based in Beaufort. The outbreak of World War I derailed this plan. Irish filmmaking continued, with native-born directors initiating their own work, but through the 1920s and 1930s and 1940s, no purpose-built studio facilitated year-round filmmaking in Ireland. Finally, in the late 1950s, Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman, with funding from the Irish government and

528-530: The casualties was Tom Kettle , a former nationalist Member of Parliament and personal friend of Dalton's father and of Emmet. Dalton was awarded the Military Cross for his conduct in the battle. Afterwards he was transferred to the 6th Battalion, Leinster Regiment , and sent to Salonika then Palestine , where he commanded a company and then supervised a sniper school in El Arish . In 1918 Dalton

561-718: The controversial The Mark , directed by Guy Green , which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and earned its star, Stuart Whitman , an Oscar nomination. Other films produced at this time include Don Chaffey 's The Webster Boys and Johnny Nobody with Cyril Cusack . Hammer Films also utilised the studios as a base for their production, The Viking Queen . Irish film workers struggled to get employment on these early films, however, leading to industrial action during filming of Of Human Bondage in 1963. Business difficulties followed, and when

594-499: The full acquisition of Ardmore, after purchasing the shares owned by Ardmore Studios Limited (68%) and Enterprise Ireland (32%). In 2021, Olcott sold Ardmore and Troy to a US consortium led by Hackman Capital Partners. The new owners, who operate film studios around the world, are currently developing another major studio facility in nearby Greystones . During its MTM incarnation in the 1980s, Ardmore extended its facilities and built new sound stages. Today it offers 5 stages, including

627-723: The latter stages of the Civil War. After briefly working as clerk of the Irish Senate , he left this job to work in the movie industry. Over the following forty years, he worked in Ireland and the US in film production. In 1958, he founded Irish Ardmore Studios in Bray. His company helped produce films such as The Blue Max , The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Lion in Winter , all of which were filmed in Ireland. His daughter

660-830: The nationalist militia, the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and the following year, though only fifteen, was involved in the smuggling of arms into Ireland. Dalton joined the British Army in 1915 for the duration of the Great War. His decision was not that unusual among Irish Volunteers, as over 20,000 of the National Volunteers joined the British New Army on the urgings of Nationalist leader John Redmond . Dalton's father, however, disagreed with his son's decision. Emmet Dalton initially joined

693-542: The next two productions at the studio, Sally's Irish Rogue and The Big Birthday , both based on popular Abbey Theatre comedies. The studios landed its first major motion picture with 1959's Shake Hands with the Devil , starring Oscar winner James Cagney and Dana Wynter . A year later progress was consolidated when Robert Mitchum appeared in Tay Garnett 's A Terrible Beauty . In 1961, Ardmore Studios hosted

SECTION 20

#1732801253886

726-652: The promise of production finance from the United States, acquired a 10-acre site in Bray, Co. Wicklow, about 25 kilometres south of Dublin city centre. They began converting the site into a modern film studio, opening for business in May 1958. The first production to emerge the studios was an adaptation of Walter Macken 's play, Home Is the Hero , starring Macken and directed by Emmy Award-winning Fielder Cooke for RKO Pictures . Renowned British director George Pollock shot

759-522: The start of the war in June 1922. At Collins' instigation Dalton, as military liaison officer with the British during the truce, took control of the two 18-pounder guns from the British that were trained on the buildings. He became commander of the Free State Army under Mulcahy's direction. He was behind the Irish Free State offensive of July–August 1922 that dislodged the anti-treaty fighters from

792-480: The studio became the government-backed National Film Studios of Ireland in 1975, under the management of Sheamus Smith. During Smith's tenure, notable movies based there included Michael Crichton 's The First Great Train Robbery , starring Sean Connery . When government funding was withdrawn in the early 1980s, Ardmore was briefly owned by the Indian producer Mahmud Sipra, before the studios were taken over in 1986 by

825-693: The studio was reactivated by an initiative led by an Irish independent company, Tara Productions, in partnership with MTM Hollywood and the Irish National Enterprise Authority. Thereafter, the renamed MTM Ardmore Studios made its mark again on the global scene with the success of My Left Foot , directed by Jim Sheridan , which earned Oscars for Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the cerebral palsy sufferer Christy Brown and for Brenda Fricker , for her portrayal of Brown's mother. From 1989 until 1994, all interior shots of Fair City were filmed at Ardmore Studios. In 1991,

858-594: The studios were used by RTE for Dancing with the Stars , Ireland's version of the popular British show Strictly Come Dancing . RTE had purchased the rights to make an Irish version of the popular dancing show, however, it became obvious to RTE that the studios at their television centre in Donnybrook in Dublin would not be large enough for the scale of the show, and so Ardmore Studios was chosen. In April 2018 Irish firm Olcott Entertainment Limited officially announced

891-615: The towns of Munster . Dalton proposed seaborne landings to take the anti-treaty positions from the rear, and he commanded one such naval landing that took Cork city in early August. In spite of firm loyalty to the National Army, he was critical of the Free State's failure to follow up its victory, allowing the anti-treaty IRA to regroup resuming the guerrilla warfare started in 1919. On 22 August 1922, he accompanied Michael Collins in convoy, touring rural west Cork. The convoy

924-705: Was The Lad from Old Ireland , produced by Kalem . His follow-up was Rory O'More , based on the events of the Irish Rebellions of 1641 and 1798, which earned the disapproval of both the British Home Office and the Irish Catholic Church. Olcott continued Irish filmmaking, with most of his films shot in County Kerry, specifically in the towns of Beaufort, Dunloe and Killarney. To facilitate year-round filming, Olcott planned

957-487: Was ambushed near Béal na Bláth and Collins was killed in the firefight. Dalton had advised him to drive on, but Collins, who was not an experienced combat veteran, insisted on stopping to fight. Dalton was married shortly afterwards (on 9 October 1922) to Alice Shannon in Cork's Imperial Hotel. By December 1922 he had resigned his command in the Army. He did not agree with the execution of republican prisoners that marked

990-597: Was an Irish soldier and film producer. He served in the British Army in the First World War , reaching the rank of captain. However, on his return to Ireland he became one of the senior figures in the Dublin Brigade of the guerrilla Irish Republican Army which fought against British rule in Ireland . He was a close associate of Michael Collins and travelled with Collins to London separately from

1023-669: Was appointed CEO, implementing cost cuts and restructuring the company. In 2018, Ardmore was sold to Olcott Entertainment, an Irish company headed by businessman Joe Devine, who had developed another rival studio, Troy, in Limerick during 2017. Ní Raghallaigh was retained as CEO of both studios. Olcott sold Ardmore and Troy to a US consortium headed by Hackman Capital Partners in 2021. Ambitious Irish-based filmmaking began when producer-director Sidney Olcott made his first visit to Ireland in 1910. Prior to this time most Irish filmmaking consisted of newsreels. Olcott's first movie based in Ireland

Ardmore Studios - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-651: Was buried there in March 1978 after a military funeral. None of the ruling Fianna Fáil government ministers or TDs attended. George Pollock (director) George Pollock (27 March 1907 – 22 December 1979) was a British film director, best known for bringing Agatha Christie's detective Miss Marple to the big screen for the first time, in films that starred Margaret Rutherford . Born in Leicester , England in 1907, Pollock began his professional career as an assistant film director in 1936. He collaborated in

1089-511: Was re-deployed again to France, and in July promoted to captain, serving as an instructor. On demobilisation in April 1919, Dalton returned to Ireland. There, finding that his younger brother Charlie had joined the IRA, Dalton himself followed suit. Dalton later commented on the apparent contradiction of fighting both with and against the British Army by saying that he had fought for Ireland with

#885114