Ireland has long been a favorite destination for world travelers — and the Emerald Isle serves as the first stop in the 2009-10 World Travel Series at the State University of New York at Fredonia.
The travel/adventure film “Irish Stories and Glories” will be presented on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Rockefeller Arts Center’s King Concert Hall. The film series is sponsored by Fredonia Place as part of the 2009-10 Lake Shore Savings Season.
Presenting the film will be Sandy Mortimer, who holds the distinction of being the only female travel/adventure filmmaker touring the United States. She received the “Rising Star Award” from the Professional Travelogue Sponsors Association in 1993. In 1997, she received the Hall Of Fame Award from the same organization. She has also served as vice president of the International Motion Picture and Lecturers Association for three terms.
As an experienced travel/adventure filmmaker, Mortimer understood the richness of Ireland resided not only in the beauty of the land, but in the stories of its people. Thus, she created a film that introduces audiences to some of the people from throughout the millennium who have made Ireland what it is today.
The film begins in the north at Kells Monastery, where the famous illuminated Bible manuscript, the Book of Kells, was discovered. Moving to County Monahan, highlights include a stop at the largest Norman Castle in the country – which served as a location for the film “Braveheart.”
Venturing east, the journey takes viewers to the Cooley Peninsula, with its legends of the Children of Lir and the Brown Bull of Cooley and prehistoric stone monuments.
Heading into Northern Ireland, stories of the 1840s Irish famine and the making of traditional Irish lace take the spotlight. Also included is a visit to Limavady, where the tale of the beloved Irish ballad, “Danny Boy,” began.
Going south along the Shannon River, the legendary medieval Monastery of Clonmacnoise is among the stops, along with early prehistoric settlements in the Wicklow Mountains and Holy Cross Abbey, with its alleged splinter of the true Cross. Also in the Shannon region, the film follows a man as he discovers the castle of his ancestors at Dysert O’Dea. In a lighter moment, a shopping spree in Ennis town is featured.
The Northwest takes audiences to the holy well of Tobernalt and Carrowmore, which has the largest group of megalithic monuments in all the British Isles and is the reputed resting place of the legendary Queen Maeve.
Throughout this country, from north to south, the little-known and seldom-seen sites create their own special bits of magic. Those discoveries, and so much more, are at the heart of “Irish Stories and Glories.”
Mortimer’s love of unusual and out of the way cultures, as well as her passion for history, the spoken word and travel, combine to create an informative, entertaining presentation filled with human interest and drama.
Tickets are available through the SUNY Fredonia Ticket or online at www.fredonia.edu/tickets. Tickets will also be available at the door. One child is admitted free with each adult ticket purchased.