

Sixteen Films Producer Rebecca O'Brien had informed me that they would not be on the actual 'Hall' set for another five days and we agreed to wait.
Just before I left England, I learned of
the B-Side Hostel in Carrick, which came highly recommended. On the strength of B-Side's positive reviews, Gerry offered now member John Crowe, the innkeeper, a sponsorship package in exchange for accommodation for me, and a deal was struck. My timing as always, was perfect as the summer was winding down and everyone had just left, so most of the time I had the hostel all to myself, along with a private room. The B-Side staff couldn't do enough for me.

Finally, it seemed the whole town was excited about the filming of their local hero James Gralton, and some had very strong, shall we say, reservations about the project.

I went across the road from the remains of the O'Rourke's Castle (more on them later) and the beautiful River Shannon, to Cryan's Hotel (another amazing family-run business) and, with typical Irish hospitality, they were happy for me to sit in their lobby with my phone and bluetooth keyboard. I really looked forward to my mornings in that friendly lobby.

On August 16th, the 80th anniversary of the deportation of Jimmy Gralton was commemorated on the site, with 'Jimmy's Hall' director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty in attendance. Others there included Des Guckian, author of 'Deported: The Story of James Gralton'; Sorcha Fox, director of the play 'Jimmy Gralton's Dance Hall' (linking to the YouTube video made of the play) and members of the Gralton family. Read more on this story in The Wild Geese. I was getting very excited to get to the film set.