By Kia Namin

Photographer, writer, director: Gerry Molumby. The man has worked for the Irish welfare in Britain, founded theater companies, directed plays and captured, or he would prefer 'borrowed', stunning photographs from all over Europe. 

The Irish-born multi-talent hails from Tiperrary County in the southern half of the Emerald Isle. However in 1980, Molumby relocated to Britain and brought his altruistic demeanor with him. "[I have] been involved in the welfare and cultural scene of the Irish in Britain for over 30 years" he stated. After his relocation, Molumby held a position at the National Health Service in his new home country, at the world's largest publicly funded health service. At the NHS, "I was mainly working with and for older people," remarked the Irishman. 

During this time, Molumby and some co-workers took the public's welfare into their own hands and established Cricklewood Homeless Concern day center in London. This multifaceted center still provides assistance and advice to the homeless or those others inadequately accommodated. The center offers a range of services, from the simplest advice on day-to-day living to an alcohol recovery project. 

Among his projects, Molumby also writes for several Irish and British publications, including The Irish American Post and is hard at working helping preserve and expand the Irish culture in Britain.

In 1996, Molumby founded Triskellion Irish Theater and Concert Productions in London. Now in a partnership with London-based friend Patrick O'Connell, the company aims to preserve and enliven Irish drama, comedy, and music in Britain.

Triskellion has performed numerous classic Irish plays, such as The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge and John B. Keane’s Big Maggie (Keane). At the outset of the company, the production of a play was an involved process from beginning to end. "We cast, directed, made the sets and produced the play from page to stage," recalled Molumby, who concentrated on directing productions as Triskellion got off the ground. More recently, he has has taken on promoting plays already in production. 

"Our main focus now is to act as facilitators for producing Irish plays by touring companies from Ireland and Britain," he asserted.

Since the company's conception, Molumby has led all the concert productions. The acts are perfectly fit for cabarets, Irish centers and festivals. Showcasing some of the best Irish entertainment from Britain’s Irish community, the concerts employ musicians, dancers, actors and comedians to create a dazzling show. The show is based on the model of Sunday Night at the London Palladium. 

"Basically we bring together a variety of Irish artists and put on a great show," according to Molumby. The concerts are not alien to celebrity acts either. Irish luminaries such as Niall Toibin, Philomena Begley, Seán Cannon from 'The Dubliners' and the late Dermot O'Brien have all swayed, sung and serenaded with Triskellion. Triskellion is currently touring their "The Rare Oul' Times," a two-act Irish play by Ken McElroy featuring Seán Cannon. 

Now living in Nottinghamshire with his wife Fiona and son Cormac, the busy entertainer still finds time for a more personal art. "I have always been a keen photographer and recently I noted the number I had taken over the years and were 'saved and backed up', but felt I wanted to share," he explained. 

Molumby has photographed all over Europe, though his recently released collection is mostly a product of his native island and new home in Nottinghamshire. The 'snap shot' of his collection features the opulent greens, steely-gray skies and misted rainbows that one would expect in photography of the Emerald Isle. However, the photographic crop also yields abstraction and struggle with the likes of the distorted Ha'penny Bridge reflected in the flow of the River Liffey and a weathered Irish farmer. The majority of photos in the collection are cheery, colorful images appropriate for display. 

Molumby is in accordance with the photographic philosophy that "you don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it." Patrons, however, need not capture, take nor borrow. Molumby’s canvas prints can be purchase in two sizes: Large (20" X 28") - $150, and medium (20" X 15") - $75. The prices are inclusive of packaging and courier to the States. Find the link to Gerry's catalogue below. 
www.triskellion.org.uk/news/60/launch-of-photographic-catalogue-gerry-molumbyor him at fmolumby@aol.com.
 

Molumby Visits Maureen O’Hara

"Tar isteach agus suí síos." Maureen O’Hara said as she welcomed me into her home in Glengarriff, West Cork, where she now lives in active retirement in the bosom of Bantry Bay. I was there on her invitation to hear more about the Maureen O’Hara Foundation being built in the town. Ben Russell, a local photographer, accompanied me and we all settled down for a great chat.

The first thing you notice about Maureen are her deep-set wistful eyes, high cheek bones and still the red hair; a genuine beauty even in her 90th year of Our Lord. She speaks with a clear, distinctive voice with an obvious Irish-American accent. Maureen recalled that the foundation for her success as an actress was the singing, elocution and voice projection which she learned as a very young girl at the Ena Mary Bourke School of Drama in Dublin. This is the main reason Maureen wants to set up her foundation in Glengarriff; to, "give back to young people in Ireland some of the basic techniques of speech and drama which secured me a lifelong career in the movies."

This is not an autobiography of Maureen O’Hara, or a review of the 65 films she starred in which are there for us to enjoy over and over. But one film stands out for the Irish Diaspora, and Maureen regards it as her favourite: The Quiet Man. An American, Seán Thornton (John Wayne or "The Duke" as Maureen called him throughout our chat), arrives in Ireland and plans to settle in Innisfree, where he was born. Sean’s eye is caught by Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen), a beautiful younger sister of the ill-tempered Red Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Seán and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will's pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, forms the main plot, with Seán's past as the dark undercurrent.

Maureen O’Hara was born Maureen FitzSimons in Ranelagh, Dublin on the 17th of August 1920 into a Catholic middle class Irish family; the second eldest of six children. From the Ena Mary Burke School, she spent some time at the fledgling Abbey Theatre, but her father insisted she learn some practical secretarial skills, which she did. This stood her in good stead when she combined her acting and business careers in later life.

She went to London in 1938 and made her first important screen appearance that same year in the Charles Laughton/Erich Pommer-produced drama Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She was brought to Hollywood with Laughton's help and co-starred with him in the celebrated costume drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which established O'Hara as a major new leading lady.
 

She was a good sport, willing to play scenes that demanded a lot of her physically, which directors and producers appreciated; she did most of her own stunts. She told a story of one scene where she climbed up a ladder and had to fall back into a cattle trough; she was making me nervous simply by the skill of her storytelling! Then she raised her voice for the punch-line and in that John Wayne droll, said: "And the Duke said to me, you didn’t even get your hair wet, Maureen."

Married three times with one daughter [Bronwyn Fitzsimmons Price] and one grandson, her third husband was Charles F. Blair, who had Donegal roots. A Brigadier General of the U.S. Air Force and a former chief pilot at Pan Am, Charles was a pioneer of transatlantic aviation. He died in a flying accident in 1978, just as Maureen was elected CEO and President of Antilles Airboats. In 2006, Maureen attended the grand reopening and expansion of the Flying Boats Museum in Foynes, Co. Limerick, where a significant portion of the museum is dedicated to Charles.

As you can see from the architect’s image of the Maureen O’Hara Foundation, it is a very modern building, and I came away from our meeting confident that this will be an artistic and tourism success story. I also learned that the foundation will not just be a museum but a vibrant and live performance venue.

I reminded Maureen that there is a large active amateur drama movement throughout Ireland at parish level, and asked if there will be something for them at the foundation.

"Not only will we welcome people who have an interest in acting from throughout Ireland but also from abroad," she said. "Here we will be teaching acting methods, scripting, directing, and cinematography. We will be offering qualifications in these courses and are currently accrediting our courses to universities; we plan to have modules to enable teachers to acquire drama teaching resources.

"We will be welcoming children to learn the skills I mentioned earlier which launched my career, the basics of learning to speak confidently and with good diction. There will be live performances on occasion for guests to experience when they visit. This is our dream."

Maureen told me that the initiative is a special partnership with Cork Co. Council, using private and public finance. She hopes the centre will in time be the focus of the Maureen O’Hara Film Festival. We spoke briefly on the current financial crisis in Ireland and what the foundation would do to help Glengarriff maintain economic vibrancy.

"I love living in this beautiful area and will do anything to bring people here and maintain the local economy," she said. "At the foundation will be a display of much of my film memorabilia and I hope the centre will attract lots of tourists from across the world and especially the Irish Diaspora, to visit and stay locally. Here they can view not just my costumes but we hope to have other stars exhibit also.

"For example we will have A Miracle on 34th Street, complete with a Macy’s of New York original window display, depicting a scene from the movie. Obviously there will also be a Quiet Man exhibit, as well as a puppetry exhibit for children. There will also be an incredible exhibit of my husband’s air ship industry to compliment the Foynes Museum. Something for everyone."

We parted as we met; in good company, humour and song. I sang for her the theme music of The Quiet Man, and the lyrical poem Lake Isle of Innisfree, and she duly joined in.

As she escorted us to the door and thanked us for visiting, she remarked, "Did you know that my mother-in-law, Mrs. Blair, lived to 102? God willing I hope to outlive her."

Good on you Maureen, and God bless you.