Published
Mainly consists of correspondence between Kenny and a number of individuals involved in a documentary researched and presented by Colum Kenny for RTÉ television about 'The Tailor and Ansty’ (husband and wife Timothy [‘the Tailor’] and Anastasia ['Ansty'] Buckley). The Tailor and Ansty were the subjects of a book by Eric Cross about their storytelling and home in Gougane Barra, County Cork, which became a hub for notable figures of the Cork arts scene in the 1930s and 1940s such as writers Frank O'Connor and Seán Ó Faoláin, sculptor Seamus Murphy, students of the Irish language, and folklorists. The book was published in 1942 and banned soon after. The RTÉ documentary included interviews with Cross, Ó Faoláin, and the Tailor and Ansty's close friend Nancy McCarthy-Allitt, and recounted the aftermath of the banning; including an episode when the Tailor was forced by three priests to burn a copy of the Eric Cross book in his fireplace. The documentary also included dramatised accounts of debates which took place in Seanad Éireann in December 1942 following the banning of the book. The RTÉ documentary was broadcast on 31 October 1978.
Published
File includes one letter from Kenny to O’Faoláin, and two letters from O’Faoláin to Kenny concerning the documentary and other topics. Kenny’s asks O’Faoláin in his letter dated 28 August 1978 if will agree to be interviewed for the documentary, to which O’Faoláin agrees by returning Kenny’s original letter with annotations answering several of Kenny’s questions and dating his reply 29 August 1978. The second letter from O’Faoláin [?from September 1978] is titled ‘CENSORSHIP’ and appears to have been written following the recording of their interview, with O'Faoláin elaborating on some of the points he made about censorship in Ireland during the 1930s and 1940s, and expresses an admiration for Marina Warner’s book *Alone of All Her Sex*.
File also includes an [Irish Times] newspaper cutting from [25 February] 1993 of a letter to the editor by Maurice Harmon in which he notes that he is ‘writing the life’ of O’Faoláin and ‘would like to hear from anyone who may have information, or recollections that may be helpful.’ It is possible that Kenny contacted Harmon about his own correspondence with O’Faoláin.
Published
File consists of seven letters (dated 16 July 1978; 20 August 1978; 16 September [1978]; 1 October 1978; 7 November 1978; 18 December 1978; and 1 May 1980). McCarthy-Allitt was interviewed by Kenny for the documentary in 1978 and the letters concern her memories of her close friends Timothy (‘the Tailor’) and Anastasia ('Ansty') Buckley, arrangements for the interview, her praise for the finished documentary and Kenny's professionalism, and reaction to the documentary from customers in her chemist shop in Douglas, Cork. Other notable friends of McCarthy-Allitt mentioned in the letters include Seán O’Faoláin, Frank O’Connor and Seamus Murphy. File also includes a poem by O’Connor, 'In Memory of Timothy Buckley "The Tailor"', in McCarthy-Allitt's handwriting.
Some of the corresponding letters from Colum Kenny to McCarthy-Allitt are available in the Nancy McCarthy Collection, Archives Service, UCC Library, University College Cork.
Published
File consists of three letters (dated 28 July 1978; [September-October] 1978; and [November] 1978) mainly concerning Cross' book The Tailor and Ansty; Kenny's documentary and his attempt to find someone to interview who was critical of Cross' book; and an RTÉ dramatisation of the book which was broadcast on the same night as the documentary on 31 October 1978. File also includes a note by Cross about the 'unbanning' of the book [in the 1950s] and its reissue in 1964.
Published
Cuttings are from the *RTÉ Guide*, *The Irish Times* and *The Evening Press* newspapers.