Sous-série 2 - The Tailor and Ansty: correspondence

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.