THE TALE of two south Galway men photographed taking their lunch break on a steel beam some 800 feet above New York’s Manhattan in 1932 will be told in a TG4 documentary screened at Galway’s Film Fleadh this week. The black-and-white photograph taken by Charles C Ebbets during the Depression, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, made an international impact in the New York Herald Tribune on October 2nd, 1932.
Two of the 11 men chatting, eating and smoking without safety gear while constructing the RCA building in the Rockefeller Centre were identified as Matty O’Shaughnessy and Patrick “Sonny” Glynn of Shanaglish, Co Galway. Film-maker Eamonn Ó Cualáín tracked down their families after he saw the photo in Whelan’s pub in Shanaglish.
To mark the premiere of Lón sa Spéir, a son of one of the workers will help recreate the photo tomorrow in Eyre Square. Film production company Sónta has enlisted the support of Coen Steel for the event from 12.30pm-2pm.
The film will be screened in the Town Hall Theatre on Friday at 1pm. Actress Isabelle Huppert will be guest of honour at the festival, which runs from tomorrow until July 15th ( Galwayfilmfleadh.com).
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