5. THE VILLAIN FROM ROBOCOP WAS FROM WEXFORD
No, not Clarence Boddicker or Tom Jones or even ED-209. The chairman of the all-controlling corporation OCP was played by Dan O'Herlihy, a noted character actor who was born in Wexford. O'Herlihy reprised his role in the Robocop sequel and also had a role in Twin Peaks as Andrew Packard, the owner of the Packard Saw Mill.
4. THE LEGEND OF ZORRO BEGAN IN WEXFORD
Zorro is by far one of the most well-known characters in film, beginning with the genre-defining silent film The Mark Of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in 1920. Fairbanks adapted the screenplay from Johnston McCulley's The Curse Of Capistrano. But where did McCulley get his inspiration from? As it turns out, an Irish adventurer and nobleman called William Lamport who was born in Wexford at the turn of the 17th century. Lamport, better known to Mexicans as Don Guillén de Lampart (or Lombardo) y Guzmán, was an early proponent of Mexican independence and was a famed warrior and politician. There's even a statue of him in Mexico City, too.
3. ENNISCORTHY WAS A MAJOR PART OF BROOKLYN
Colm Toibin's novel, Brooklyn, was set both in Brooklyn (obviously) and Enniscorthy. So to keep with that realism and attention detail, director John Crowley brought parts of Enniscorthy back to the '50s and shot exterior scenes in the town as much as possible. Not only that, the beach sequence with Domhnall Gleeson was shot on Curracloe Strand, which Steven Spielberg used as a double for Omaha Beach. More on that later.
2. THE FIRST ANIMATED FILMS WERE MADE BY A WEXFORD NATIVE
Harry Furniss is often credited with creating some of the first animated films ever made. In 1914, with the help of famed US inventor Thomas Edison, Furniss made Peace And War Pencillings - a short film which saw the cartoonist draw several paintings in front of a screen. Born in Wexford, Furniss spent most of his career working for Punch Magazine and created illustrations for Charles Dickens as well.
1. SPIELBERG AND CURRACLOE STRAND
Yes, the harrowing opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan was shot almost entirely on Ballinesker Beach in Wexford, utilising some 750 members of the Irish Reserve Defence Forces and members of the Irish Naval Reserve as well. The beach was designed to look and feel like the real-life Omaha Beach of the D-Day landings, with real boats, explosions and special effects used to turn it into a battlefield.
To celebrate the arrival of Ireland’s Fastest Broadband Network to Wexford one of the most iconic films of all time, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is being screened at the Virgin Media Full Stream Outdoor Cinema on Saturday the 23rd September. Tickets are free but you’ll need to register as tickets are limited.
