Iconic tv series shot in Midlands to be rescreened

An iconic tv series, shot around Banagher, Birr and surrounding areas, is to be rescreened on RTE.

‘Pure Mule’ is a six-part series of one-hour dramas written by Offaly native and playwright Eugene O’Brien.

It originally aired on RTÉ in 2005 to huge acclaim. The first three episodes were directed by Offaly man Declan Recks with Charlie McCarthy directing episodes four to six.

‘Pure Mule’ is set in contemporary, rural Ireland in the same terrain as award-winning playwright, Eugene O’Brien’s play ‘Eden’.

It’s a midlands market town, unnamed, but utterly familiar. Each of the six episodes is a self-contained story focusing on the weekend of one particular character from a Friday until a Monday morning. Although the focus moves from one character to another with each episode, they all weave in and out of each other’s stories as the series evolves

In each story, disillusion and fear hover behind cocky bravado as the characters desperately signal for attention. By times sexy, violent, comical and elegiac, the series expresses the frailty and longing that is at the heart of each booze-fuelled weekend.  The drama is rich in language, loss and the edgy exchanges that can turn a night out into one of magic or misery.

‘Pure Mule’ stars Garett Lombard (Love is the Drug), Tom Murphy (Adam and Paul), Eileen Walsh (The Magdalene Sisters), Gary Lydon (The Clinic) and Charlene McKenna (Raw).

The series was shot over 12 weeks in Banagher, Birr and surrounding areas of Co. Offaly.

Episode One- Shamie   Tom Murphy

Episode Two- Kevin      Luke Griffin

Episode Three-Scobie   Garrett Lombard

Episode Four-Therese  Eileen Walsh

Episode Five-Deirdre    Dawn Bradfield

Episode Six-Jennifer     Charlene McKenna

The series starts this Thursday, May 7, at 10.30pm on RTE One.