Louth man was inspiration behind new Hollywood film
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A Hollywood movie director has named a north Louth man as the inspiration behind his latest film 'The Boat That Rocked.'
Richard Curtis, who directed blockbusters including 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Notting Hill' credited Ronan O'Rahilly, the founder of pirate radio station Radio Caroline, as his inspiration for the madcap movie.
Ronan's father Aodhogan was the owner of Greenore Port at the time he launched the pirate station which broadcast from the Isle of Man.
Perhaps most famously, his grandfather Michael O'Rahilly ( The O'Rahilly) was a leader in the Easter Rising, and died in the fighting in Dublin in April 1916.
Ronan, who now lives in London, was lauded by the director at the film's Dublin premiere last week where he said it was 'O'Rahilly's rebel spirit' which made the legendary floating pirate radio station Radio Caroline – on which the film is based – such a runaway success.
Speaking at the premiere, Richard Curtis said: ' The great thing about it is he wasn't really interested in money. It wasn't a financial thing. It really was an effort to do something bad and wicked and revolutionary in the dull old Sixties. And they were the dull old Sixties until pirate radio came along.'
The new movie, which stars Oscar winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Emma Thompson, tells the story of the fictional 'Radio Rock' and the rock 'n' roll antics of the DJs and station owners.
Dundalk people will recall that the boat which Radio Caroline broadcast from famously made regular trips to Greenore in the 1960s and '70s to stock up on supplies before returning to international waters.
Radio Caroline is credited with having revolutionised radio broadcasting after drawing audiences of up to 25 million and went on to spawn various incarnations after several subsequent ships sank during stormy weather.
- Olivia Ryan
