David Lean’s beautiful epic was shot on the Dingle Peninsula in the late Sixties, pumping huge sums into the area. Notorious bon vivant Bob Mitchum did his part for the local economy too, setting up a tab at Ashe’s in the village centre – the record of that tab still exists, and I got to see it during the week.
Sadly, when filming was over they levelled the village they built as part of the set, thus robbing the area of a massive tourism draw. You can visit the remnants of it, but unless you know what you’re looking for you won’t find it. You can read loads more about the film and its impact on the region here.
Factoid: The family who own Ashe’s are related to Gregory Peck, and there are photos in the bar of him visiting.
Triple Distilled Communications 