The 2018 Blackrock Film Festival has concluded for this year having shown 6 movies in 5 days in 6 very different venues in the village. With a mixture of comedy, classics, musical and cult movies this year there was something for every kind of movie goer. The festival kicked off in the 100 year old AOH hall which was specially renovated to accommodate 200 people watching John Fords classic “The Quiet Man” complete with musical intro from Patsy Breen and Eamon Cooney.The guests all enjoyed a complementary drink provided by Paul Smith and Gavin Clarke from the Clermnont and thanks to all who dressed up and got into the spirit of the event. A warm welcome to was extended to the mother of Hollywood Director John Moore – Geraldine Moore and her family.  Next up was an intimate silent movie classic in RockSalt Cafe with a musical interpretation by pianist Mark Murphy. Followed later that evening by a the rip roaring western comedy “Blazing Saddles” in Uncle Toms Cabin where the Castlebellingham Ukulele Band got things off to a great start and Kevin Soraghan rearranged the pub complete with bails of hay to transform it for the evening.   Friday saw the beach transformed into a circus spectacular when over 2000 people took to the beach and promenade to watch “The Greatest Showman” alongside circus entertainers Cleo and Nick, dancers Crystal Ice and actress/dancer from the movie Caoife Coleman and family who came along to sign autographs. Saturday night saw an 80s classic cult movie “The Blues Brothers” come to the Clermont Arms where chicken wire was errected at the bar and the tunes were provided by the Plagiarists. Then to finish up the festival the Neptune beer garden was thronged with cult movie fans for “Pulp Fiction” where cocktails the order of the day.

A thanks goes to all our sponsors – Louth County Council, Point Road Inc (Director John Moore) , Grandson Design Studio, Jascom Ltd, Beat It Music, Sybil Boutique, BHK Credit Union, Felda, Halpenny Travel, UHY FDW, Mullens Blackrock, Storm In A Teacup, Dundalk Credit Union, Keernaun House B&B, ChristyMcGee Insurances, Lallys Electrical, The Skin Studio, Pizza Hut Dundalk, ColourTrend and ShortCuts Barbers. We would also like to thank our venues for sponsoring the movies – The Clermont Arms, The Neptune, Conor Hughes AOH, Uncle Toms Cabin and Rocksalt Cafe.

Goes to the committee (Aine Corcoran, Conor Hughes, Elaine Cosgrove and Jason McGee) and their families who worked for months to prepare and execute this festival. Thanks to Lisa McCormack and Paula Kavanagh for the professional photograpy. Thanks to Blackrock Tidy Towns for litter control and all the stewards in particular Harry Lee, Noel Sharkey, John English and Peter Clarke who assisted with the CinemaOnTheSand and AOH. Thanks to Kate Smyth for helping meet and greet. Thanks to Gary Lennon for driving the cherrypicker high and low. Thanks to St Francis National school for the chairs. Thanks to Martin and the lads for building the impossible at short notice. Thanks to Mel Vallely for working some magic with the electrics at the AOH. Thanks for the vote of confidence by Louth County Council, The Family of John Moore and The Coleman Family. Finally , a very special word of thanks to Richard Macken from Smack Express and Killian Walsh from Grandson who worked tirelessly, at short notice and without complaint to provide us with top quality designs and printed materials.