Shadow Town: Mullingar Fleadh Documentary Approaches 20,000 Views on YouTube
My feature documentary Shadow Town: Is Ait An Mac An Saol is now available to watch in full on YouTube, and since putting the film online it has taken on a bit of a life of its own.
The film is now approaching 20,000 views on YouTube, helped by people sharing it across social media and a brilliant response from people in Mullingar and further afield.
Shadow Town was filmed during Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar in 2023. Rather than documenting the Fleadh in a traditional way, I wanted to make a film about what happens to a town when an event of that scale arrives. The streets, pubs, musicians, visitors and local characters all become part of it.
It became the first feature-length documentary about the Fleadh and the first feature-length film made about Mullingar, created with no budget by a tiny team.
The film also features performances from musicians including Martin Hayes, Dervish, Rónán Ó Snodaigh, John Spillane, George Murphy and Strange Boy, alongside the people and places of Mullingar itself.
Local press and the film finding an audience
Since releasing Shadow Town publicly, there has been some lovely local coverage.
The Westmeath Examiner spoke to me about making the film, my interest in documenting Mullingar and why I finally decided to release it publicly three years after the 2023 Fleadh.
The Westmeath Topic has also featured the film, describing Shadow Town and the story behind bringing Mullingar's Fleadh experience to the screen.
The film has also travelled organically through social media, including shares from larger Irish accounts such as Weird Ireland, which has helped introduce it to people who would otherwise never have come across it.
That has probably been the nicest part of finally putting the film online. I made Shadow Town to try to capture a very particular place at a very particular moment, and now people who weren't there are discovering Mullingar, its characters and that strange week through the film.
After sitting largely unseen for a few years, seeing it now approach 20,000 views has been fairly surreal.
Watch Shadow Town online
Shadow Town: Is Ait An Mac An Saol is available to watch in full for free on my YouTube channel.
The film was directed and shot by Conor English, produced by Ethan Scally and Will Russell, written by Will Russell, with assistant camera by Isaac Burke.
If you've watched it, shared it or sent it on to somebody, thank you. It's great to finally have the film out in the world.
