Lough Lene Gaels Night at the OsKaRs - What a Night!
The Lough Lene Gaels Night at the OsKaRs took place on Friday 3rd May in the Park Hotel Mullingar and what a night it was. The wonderful actors and actresses, who took part in the movies, arrived in style to the red carpet early in the evening for their photo shoots and interviews. The style was nothing short of what you would see in Hollywood! As the crowd began to arrive it was clear that the whole area was coming out to support this event and there was over 1000 people in attendance.
Adrian Kennedy, MC for the evening for Kevin Rowe Events, opened the show followed by a word from Brendan Higgins who represented Lough Lene Gaels and thanked everyone for all their hard work in pulling together this fantastic event and showcase of local talent. The judges for the night - Mary McEvoy of Glenroe fame, Anna May McHugh, President of the Ploughing Association and our own Billy Connell a member of the first Lough Lene Gaels team. The seven movies were shown and then the cast were brought up on stage for an interview and judges comments.
Starting with The Field, we saw a brilliant version of an iconic Irish movie where the story of the land and all that it means for those that work it was so well told and it certainly finished with a splash. Sister Act with its multi coloured sequence and black nun habits had the whole room laughing out loud to the antics of the nuns when they were let out into the community. Shawshank Redemption, saw an all female cast tell the story of life in prison and of a truly epic escape, with laugh out loud moments and wonderful serious tones the all female cast brought a new dimension to this well known story. Braveheart was brilliantly acted and the setting in Fore was perfect, this could be used by Westmeath Tourism to showcase the area as the Abbey and local area looked absolutely fantastic. The Snapper wonderfully captures Dublin in the early 90's, big hair, denim jackets and scrunchies everywhere - this was a brilliant version of a movie we all know so well. Michael Collins was wonderfully depicted on the screen and to add to the authenticity of the movie they even used a car from Granard that Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan had traveled in. The final movie of the night was My Left Foot and was one that Adrian Kennedy told us that Kevin Rowe events were nervous about, one where they felt it had to be done with integrity and honour, they took a chance with the team in Lough Lene Gaels and boy was it worth it - this movie depicts the ability in disability and does so fantastically, something for North Westmeath to be very very proud of.
The judges had such a difficult job to choose the OsKaRs winners as each and every movie was brilliant with fantastic actors, scenes that were of a professional standard, set, costumes, locations and props were so well thought out each movie was entertaining and told it's story beautifully. But as with all competitions there had to be winners..
The winners of the Lough Lene Gaels A Night at the OsKaRs 2019
Highest Grossing Movie, sponsored by Mergon International went to "Shawshank Redemption"
Best Location, sponsored by Harmony Timber went to "Braveheart"
Best supporting Actress, sponsored by CG Business Consulting went to "Karen Murtagh - Jackie from The Snapper"
Best supporting Actor, sponsored by Collinstown Construction went to "Eddie Boylan - The Bird from The Field"
Best Costumes, Props and Make-up, sponsored by Frances Carley went to "Sister Act"
Best Youth, sponsored by Bord Na Mona went to "Sean Gallagher - Young Christy from My Left Foot"
Best Dramatics, sponsored by Lakeland Pest Control and Green Street Therapy Rooms went to "The Snapper"
Best Adaptation of a Movie, sponsored by Moneygall Glazing went to "My Left Foot"
Best Actress, sponsored by Gene and Barry O'Donnell went to "Claire Nugent - Princess Isabella from Braveheart"
Best Actor, sponsored by Gary Nolan, Randoon Farm went to "Ollie Lee - Christy Brown from My Left Foot"
Best Movie, sponsored by Nolan Sound and Lighting went to "Michael Collins"
Well done to everyone who took part in the OsKaRs, we have all done Lough Lene Gaels proud.
A huge thank you to the organising committee Cathal Murtagh, Barry O'Donnell, Sharon Burns, Mary Maher, Orla Gallagher, Kara Kavanagh, Deirdre Devine, Christo Murtagh, Paul Williams, Joe McNally, Aisling Nolan, Ciaran Williams, Clive Moore, Brendan Higgins, Johnny Keating and Chrissie Murtagh for all their hard work and dedication in pulling this event together. This event has raised money for Lough Lene Gaels that will be put to great use for the development of our club and thank you to everyone who supported all the different fundraisers and events. The OsKaRs, the rehearsals, fundraisers, prop making, costume sourcing and all that went with it has formed life long friendships between people that may never have known each other otherwise and this is something that will enrich and strengthen our whole community for generations to come
.If you enjoyed our very special Night at the OsKaRs, or indeed if you missed it, and would like to see all the Movies, Red Carpet Interviews and the Judges Comments you can order a DVD from Carmel's Daybreak Collinstown before Saturday 11th May.
