Summary

Duplicate copy of Reel 3 of documentary entitled The Workhouse Ward - check against tape PM1843 for best quality

Reel 3 C/U of the Widow Donohoe knocking on the door of the ward Sign on door reads Ward B She walks int, the men do nothing She asks them which one of them was Mike McInerney He asks: Who's that calling me by me name? She explains that she is his sister He moans about the fact that she has never visited him in five years She describes her house and grounds She talks of the food she gets from the sea - cockles and periwinkles She suggests that he comes to live with her She is a bit worried though about the fact that he is confined to his bed He says it is only on the odd times that the colic rises up within him She thinks of a few little jobs that he would be able to help her with She hands him a suit of clothes to wear and a hat She wants him to look decent for the neighbours of Cotton Row (?) He gets excited about all the animals and blossom and good things that lay in wait for him He announces that age will go from me and I'll be young again His neighbour moans about being left behind in the workhouse McInerney offers to leave him his pipe He responds: What signifies tobacco, all I'm craving is the talk McInerney suggests that two are better than one - that the two of them together will make one hardy man She recognises Miskell as her old neighbour She then observes that the two of them were always fighting with each other when they were neighbours before so she doesn't think it is a good idea McInerney refuses to go without his friend She asks for her suit back, she is given it and she leaves the ward C/U of McInerney smiling They both lay down as if to sleep The friend says: Maybe her house is not so wide as what she says They start to have another argument, mostly about periwinkles McInerney throws a pillow at his neighbour and he calls for the Mother Superior They have a pillow fight L/S of the gates of the workhouse The narrator announces that McInerney will never hear from the Widow Donohoe again and suggests that he is a fool to spurn her hospitality C/U of widow and donkey L/S them travelling along a primitive street Would anyone believe that a man would sooner sit cramped in his workhouse bed fighting with an even bigger fool than himself when he could live in peace in a fine rich house L/S of sea rolling in
Credits: Michael Miskell - Michael J Dolan, Mike McInerney - Eric Gorman, Widow Donohoe - Eileen Crowe, Narrator - Denis O'Dea, Stage Direction by Ria Mooney
Note: This film is funnier than the summary above probably suggests!