Saluting Cork brothers who were pioneers of Irish film-making

IRISH talent has graced both sides of the camera since the earliest days of Hollywood.

Our homegrown film industry, which brings in around €500 million annually, is a testament to our world-class crews and high-tech studios nationwide. The industry is on an upward trajectory, with more studios being constructed to cater to the increasing demand for international production. Filmmaking is not just a passion but a part of our DNA.

The Horgan Brothers: Princes of The Picture Theatre, a new documentary, delves into the extraordinary world of the Horgan Brothers, who hold the distinction of being Ireland’s first native film-makers and animators. This significant piece of Irish film history, directed by Michael Twomey, will be screened this Thursday at the Triskel Cinema.

Twomey, who is from Youghal, says he spent many years watching films at the Horgan Picture Theatre on the town’s Friar Street, but admits he didn’t know anything about the trailblazing brothers who opened the cinema in 1917.

“Growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, I knew the cinema very well. It is where I saw many greats like The Godfather, Jaws, and The Deer Hunter. While I was watching films in a cinema opened by the Horgan brothers, I didn’t know anything about them or their history.”

Twomey says the Horgan story went untold, even in their home town. “People may have taken them for granted. Local people were used to having trailblazers in their town. Youghal is a small town, yet there were two cinemas from the 1920s. People were spoilt for choice. I suppose when people are alive, their legacy isn’t always recognised, but that is changing now.”

The self-confessed cinephile worked as a reporter for The Echo and the Examiner before returning to college at 40 to study his true passion, film. At UCC, he realised the importance of James, Philip, and Thomas Horgan, but it was their descendants, some of whom are interviewed in the documentary, who first digitized their archive.

“Jim Horgan, one of their grandsons, is the driving force behind the film archive, and the family has held a few exhibitions in Youghal over the years. 

That’s when I became aware of them and started to do deeper research. 

"My knowledge of cinema grew while I was studying at UCC, and that is when I realised just how innovative the Horgans were.”

In the late 1800s, the brothers used their Confirmation money to buy a pinhole camera. They became adept at taking pictures, and by 1892, they had opened a photography studio.

They were driven by creativity and excited by new inventions. They painted backdrops for patrons to stand against while they were photographed, transporting the people of Youghal to the moon.

They made a fortune selling images for postcards to publishers in London and ran magic lantern shows projecting images from faraway places like New York onto walls across the county.

Twomey said the more he researched, the more passionate he became about the Horgans, and he knew he had to tell their story.

“It became a passion project. The idea has been with me for a long time, but I started to think seriously about making a documentary in 2017. There were a few hurdles, but I had to make this documentary.” 

Cinephiles know how important France’s Lumière brothers were to the burgeoning film industry. Their 1895 Cinematograph invention was groundbreaking. It could capture, process, and project film. James Horgan was fascinated and knew he needed a similar device to make his films, but the Lumiere’ didn’t sell cinemagraphs. But they sold projectors, which the brothers bought, and James reverse-engineered it into a prototype film camera.

By 1904, the Horgans had become Ireland’s first filmmakers, filming local and historical events, such as King Edward VII’s visit to Lismore Castle in May of that year.

“I wish I had been a fly on the wall,” says Twomey. 

Imagine being there as they figured out how to change the projector and turn it into what they needed. Imagine being the first Irish people to film history as it happened.

In 1910, the Horgans made Ireland’s first-ever animation - a whimsical story about Youghal’s clock tower dancing in circles and turning upside down.

The brothers decided to open the cinema on Friar Street on the advice of car mogul Henry Ford. They realised how much people liked to see themselves on film and began to film public events like the Corpus Christi Procession and race days, which they would show in the cinema before the main feature.

The Horgans documentary is filmed to reflect early filmmaking, and Twomey’s keen sense of style has allowed him to create something that echoes the era. It is packed with images, clips from Horgan’s archive, and interviews with family members and film experts.

Like Horgan’s films, Twomey’s documentary records the history and society of Youghal in the early 1900s, a time he says was extraordinary.

It was the edge of a new century and the edge of modernity. I love the idea that they were excited by the tools that came their way and how they embraced them.

Twomey says the Triskel screening feels like a recognition of his efforts. “It’s a lonely business if you are an independent filmmaker. Triskel’s support means an awful lot. It is a recognition that the documentary is a standard that is acceptable for a general audience. After all the work, that recognition feels great.”

The Horgan Brothers: Princes of the Picture Theatre screens on May 30 at 6.30pm, see triskelartscentre.ie for more details.