LEINSTER RIFLE SHOOT – Amharc Éireann: Eagrán 171

The 1962 Leinster Gun Championships were held in Dublin with gunmen visiting from the 6 counties of Ulster to take part. There were a hundred rifle clubs in Northern Ireland and only 3 in the Republic of Ireland at this time. Thorough safety checks were carried out on all the guns before the competition. George Randall from Antrim and Russell Connolly from Portadown were 2 of the participants of this demanding sport.

Target shooting is still a popular pastime for many in Ireland today. The National Target Shooting Association in Ireland currently takes part in the Olympics as well as various other events run at World and European Championship Levels.

Produced by Gael Linn, Amharc Éireann (A View of Ireland) is Ireland’s longest-running indigenous newsreel series. It was distributed to cinemas throughout the country to  promote the Irish language. The first 36 issues were produced as single-topic films which were released monthly, followed in 1959 by weekly, multi-story newsreels featuring a broad range of topics, from hard news stories to lighter magazine-style items. Between 1956 and 1964, 267 editions of the newsreel were produced for cinema exhibition.

To see more of the Gael Linn Collection, click here.

With kind permission of Gael Linn.