Christmas Day Swim – Amharc Éireann: Eagrán 83

This newsreel records the annual Dublin Swimming Club Christmas swim, which took place at the Clontarf Baths on a freezing December morning in 1961.

The crowd of wrapped-up onlookers cheered on the athletes as they braved the cold waters. The winner Neil Kennedy who was awarded the trophy by Máire Potter.

The Clontarf Swimming Club was founded in 1884 and the Clontarf Baths were the original location for this annual swim. Records show that Clontarf Swimming Club held regular races and waterpolo matches at the location. The pool has recently been renovated and is still open.

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.