Rhapsody of a River

This short film was conceived by two Cork natives, Louis Marcus and Seán Ó Ríada, as a romantic tribute to the city and river they knew and loved. The images of the River Lee are underscored by Ó Ríada’s glorious score which is performed by the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra and features Seán Ó Sé singing Ó Riada’s arrangement of ‘The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee’. 

The film opens with lively sequences in Cork city where the streets are filled with traffic and shoppers and the side quays are busy with stately ships loading and unloading their cargoes. In a peaceful field by the river, grain is harvested and loaded into sacks from the Kilumney Co-op., while the busy cattle mart in Bandon attracts keen buyers and sellers. Before the river enters the sea at Cobh, there are many impressive feats of engineering along its banks from the hydro-electric damn at Inniscarra, the Whitegate Oil Refinery; Irish Steel at Haulbowline and shipbuilding at the Verolme Shipyard.  

Rhapsody of a River was one of a series of longer films made for cinema by Louis Marcus for Gael Linn following the success of their Amharc Éireann newsreel (1956 – ’64). The films were made to promote the Irish language and were primarily presented in Irish. All were directed by Louis Marcus and, from 1965, all were filmed by his longtime friend and collaborator cinematographer Bob Monks. 

Rhapsody of a River is part of The Louis Marcus Collection on the IFI Archive Player. To view more of the collection, please click here.