A POPULAR West Belfast social club is the subject of a new documentary which will be shown during the Docs Ireland festival.
Cumann Sóisialta Mhic Ásmaint (Casement Social Club) is the brainchild of Glen Road filmmaker Rachel Cullen and will be shown at the James Connolly Centre on the Falls Road on June 22.
This is Rachel’s first documentary and she say she is proud of the final cut.
Rachel is the producer and editor of the film, while Dominic Giffen is director and Vincent Kinnaird executive producer.
“Dominic and I both work at The Duncairn in North Belfast and Vincent is a filmmaker from West Belfast and he mentored us through the documentary making process,” said Rachel.
Rachel said she wanted to make a documentary about Casement Social Club because the club is due to close when work finally begins on the new stadium and she wanted to capture the essence of the place for posterity.
Ray Loughran onscreen
Rachel lived in Scotland for ten years and said that when she returned home she and her husband went to Casement for a drink one night and fell in love with the place.
“It couldn’t believe it existed,” she said. “It’s on the Andytown Road but it’s set right back and a lot of people don’t know that it’s there under the stand.
“We were immediately welcomed with open arms and then I started seeing many of my neighbours there and when you got talking to people, I just felt, there’s something magical here.
“People say in the documentary that the club is not just about the GAA, there’s birthdays, christenings, everything happening here – so I thought that this place – which hasn’t changed in over 40 years – should be digitally archived and captured to leave a wee bit of social legacy about the place.”
During the course of the documentary Rachel interviews Joe Compston, Mary Grieve, Kevin Burke and Ray Loughran. The history of Casement Social Club is explored including the time the British Army took over the stadium in the early 1970s and more recently when members fought to keep the club open when the gates of the stadium were closed ahead of its proposed redevelopment. When the long-awaited work does begin on the stadium the social club will move to St Agnes’ Parish Centre.
Rachel says: "It's a short documentary, but it's packed full of wonderful people."
“I hope the club gets to move back into the new Casement Park when it is built,” she says. “And I would love it if they could recreate the club the way it is now.”
Cumann Sóisialta Mhic Ásmaint (Casement Social Club) will be shown at Áras Uí Connghaile on the Falls Road, on June 22, 2pm.
