Who is Dervla Murphy? profiles Ireland’s most prolific travel writer, through rare and exclusive access to Dervla, her family and friends. In this podcast Grace Corry chats with director Garret Daly to find out more about his documentary and the elusive figure it reveals.
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This documentary explores the woman behind the words in an interview which shows her personal life to be as fascinating as her extensive journeys. The minutiae of life at home in Lismore and journeys abroad with her grandchildren provide an intimate backdrop to interviews with Dervla, her daughter Rachel, her publisher John Murray and fellow travel writers Michael Palin and Manchán Magan.
Available to stream online now.
Garret Daly
Garret is an IFTA-winning director/producer and founder of the film and television company Mixed Bag Media. In 2022, Garret won an IFTA for Nothing to Declare, a short documentary of two stowaways to America in 1985. The film is currently screening on The New Yorker. His extensive film, documentary and television career includes the award-winning film Who Is Dervla Murphy?, which focused on the unique Irish travel writer. Released in Irish cinemas in 2016, the film has also screened internationally at numerous festivals and is now available worldwide on VOD.
In 2014, Garret co-directed his first fiction feature film entitled A Nightingale Falling. Following a premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh, the film had a six-week run at the Irish box office and went on to receive a Best Actress IFTA nomination for Tara Breathnach and an Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking from the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film has also achieved multiple sales internationally.
In 2018, Garret was nominated for an IFTA for directing and producing the short film The Secret Market, starring Victoria Smurfit. The film has to date won several international awards including Best Screenplay at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.Garret’s work has screened at many notable film festivals including Rhode Island International Film Festival, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, Cork International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival and Newport Beach Film Festival.
He has also directed the feature documentary A Grand Experience for RTÉ, an eight-part TV documentary series for Virgin Media Television entitled Grassroots of the GAA, the RTÉ Storyland runner-up Rental Boys, various short films and numerous radio documentaries and series for RTÉ Radio One and RTÉ Lyric FM. Garret is currently in development of three feature films supported by Screen Ireland and is a graduate of the EAVE Producers Workshop.
