Both my parents were creative and my life as an only child, from my birth in 1960 until my parents’ separation in 1970, was a whirlwind of creative activity.

My dad had an 8mm cine camera which was used not only to record a lot of my early life, but also to create short films. I suspect my mum, who was a film buff before the term was invented, acted as the director and film editor. The resultant films were short, snappy and interesting.

As part of the ‘do something creative every day’ thing that I’m doing, I have been going through their old films (which I had converted some years ago, first to VHS and then to a digital format), topping and tailing the episodes with titles, putting music on them and publishing them on Vimeo. I’m just highlighting two of them here but, as I process more of them, I’ll include them in future posts.

 

Here’s my christening in 1960:

 

 

 

And here’s my dad and me in Dun Laoghaire baths in 1968 or thereabouts: