We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THOUSANDS OF ROLLS of archived Irish film has been restored and made available to view for free online today.
The Irish Film Institute’s Irish Film Archive, supported by a grant from the Archiving Funding Scheme, has catalogued, digitised, restored and preserved a large collection of 35mm film television advertisements made in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
These commercials were made for broadcast on Irish television by a number of prolific Irish advertising agencies including Wilson Hartnell, Birchall, Hunter, and Arks, for a variety of Irish and international corporations.
The advert archives include a cartoon singing about Jacob’s biscuits, a trippy Aer Lingus snippet, and a short and snappy ad for Sudocrem with the tagline ‘A great friend of the family’.
Restoring film reel
The collection, numbering nearly 8,000 rolls of film, had been held in a number of damp warehouses for decades and, as a result of poor storage conditions, had suffered physical deterioration and contracted a mould infestation before it was transferred to the IFI Irish Film Archive in the mid-1990s.
The IFI Irish Film Archive team has salvaged this material, through a combination of painstaking processes including frame-by-frame assessment, extensive physical and chemical conservation, followed by scanning and digital restoration.
The collection has also been catalogued and preserved according to international best practice, thus safeguarding it for the future and making it widely accessible for the first time.
This project has resulted in the creation of a substantial Irish TV advertising archive of leading brands ranging from Cadbury to Calor, and promotional films for state organisations such as Dublin Corporation, and the ESB (Coras Iompar Éireann’s ad Miles Cheaper is particularly convincing).
According to the IFI:
These films may be only seconds long but, taken together, they provide a unique window into Irish society and consumer habits over the course of three decades.
They tell us much about the community they were made for, as well as the era they were made in, reflecting an Ireland of very different social mores, standards, dress sense, and attitudes to gender and race.
Fascinating on many levels, they can be enjoyed from a nostalgic, historical, social or cultural perspective.
Over 200 adverts are available to view now on the IFI Player.
Brilliant, will they have the old Guinness ad? The one with the oul’ lads sittin out on the Blaskets or the Arans all depressed in a pub with no beer ’til the oul’ dog hears something only he can hear maybe the creak of oars and runs off down the beach and one of the oul boys says “Tá sí ag teacht!” And they all go shkitterin’ an’ shlidin’ down the shtony shingle towards the curragh landing with the kegs of nectar. That’s the way I remember it as a child. Pure art.
@ John o’Driscoll..Harp add…”Sally O’Brien and the way she might look at ya”..or you could fry an egg on the stones that’s if you had an egg..
@John O’Driscoll: I loved the guinness ad with the surfing and saxophone/ guitar solos.
No Harp or Guinness ads that I could see boys, some gas other ones though McArdles Tradition Janey lads up ladders spinning sugain ropes into thatch while other lads in V-necks swamp pints and chat up I dunno could be Twink aged twenty in the bar below the thatch must watch a few more you never know the memories they could evoke.
@Honeybadger197: a real classic.
Great idea. I’ll look forward to showing these to my nan.
The prices haven’t changed much in penneys.
@Dave Thomas
I shouldn’t think the conditions for the people making the products have changed much either.
The ads that stuck with me as a teenager in the late 70s were for the agricultural vet products for the likes of treating sarcoptic mange mites, mastitis, worms etc., all complete with pictures of the little critters, that rte would always, without fail, air at dinnertime. Still didn’t stop me tucking into the meat and veg :)
@molly coddled: triple A golden maverick
@jane: thanks Jane, couldn’t for the life of me remember the name – or maybe it was because of the PTSD caused by watching it daily….hard to handle that kinda thing as a city girl injected into rural Ireland.
@molly coddled: What I recall was “Spread Net-Niterate 10:10:20″”Douse your flock with…?” and the timeless phrase that is so useful in all sorts of situations..”STAMP OUT SCOUR”
@molly coddled: Chenow unction- a quare name but great stuff!
@DeFonz: 40+ years later – still have no effin idea what scour is
@molly coddled:
Try 15 pints and a tandoori before bedtime tonight and you will have a fair idea tomorrow.
I think I’m going back to the things I learned so well
In my youth :)
What an ad. They don’t pull on the heartstrings like that anymore
The money is good, and the sunshine is free, but what i’d give for a drop of Harp and Sally O’Brien amd the way she might look at ya.
@gregory: Or as we called her, crossed eye Sally…
Not having much luck getting on the ifi player all evening
Them water and farm safety ads used scare the life out of me as a child.
@Bairéid Rísteard: wheres granddad, seriously.
Where’s “Bearny and Beany” now..
@sparky: They never married.
@Paraic McDonagh: They’re has beans.
@sparky: Blackfly killed them.
This is way to start the day
To start the day
The Flavinans way
When there is a burrrh in the morning
Pop on the porridge
pop on the Flavinans
@Brendan Mason: Flahavans
Did you ever see “Rashomon” by Kurosawa? Or read more than one witness report to the same road accident?
I know it’s nothing to do with ads but my memory of waking up each morning waiting to go to school and hearing Terry Wogan is priceless
If you want to be pedantic Jess Kelly it’s actually Flahavan’s :-)
It’ll be refreshing to see, the cigarette adds.
@Stephen: “cool as a mountain steam … thats Consulate”
@DeFonz: Maverick drench was another one ad used cowboys in a saloon (buffers from the Midlands)
Any adds with Jimmy Saville?
@George McCarthy: did six paedophiles agree with you?
@George McCarthy: funnily enough bbc 4 show old totps and i haven’t seen ‘now then,now then’ on any if them so far. I wonder if he’s been airbrushed out of bbc history.
@George McCarthy: Bodyform for you lol.
@John Quill: they have removed all of the TOTP with jimmy Saville in them from their repeats. It’s a bit sad really because a lot of great music been missed because of that sc***ag. They should just show them episodes minus him
There’s one I described to people before that I quoted a few times and got strange looks. I’m starting to think I dreamt it because I can’t find it anywhere.
It’s for Calvita cheese (pretty sure slices).
Narrator: Calcium is good for you and [does a bunch of stuff]. A normal cheese slice has this much calcium.
{Skater kid of about 8 years old pulls one tennis ball out of his pocket to illustrate}
Narrator: But a calvita cheese slice has this much calcium
{Kid pulls out second tennis ball}
Narrator: And what’s calcium good for, Malcolm?
Malcolm: Shoes? (in northern accent)
Narrator: Not quite
Malcolm: Hardressers?
Anyone? Anyone at all?!
@Tony Canning: sounds familiar kinda –
Makes me think of that one ‘dem bones dem bones need calcium’ and that’s a natural law
I actually thought when I was 7 that if I ate ‘Ready Brek’ I’d glow – just like the kid in the ad. So did my brother, we begged our mother to buy it. We didn’t glow.
Might have a look at the oulde Christmas adverts?
should’ve realised that a mention from da journa would kill the servers
terrible response times and server errors
were the rds and web summit involved?
Anybody remember the plan Cadbury ad,
Little boys, dreaming dreams,
Making plans, scheming schemes,
What’s he going to be,
Say twenty years from now
An astronaut, a scientist.. Lalala
“Did you put the cat out?”
@Pat Finnegan: Bord Na Mona or the fire service lol.
Bandwidth exceeded! Guess they need more Internet
Myra, the thongs, the thongs!
Love to see the Dept of Defence recruitment adverts and the Beethoven sound track with it
Great will watch some over the weekend
Ive better things to be doing with my time than watching adds new or old
@Sandra Clifford: 1985 Levi’s Launderette Advert with Dinny Byrne?
1985 Levi’s Launderette Advert with Dinny Byrne?
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say