A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

IRE
1977
1hr 32mins
Dir: Joseph Strick
Starring: Bosco Hogan and Rosaleen Linehan

A film depicting James Joyce’s semi-autobiographical character Stephen Dedalus in late nineteenth-century Dublin

This low budget adaptation of James Joyce’s 1916 novel of the same name has a railway sequence that was filmed on the Dublin – Cork – Cobh line using Railway Preservation Society of Ireland steam locomotive No.171 Slieve Gullion. The locomotive was operating part of the two day RPSI “Seandún” railtour at the time, thus making clever use of a readily available main line steam working. According to the RPSI website, this run took place on Sunday 13th June 1976.

There are several closeup shots of GNR(I) S Class 4-4-0 No.171 Slieve Gullion, such as wheels and motion, escaping steam, and the front bufferbeam. This is the best shot, a somewhat cropped image of the locomotive’s smokebox and boiler.
The railway sequence includes two views of Slieve Gullion from the window. This is the first.
This second view shows the train crossing one of three causeways that take the Dublin to Cork line down to Cobh, leaving the mainland at Glounthaune