Conor aimed to capture soul of Mullingar with Fleadh film
Conor English has something of an artistic conundrum to deal with when it comes to the films he makes, and it’s that his passion and energy go into the creative side so that there’s little left for promoting the work.
Speaking this week, as he releases his film about the 2023 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar, Conor said: “I’m not entirely sure what to do with the film, and I do suffer with this thing where I really like making it and completing it, and then I lose interest in putting it out there because I get excited by another project.”
That is understandable for someone as creative as Conor, who has also, with Ethan Scally and Will Russell, made films about Millie Walsh and about the Roma cafe. ‘Millie’s Maxol Magic’ enjoyed successful screenings in Mullingar, and the Roma one is currently on the festivals circuit.
Conor’s fleadh film is ‘Shadow Town: Is Ait An Mac An Saol’ and he has timed the YouTube release for this week as the 2026 Fleadh Cheoil is on in Beál Feirste, for the first time.
“The film was made about the 2023 fleadh, in Mullingar, so three years ago now, and it hasn’t really been seen by anyone since then. I probably finished it about a year and a half ago, and it’s just sat on hard drives. I did a couple of little screenings to friends, in the studio in town, and then didn’t really do too much else with it.
“I got pulled on to other projects and got excited by new things and never really gave it a push to try and put it out there, so I suppose that’s what this is now, getting it on YouTube and trying to just share it with people the same way that I’ve shared the other films that I’ve made.”
Following the success of the Millie production, Conor received support from the Westmeath Film Award to make a film about Roma, which screened recently at a documentary festival in Belfast. When it finishes the festival circuit, he hopes it will become publicly available.
Like Millie, the Roma is an institution in Mullingar, and that’s partly what promoted Conor. “The Millie one was the catalyst for making the Roma one, and the fleadh was coming that time as well – 2023 was really busy, there was lots going on.
“I think that’s probably why there’s been a lull period after, because I spent myself on those different projects.”
The common thread and including the fleadh film is his home town: “ I was always trying to make a film about Mullingar, in a way. Maybe I didn’t really realise it then, but I was obsessed about trying to capture the essence and the characters of the town, to try and get them into something, that when you watched it, you got an idea of the place, the feeling of the place as we [the people who live here] see it.
“At the first fleadh, I knew it was back for the second year, so for 2022 one, I photographed it and tried to experience as much as possible, so that when it came back the next year, I’d have a plan of action – I’d have experienced things and realised what I wanted the film to feel like.”
Part of what Conor wanted to achieve was something that the likes of RTÉ could not; he’d watch their coverage and say to himself, ‘where’s Mullingar in it?’: “I wanted to really show the town’s reaction to the fleadh and the people we know – so that’s really what prompted it.”
Find Conor’s work at conorenglish.net, and elsewhere online using @conorenglish.filmmaker.