This archive footage was filmed a month after I was born in Bray, Co Wicklow. I like the thought that I was a little pudner in the cot with all this going on around me and that in a few years I myself would be one of those children building the bonfire. It makes me sad that the fires are mostly gone now on Samhain and that the last custodians of this ancient Irish tradition are seen as antisocial (watch it here)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pat Kenny tears up Toy Show tickets live on air<\/p>\n Chosen by Peter McGann, comedian and actor<\/p>\n Gay Byrne is obviously the best Late Late host. No one is contesting that, the same way no one is contesting Sean Connery is the best Bond. But when I need a hit of pure uncut Bond, when I need to feel the feeling it gave me as a child on Network 2 on Tuesday evenings, nine times out of ten I need to seek out Roger Moore. It’s the same thing with the Late Late. Every single memorable moment from that show that has burned into my brain is from the era of PK. Part of that is because he was the host during a formative time of my life, but part of it is the unique presence he brought to the show, his seriousness, desire to be the smartest man in the room at all times, and his sometimes discomfort with any moments of levity, and let\u2019s be honest, the offscreen imbroglios he would get himself involved in, brought some truly magic moments to RTE history.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n Like this clip here<\/a>, where Pat famously tears up the tickets in a fit of pique when the woman on the phone turns them down. The destruction is what gets the headlines and what remains in the memory, but it’s Pat immediately after hanging up spinning the yarn about the woman who won the BMW, pulling it out of thin air in just that right moment, which is a moment of absolute showbiz wizardry, from a man who we seldom think of as Mr. Showbiz.<\/p>\n A Cavan Halloween (1986)<\/p>\n Chosen by Ian Lynch, musician with One Leg One Eye<\/a><\/p>\n The lawless nature at the heart of Halloween celebration is perfectly demonstrated by these Cavan kids from 1986. Being roughly the same age myself it brings back magical memories of crappy costumes, toxic bonfire smoke and the full-on mayhem that the night entailed.<\/p>\n In their candid responses these kids make it clear that they understand perfectly the fundamental underpinnings of Samhain – that this was a time of year outside of normal time when the usual rules that govern man and nature simply do not apply (watch it here)<\/a><\/p>\n Is There A Monster In Lough Fadda? (1967)<\/p>\n Chosen by Bobby Fingers, YouTube sensation<\/a><\/p>\n Of all the archival videos of British military men coming over to Ireland to blow up lake monsters with dynamite, this one has to be my favourite.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n Dungarvan Cottage Of Shells (1966)<\/p>\n Chosen by Terri Chandler, Florist with creative floral design studio Worm<\/a><\/p>\n I adore Shell Cottages. I have always been drawn to houses that show the unselfconscious eccentricity of their custodians. Bill O’Herlihy’s introduction to this piece says beautifully, “Where lie the real attractions of Ireland? More often it is off the beaten track one finds the fascinations of a country.” It’s true. It\u2019s in the nooks and crannies that you find the real folk art, made with passion and spirit and it is a joy to behold (watch it here).<\/a><\/p>\n Lilliputians Capture Gulliver (1988)<\/p>\n Chosen by Sally Cinnamon, DJ & host<\/p>\n As a small child, I had no idea this level of craft existed, so when I first encountered Gulliver, the only logical explanation was that it was magic, and magic was real. My father took me to Dollymount Strand and I was truly and utterly mesmerised. I was sort of sad and overwhelmed by the size of him, as I assumed he was dead, much like a whale beached and abandoned. I ran around him, asking about him, trying not to be completely freaked out by it all.<\/p>\n Through my life I developed something very silly and not too serious (thank god, sez you!) called megalophobia, which is:<\/p>\n “People with megalophobia have an intense fear of large objects such as skyscrapers, airplanes and big statues. Like other specific phobias, megalophobia is highly treatable with a psychological therapy called exposure therapy.”<\/p>\n For years afterwards, I would think about Gulliver, wondering where he came from and whether he was actually real. Then, in my early 30s, I made friends with some of the people who build and make the magic in Macnas. One day, Gulliver came up in conversation.<\/p>\n And I said: IT WAS YOUUUUU!!<\/p>\n I WAS RIGHT!<\/p>\n I was so happy to finally stop wondering about it, and so lovely to know what had blown my tiny mind all those years ago, and to know someone who had helped do it.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n I’m not sure if I always had megalophobia or if this encounter gave it to me. In 2016 I moved to NYC and would visit the Natural History Museum regularly to avoid walking awkwardly into bars and asking for a job. There is a full-size blue whale suspended from the ceiling in what they helpfully call The Whale Room. I would be precarious about visiting it but tried as much as I could in an attempt to get over my fear of it.<\/p>\n Finally, on the last attempt, I managed to lie under the suspended whale for a long period of time, until I could no longer feel myself sweating in panic. This panic turned to pride and a great sense of achievement.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve come full circle now in my megalophobia, from this Gulliver moment to the muesum Whale. I no longer fear all large objects. It\u2019s actually only the mobile ones that now terrify me!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/000805df-614.jpg\"\/)
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