The Boxer

Gavin Friday is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter. Gavin was born in Dublin and grew up in Ballygall a neighbourhood... located on Dublin's Northside located between Finglas and Glasnevin where he went to school. He was a founding member of the post-punk group The Virgin Prunes and has recorded several solo albums and soundtracks. In 1986, after the demise of Virgin Prunes, Gavin devoted himself to painting for a while, sharing a studio with Bono, Guggi and Charlie Whisker. This resulted in the exhibition Four Artists - Many Wednesdays at Dublin’s Hendricks Gallery. Friday, Guggi and Whisker showed paintings, while Bono opted to exhibit photos taken in Ethiopia. Gavin's part of the show was entitled I didn’t come up the Liffey in a bubble, an expression often used by Friday's father.
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Ardmore Studios, located in Bray, County Wicklow, is Ireland’s only four wall studio. Opened in 1958 by then Minister for Industry and Commerce Seán Lemass, the studio has grown to house numerous Irish and international productions, including Braveheart, My Left Foot, King Arthur and... Veronica Guerin. In July 2008, Kevin Moriarty, Ardmore Studios boss, criticised Irish movies saying that: "there is an absence of a core structure, a surface storyline that allows the audience to navigate its way." In 1910 Sidney Olcott made his first visit to Ireland. Prior to this visit Irish film was made up of newsreels. His first film based in Ireland was The Lad from Old Ireland and was produced by Kalem. His next Irish film was called Rory O'Moore and was based around the Irish Rebellion of 1798. This displeased both the British Home Office and the Catholic Church. Most of his films at this time were filmed in Kerry in the towns of Beaufort, Dunloe and Killarney. Films of the time included The Gypsies of Old Ireland, Arrah-na-Pogue, Robert Emmet, Ireland's Martyr, You'll Remember Ellen and Ireland the Oppressed.
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