The A Team!

Rambling House production team

From left: John Ward (producer), Marie McDonald (sound recordist), J.P. Bradley (Rambling Reporter), Tony McLaughlin (Rambling Reporter, writer & researcher) and Seoirse O’Dochartaigh (director)

Who was who on Rambling House, Series One?

PJ the DJ, anchor man. Based back in the studio,

PJ interviews the Rambling Reporters beforehand

to get an idea of what will happen on that evening’s

show. At the end of the show, he has another short

chat with them on any key points that arose from

the discussion before signing off and informing the

listener when and where the next episode will be.

Rambling Reporters, Tony McLaughlin and

J.P. Bradley are the two main voices you will

hear at the start of each programme. Tony

has the slower drawl whilst J.P. has a distinctly

strong Inishowen intonation, ideal for recitations

and joking.

Director Seoirse O’Dochartaigh sits beside the two

Rambling Reporters and keeps things ticking along

from story to song and back. He’s the man with the

softer tone who has been known to burst into song

or the telling of a joke with a bit of persuasion. Seoirse

has a wide range of talents from painting to songwriting

to genealogy. Further information is at www.seoirse.com

Consultants: Dessie McCallion and Sean Beattie.

Regarded by many in Inishowen as the two best

informed men on local history and lore. With a

relaxed non didactic tone, they both have interesting

pieces they deliver on the various themes of the series.

Sean is a member of the Donegal Historical Society

and Editor of the Donegal Annual, historical journal.

Author of six books relating to Donegal in Irish and

English, including books on ancient monuments and

a visual history of modern Donegal.

See www.historyofdonegal.com for more details.

Contributors: Dermot McLaughlin, Bertie Bryce,

Sean McMahon and whoever else wanders through

the door are always welcome to say a few words in

Rambling House.

Musicians to date: Ciaran Doherty, Sean McDaid,

Shauna Devlin, Niall Devlin and Shane Devlin, the

band members of The Flough, Dinny White Harra,

Joelene, Clodagh & Louise - amongst others.

Catering: The real star of the show is Tony’s

wife, Anne, without whom all of the wary Rambling

folk would go damn hungry & indeed thirsty!

Sound recordist: Marie McDonald. ICR DJ Marie has

the unenviable task of ensuring the material was

recorded properly and providing the first cut.

Producer: John Ward runs Headland New Media

which produces this show. Chief bottle washer and

writer of rambling websites such as this one! Headland

New Media is proudly based in Malin Head. Besides

producing Rambling House, the company is developing

a GPS travel system for sat nav devices and iPhones

which will allow a person find the hidden gems of

Ireland, such as the rambling houses of Donegal and

beyond. Best of all, there is an audio feature which

automatically tells you about a place as you drive past

it. A prototype of the system has been developed for

Inishowen and is available by clicking here.

The Rambling Reporters

Tony McLaughlin grew up in equal measure in Derry

City of the 1950/60’s and Malin Head in Donegal.

This has given Tony a deep insight to both city life

and rural Donegal of that era.

J.P. Bradley grew up during the same period in

Iskaheen, Muff, which is on the Donegal/Derry

border and would have developed the same

experience of city and rural life as did Tony. Both J.P. Bradley’s and Tony McLaughlin’s careers were almost parallel from the mid-1960’s until the early 1970’s. Both trained in the hospitality industry and worked in what was referred to in that period as border pubs.

During this era these establishments were is a genre of their own due to the fact that as most of Northern Ireland began moving towards Donegal in particular from their half-day on a Thursday to the following Sunday. This was due to a number of factors:

1.The half-day was strictly observed.

2.The hotels/bars in Northern Ireland closed sharp at 10pm.

3.Everything closed in Northern Ireland on a Sunday.

Any border pub/hotel worth its salt in those days

would have put a large city establishment to shame

and it would have been impossible for anyone to

work in those establishments and not develop a

particular rapport with people from all sorts of

backgrounds and cultures. Both J.P. and Tony

would have been up close and personal with

persons from all sides of politics, sport, religion

and even that normal border activity, smuggling.

Both worked in large border establishments that were located close by to each other and it became a topic of discussion along the border as to which of the two was the best at his job. Both loving to put on a show behind the bar long before such an idea became a topic for a film. Both say the other was the better!

Over the years, Tony McLaughlin moved towards

marketing, while J.P kept to sales and it would be

fair to say that there is no corner of Inishowen or

further afield that both J.P. and Tony haven’t

developed life-long friendships with many

well-known public faces and some that perhaps

would prefer to remain anonymous. They agree that

a book would be the obvious thing for both men to

write, but both say that it couldn’t’ be published until

both were dead, or they would soon be dead if it

were to be published earlier!

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