A look at the manufacture of religious art in Co. Donegal.
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Extended description
The Milltown Manufacturing Company factory in Donegal town manufactures religious art for distribution around the world. The factory, which produces mouldings for prints and paintings and the prints themselves, provides employment for 80 men and women who work around two shifts. 70% of the mouldings are manufactured for the export market.
The factory also holds the originals of tens of thousands of religious pictures which are familiar images that can be found in many Irish homes.
The pictures were previously owned by a Zurich based company which went out of business in 1965, and were bought up by the Timmons brothers from Donegal. The stock comprised approximately 350 originals and almost 4 million prints. The stock consists of paintings of Saint Patrick, the Virgin Mary, and Biblical scenes to as well as popular and more obscure saints, which vary in size and price.
Donegal can be described as the fountainhead of religious art. The prints are sold in bulk to missions and religious repositories all over the world. The most popular prints in the Irish market are of the Sacred Heart and the Holy family. Popularity is largely location specific and the most unusual prints are noted as Saint Nicholas of Bari and Saint Benito of Palermo.
Further information
Cathal O'Sullivan reports for 'Newsbeat' on the manufacture of religious art in a Co. Donegal factory.
This episode of 'Newsbeat' was broadcast on 27 October, 1967.
'Newsbeat' was a half-hour feature programme presented by Frank Hall and ran for 7 years from September 1964 to June 1971.
'Newsbeat' went out from Monday to Friday on RTÉ television and reported on current affairs and issues of local interest from around Ireland. The final programme was broadcast on the 11 June, 1971.
The Milltown Manufacturing Company factory in Donegal town manufactures religious art for distribution around the world. The factory, which produces mouldings for prints and paintings and the prints themselves, provides employment for 80 men and women who work around two shifts. 70% of the mouldings are manufactured for the export market.
The factory also holds the originals of tens of thousands of religious pictures which are familiar images that can be found in many Irish homes.
The pictures were previously owned by a Zurich based company which went out of business in 1965, and were bought up by the Timmons brothers from Donegal. The stock comprised approximately 350 originals and almost 4 million prints. The stock consists of paintings of Saint Patrick, the Virgin Mary, and Biblical scenes to as well as popular and more obscure saints, which vary in size and price.
Donegal can be described as the fountainhead of religious art. The prints are sold in bulk to missions and religious repositories all over the world. The most popular prints in the Irish market are of the Sacred Heart and the Holy family. Popularity is largely location specific and the most unusual prints are noted as Saint Nicholas of Bari and Saint Benito of Palermo.
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