David Hammond (1928-2008) was a broadcaster, documentary

film-maker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and folk-singer from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Life and work

Hammond was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in 1928 and educated at Methodist College. He then trained as a teacher at

Stranmillis College Stranmillis University College is a university college of Queen's University Belfast. The institution is located on the Stranmillis Road in Belfast. It had students in . The school offers the BEd, PGCE and TESOL, as well as other courses. Hi ...

. He taught for several years in primary schools and then took up a post as a teacher at Orangefield Boys' Secondary School. Among his many pupils were

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and Brian Keenan. In 1964 he was appointed to the education department of

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

. In this role he collaborated with others in the production of many films about life in

. These included ''Today and Yesterday in Northern Ireland'', ''Explorations'', and the memorial of life in the Belfast shipyards, ''Steel Chest'', ''Nail in the Boot'', and ''the Barking Dog''.
Culture Northern Ireland; accessed 5 September 2018 He left the BBC in 1986 and established Flying Fox film company. He produced many award-winning programmes including ''Dusty Bluebells'' (1971) about Belfast children's street games. He was a member of the board of the

Field Day Theatre Company The Field Day Theatre Company began as an artistic collaboration between playwright Brian Friel and actor Stephen Rea. In 1980, the duo set out to launch a production of Friel's recently completed play, ''Translations''. They decided to rehearse a ...

Awards

His films and life were celebrated at the 2003 Celtic Film Festival in Belfast. BBC Northern Ireland commissioned a six-part series on his life and work called ''David Hammond’s Ireland''.

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, David Male writers from Northern Ireland 1928 births 2008 deaths Writers from Belfast Film producers from Northern Ireland 20th-century educators from Northern Ireland People educated at Methodist College Belfast Alumni of Stranmillis University College Schoolteachers from Northern Ireland 20th-century British businesspeople