''Tolka Row'' was an Irish

drama serial A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

set in a fictional

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on the

northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Based on

Maura Laverty Maura Laverty (née Kelly; 15 May 1907 – 26 July 1966) was an Irish novelist, playwright, journalist, broadcaster and cookery expert known for her work on the Irish television drama serial, ''Tolka Row''. She published several novels, short stor ...

's play of the same name, ''Tolka Row'' was first broadcast on 3 January 1964 and aired weekly for five series until it ended on 31 May 1968. As Telefís Éireann's first venture into soap operas, ''Tolka Row'' quickly became a staple of the new television station's schedule and set the pace for all future home-produced serials. Its popularity also resulted in the station developing a second soap opera, ''

The Riordans ''The Riordans'' was the second Irish television drama serial made by Raidio Telefís Éireann (then called ''Telefís Éireann''). It ran from 1965 to 1979 and was set in the fictional townland of Leestown in County Kilkenny. Its location fil ...

'', in 1965. ''Tolka Row'' is similar in format to the long-running British soap ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'', from which it borrows its main premise (the everyday life of a number of neighbours). The show was centred on the Nolans, a typical working-class Dublin family, and their neighbours, the Feeneys. All episodes were filmed in studio at Telefís Éireann's Television Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin.

Cast

* Jack Nolan – Des Perry * Rita Nolan – May Oliss * Seán Nolan – Jim Bartley * Statia Nolan-Doyle – Iris Lawler/Sheila O'Sullivan * Oliver Feeney – John Molloy * Assumpta Feeney – Aileen Harte * Concepta Feeney –

Virginia Cole Virginia Cole (c. 19478 November 2018), was an Irish actress who appeared in several of Ireland's iconic tv shows and films. Biography Cole was seventeen when her acting career began in earnest with the part of Concepta Feeney in Tolka Row. Fro ...

* Queenie Butler –

May Cluskey Mary "May" Cluskey (18 May 1927 – 15 May 1991) was an Irish stage, film and television actress. Early life Mary Elizabeth Cluskey was born in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of Francis Cluskey and Elizabeth Millington Cluskey. Her brother ...

* Mr. Pender – Ritchie Stewart * Harry Allen – Martin Dempsey * Andy Kinnear – Gerry Alexander * Peggy Kinnear – Laurie Morton * Gabby Doyle – John McDarby * Paddy Moore – Paddy Long * Mrs. Moore – Úna McCourt * Molly Ryan – Patricia Martin * Jim "Beardie" Toomey – Andrew Irvine Retrieved on 1 June 2015.

Production

Broadcast format

During its entire four-year run ''Tolka Row'' remained at the centre of Telefís Éireann's prime time schedule. The

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

was broadcast at 19:20 on Friday, 3 January 1964. The first two series aired once a week on Fridays at that time. The third series moved to Sunday evenings where it usually aired at 19:45. The last two series returned to Friday evenings with a broadcast time of 20:00. Every episode was pre-recorded in black and white before the broadcast date.

Sets

For all five series, the complete set of ''Tolka Row'' (house interiors and exteriors) was erected inside Studio 1 of Telefís Éireann's Television Centre in Dublin. Sets were constructed and removed on an ad hoc basis. There are a number of reasons for the use of an indoor studio; the main one being that the infancy of production techniques at the time did not allow easy recording and editing of sequences filmed in different locations. In spite of this some scenes were filmed on location in such places as

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...

References

{{RTÉ Dramas and Soap Operas 1964 Irish television series debuts 1968 Irish television series endings 1960s Irish television series Irish television soap operas RTÉ original programming Fictional streets and roads