Peter Gerard Lennon (28 February 1930 – 18 March 2011) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and film director, probably best known as director of the social history documentary film ''

Rocky Road to Dublin "Rocky Road to Dublin" is a 19th-century Irish song written by Irish poet D. K. Gavan about a man's experiences as he travels to Liverpool, England from his home in Tuam, Ireland. Originally popularized by Harry Clifton, it has since been per ...

''. He worked for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper for many years.

Personal life

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

to an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

father and pious mother, Lennon was educated at

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Can ...

before starting work in a bank, where he also freelanced as a music critic for the ''

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

''. As well as ''The Guardian'', Lennon wrote for publications such as '' The Listener'', the BBC magazine. Peter Lennon was married since 1962 to the Finnish journalist and lawyer Eeva Lennon (née Karikoski).

''Rocky Road to Dublin''

Based in Paris for ''The Guardian'', Lennon was by assigned by his newspaper to cover the

Dublin Film Festival The Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF; ) is an annual film festival held in Dublin, Ireland, since 2003. History Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003. It was revived by Michael Dwyer, international film critic and ' ...

in the mid-1960s. His local friends tried to convince him that Ireland had changed socially and Lennon set out to document these changes. His investigations though demonstrated the opposite, that censorship, insularity and the dominance of the clergy still prevailed. He wrote a series of articles as a result and followed this up with ''

'' which was shot over 16 days on a budget of £20,000.

Death

He died of cancer in 2011 in London.

References

External links

Guardian profile and contributions

Guardian obituary

Guardian Film obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennon, Peter 1930 births 2011 deaths Irish film directors Journalists from Dublin (city) People educated at Synge Street CBS The Guardian journalists Film people from Dublin (city)