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

''. He worked for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper for many years.

Personal life

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to an alcoholic 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 Canon ...

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. History Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 ...

''. 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 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)