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Product Description
A landmark collection of essays and articles spanning the 1960s to the 2020s by the iconoclastic Irish filmmaker, photographer and writer. Published by Boluisce Press, February 2025. Hardcover, 224 pages. Edited by Toner Quinn, Bob Quinn's son.
TRACKED DELIVERY WITHIN IRELAND IS INCLUDED IN THE COST
In 1969, Bob Quinn walked out of RTÉ, published a damning critique of the broadcaster, made a controversial appearance on the Late Late Show, and took refuge in the Conamara Gaeltacht.
After three years trialing various careers, he returned to filmmaking as a result of the Gaeltacht civil rights movement and founded the company Cinegael. What followed was a series of groundbreaking works that changed the course of Irish film, including the first Irish-language feature film, Poitín.
In subsequent decades he continued to challenge convention, from the Atlantean films, which linked Ireland to North Africa, to his role in the activism that led to TG4, and from his bracing analysis of RTÉ in the book Maverick to his outspoken views on the societal impact of television advertising.
Now, in a landmark collection, Bob Quinn’s son, writer and musician Toner Quinn, brings together a selection of his father’s essays, articles and book extracts that trace the artist’s work and thinking over seven decades. Combining wit, irreverence and vision, Count Me Out – Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn is an inspiring collection by one of Ireland’s most iconoclastic voices.
The publication of Count Me Out – Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn is made possible through the generous support of Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe; Grattan Healy; Telegael; TG4; and Bill Whelan.
About Bob Quinn
Filmmaker, writer and photographer Bob Quinn was born in 1935 in Dublin. His films include Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoire, Cloch, Poitín, The Family, Atlantean and Budawanny. He has also created an extensive photographic record of cultural life in Conamara. His books include Smokey Hollow, Conamara: An Tír Aneoil – The Unknown Country (with Liam Mac Con Iomaire), The Atlantean Irish: Ireland’s Oriental and Maritime Heritage, Maverick: A Dissident View of Broadcasting Today, and he also contributed to Jack Dowling and Lelia Doolan’s 1969 Sit Down and Be Counted: The Cultural Evolution of a Television Station. He was the first filmmaker to be elected to Aosdána, received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Film Institute, and, in November 2024, was presented with the Ceanntar Scannán award from the UNESCO-designated Galway City of Film for his contribution to film in Ireland.
Toner Quinn is a musician, writer, editor, publisher and lecturer. In 2000, he founded the Irish music publication JMI – The Journal of Music in Ireland (later The Journal of Music), which received the Utne Independent Press Award for Arts Coverage. He has recorded a traditional fiddle album with Malachy Bourke, edited a collection of essays on the Irish writer Desmond Fennell, and recently published a volume of his own writing titled What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music. He lectures in publishing at the University of Galway.
