Whiddy

Seven years in the making, Whiddy tells the story of how a rural West Cork community welcomed a global oil company into Bantry Bay with open arms and high hopes, only for it to turn into a tragedy and a sobering story about corporate power and accountability.

In the wake of the Suez Canal closure due to the Six-Day War (1967-1975), American-owned Gulf Oil pivots to Ireland, opening a massive new crude oil terminal on Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay, where deep, sheltered natural waters are capable of hosting the giant supertankers carrying Middle Eastern oil.

Welcoming this chance for a place in the modern world, farmers leave the land, fishermen leave the sea, and the oil terminal transforms Whiddy Island. Ten years later, as 1978 gives way to 1979, the French oil tanker Betelgeuse is instructed to sail for Whiddy Island. What followed was to become Ireland's worst maritime disaster.

Directed by West Cork filmmaker Adrian McCarthy, with stunning cinematography by Richard Kendrick and an evocative score by Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll, the film brings a deeply local story into conversation with the global forces of oil, money and power. Editor Brenda Morrissey takes us through remarkable local archive, first-hand testimony and the memories of those who lived through the Gulf years.

For Cork, Whiddy is both an act of remembrance, a vital piece of local storytelling, and a cautionary tale about what communities can gain, lose and remember when big business takes over and progress is prioritised over everything else.

THE BIGGER PICTURE:

When Global Oil Ruled a Corner of Ireland

Join filmmaker Adrian McCarthy and the Whiddy crew to discuss a West Cork story with international significance, a cautionary tale about what communities can gain, lose and remember when big business takes over and progress is prioritised over everything else.

Guests: Adrian McCarthy & Whiddy crew.

This film is eligible for the Best New Irish Feature Award, proudly sponsored by the Irish Examiner.