Limerick's Blindboy Boatclub nominated for international documentary awards

MUSICIAN, comedian, and podcaster, known as one half of The Rubberbandits duo, and more recently for The Blindboy Podcast, has now been recognised internationally for his documentary Blindboy: The Land of Slaves & Scholars. 

A proud Limerick man, Blindboy has been nominated for a Grierson's award for Best Documentary Presenter, among other well-known names such as Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley. 

Speaking about the nomination, he wrote on Instagram, “Very honoured for my production company Connlas Well, to be nominated for another award this year. We won an RTS award for “Did you read about Erskine Fogarty”, and now our second piece of work has been longlisted for a Grierson Trust award. The combined efforts of lots of hard working people who care about creativity above all else. Dog Bless”. 

The documentary Blindboy: The Land of Slaves & Scholars follows an exploration of the origins, evolution, and cultural legacy of early Irish Christianity.

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Blindboy takes the audience on a trip through Ireland’s early medieval history, with input from local experts in the field and historians including Manchán Magan, Dr Daniel Curley, Dr Elizabeth Boyle and Dr Niamh Wycherley.

He described his documentary, saying, “It’s an essay about the impact of early medieval Christianity on the Irish writing tradition.”

Having first come to the public's attention as part of the Irish comedy hip-hop group The Rubberbandits, Blindboy Boatclub has a massive following now across the globe thanks to the Blindboy Podcast, which features interviews and coverage of social issues.

The Griersons are the biggest event in the UK documentary calendar. The awards recognise and celebrate documentaries from Britain and beyond that have made a significant contribution to the genre and that demonstrate quality, integrity, creativity, originality and overall excellence.