Tolka Row

Tolka Row was the first "soap" put out by RTE, the Irish Tv station in the 1960s. Like Coronation Street it was about a working class community and was set in North Dublin. The Tolka is a small river that runs in the area. It had an early acting role for the well known actress Brenda Fricker. It was written by Maura Laverty, who was a journalist and novelist. She wrote plays about working class Dublin and the serial grew out of the plays. She sympathised with the poor and was a very talented writer. I can remember it from childhood... but a few years later, RTE moved on to a rural "soap", called The Riordans. Tolka Row only ran for a few years, but the Riordans was more long lasting. I think the tapes of it have vanished as the station did not keep them, and often taped over them.