Banagher pub releases annual Christmas video
JJ Hough's eighth annual Christmas ad was released by the popular Offaly pub today (Wednesday) and it focuses on the theme of the passing of time and enjoying the simple things in life.
Describing the message of the video, proprietor of JJ Hough's Singing Pub in Banagher Ger Hough said: “People aren't going to be around forever to appreciate the present. Time passes very fast, just appreciate the simple things in life. We're all in a rush for the next thing. Technology has taken over.”
In the video, a bag of post was lost in the 1980s by Ger's late fictional father which was meant to be delivered around Banagher but it turns up in the present time and is put on display in the GPO. As a result, Ger and his son Jonah (4) travel to Dublin to retrieve the post from the GPO.
They reclaim the post and deliver it to the intended owners in Banagher who are now much older. An etch a sketch is delivered to one father played by Martin Mulhare whose son thinks it can be used like an iPad to access TikTok. An old USA biscuit tin was also delivered which Ger said was a “nod to last year's ad.”
Finally, a monopoly board was delivered which Ger said was “significant in every house.”
“Even if it descended into a row it was still better than everyone sitting solitarily on a phone or on social media.”
The video features music by Ger's cousin Ultan Conlon who has played music in most of Ger's Christmas ads and also stars his parents Michael and Sheila Hough. Sheila is seen reading an edition of the Offaly Independent towards the beginning of the video. “It's very much a family project,” said Ger.
The Offaly publican brought his children and wife Michelle to Dublin to film for the video which also features the pub, The Celt on Talbot St, Dublin. The owner of the pub, Coolderry native Noel Tynan and his son Donncha Tynan who appeared in the popular RTÉ series Kin also acted in the Christmas video as a Garda and a GPO employee.
Ger said that it took about “a day and a half of filming” to shoot the entire video between filming in Dublin and Banagher but it then had to be edited as it was originally much longer.
Ger is also friends with former Olympic boxer Cathal O'Grady who competed in the men's heavyweight event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and Cathal brainstorms ideas with him for the video every year. “He's a very creative guy so we always brainstorm ideas in October and he kind of came up with the idea it was going to be going back to the past.”
The video was shot and edited by Alan Rogers and also includes an end quote by Claire Cook and performances by a number of locals such as Jared Madden.
Ger stated: “I normally shoot myself but when you're acting you can't do both.”
Speaking about filming the Christmas ad annually, Ger said: “Usually I get it shot in a couple of days. I've been doing it since 2016.” Ger originally dreamed about making films and said it was a way to channel his creativity. “I use the pub as a way to get my creative ideas out. It's a push for the town of Banagher and just gets people talking. There's a pressure every year to out perform the previous one.
“People start talking about it in October I have to be careful I don't give away the idea. You have to be really ruthless when editing to get the true meaning across," said the publican.
The entertaining video is available to watch on JJ Hough's Singing Pub's Facebook or Instagram accounts.