The story of the Wicklow film maker who helped set up Bollywood
She has met popes and presidents, yet Isolde Moylan’s hero is her film-making father
Isolde Moylan at her home in Martello Terrace, Bray. Photo: Leigh Anderson
“I came to Bray when I was ten,” says Isolde Moylan. Six decades and more later, she still resides in the town, close to the sea front. However, the now retired ambassador spent many of those intervening decades posted to represent her country in various parts of the world. She also has a particularly strong association with the Indian sub-continent, where she spent time as a child.
Freed of diplomatic responsibilities, she has been digging into those links with India and Pakistan, compiling a treasure trove of films made by her father William J Moylan, who became a well-known figure around Bray himself in his later years. Bill’s career in the movies at the birth of Bollywood is an intriguing tale of one man’s contribution to civil life in a land far from his native haunts.
