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british pathe

This old newsreel clip of the Connemara Pony Show is charmingly Oirish "to be sure"

“What a day it was, to be sure.”

NEWSREEL ARCHIVE BRITISH Pathé uploaded its entire collection of 85,000 historical films to its Youtube channel back in April.

With footage spanning from 1896 to 1976, the channel makes for fascinating viewing. There’s plenty of rare clips from Irish history — showing events like the aftermath of 1916 and the the funeral of Michael Collins.

There’s more than a few little gems in there too…

Yesterday, we showed you these little-viewed clips of Christmas Day swimmers at the Clontarf Baths in the 1920s and 30s.

And in a visit to the West in 1963, the Pathé crew put together this charming package on the Connemara Pony Show…

“What a day it was to be sure,” the announcer notes, in that oft-parodied Pathé tone.

If you do win a prize, there’s two or three pounds that goes with it … Enough to wet your whistle if you’ve a long way to go home.

British Pathé / YouTube

Read: Check out this remarkable news footage of Christmas swimmers in the ’20s and ’30s

Also: British Pathé’s Youtube Archive