The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut
1
x 52 min HD documentary for RTE
In April 1832, 57 young Irishmen left the port of Derry in
search of a better life in America. Landing in Philadelphia
they found work building one of the new world's earliest
stretches of railroad. A mere six weeks later, all 57 men
were dead, buried in an unmarked mass grave in a valley
known today as Duffy’s Cut.
For 170 years, the circumstances surrounding their deaths
lay shrouded in a haze of mystery, folklore and ghostly
tales.
The truth might have forever remained hidden had not Bill
Watson, a Pennsylvania historian, and his brother Frank, a
Lutheran minister, discovered an old file titled Duffy's
Cut buried among their grandfather's papers. It revealed the
true story of the men who are said to haunt this stretch of
the American railroad –
an extraordinary story of exploitation, bigotry, neglect and
the dark side of the American Dream’.
The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut
received massive viewing figures of 410,000 (25.4% audience
share) when it was broadcast on RTE in January 2007. It was
nominated for an IFTA 2007 Award in the Best Single
Documentary category. The documentary was also sold to
Smithsonian Networks USA.
"This fascinating documentary follows the attempts of two
Pennsylvania brothers to solve the mysterious deaths of 57
Irish immigrants in 1832" Irish Independent, 30 Dec. 2007
"A chilling RTE documentary”"
The Irish Daily Mail, 20 Jan. 2007
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