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Finlay John Macdonald ( Scottish Gaelic: Fionnlagh Iain MacDhòmhnaill; 4 July 1925 – 14 October 1987) was a Scottish journalist and radio and television producer and writer.
- Early Life
- BBC Gaelic Assistant, 1945–54
- Producer, BBC Drama Department, Scotland, 1954–62
- Producer, Television, 1962–1975
- Head of Documentary, 1970s
- Other Activities
- Death
Finlay J. Macdonald was brought up in Scarista on the Isle of Harris, the son of a crofter. In his early years in Portree High School he showed an aptitude for journalism as one of the team who produced the innovative Gaelic magazine, “An Cabairneach”. He studied divinity at Glasgow University for a year with the intention of entering the ministry ...
Macdonald's talents were recognised by BBC Scotland's head of Gaelic, Hugh MacPhee, who hired him as Gaelic Assistant in 1945, when he was aged 19. Soon, his rich Hebridean voice and pleasant microphone style made him a household name. As well as producing a variety of programmes, including drama production in both Gaelic and English, his voice was...
At the end of 1953it was announced that Macdonald had been appointed to the newly-created post of second drama producer in Scotland. His first production after returning from the BBC's Television Training School in London was Henrietta, M.D., broadcast on 12 July 1956. He produced the television version of The Hasty Heart (1957) and Right Royal (19...
In around September 1962 he became Producer, Television, Glasgow. This was just weeks after Pharic Maclarenhad been struck down with polio. However Macdonald's “eloquent and often changing qualities eventually took him into more general programmes, particularly film documentaries and features”. His programme Escape from the Concrete Jungle in the L...
During this period he produced memorable programmes like A Boy in Harris (1966), a film about development in the Highlands and Islands, which explored the experiences of a boy growing up in the same environment he himself had known two generations earlier. Also Crotal and Whyte. But is better remembered by Gaels for the first ever Gaelic television...
In 1951, Macdonald became one of the founders of the Gaelic literary magazine, Gairm, along with Derick Thomson. It was published quarterly from Autumn 1952 and Macdonald served as an editor until 1964. Although it had a relatively low circulation, it was influential on Gaelic literature as it was the longest-running Gaelic literary magazine of the...
Finlay J. MacDonald died on Wednesday 14 October 1987at his home in Main Street, Twechar, East Dunbartonshire. He was 62 years old. He was survived by his wife, Kathleen, a well-known Gaelic singer in her own right; son Finlay; and two daughters from a previous marriage. A service of thanksgiving was held at St. David's Memorial Church, Kirkintillo...
Finlay J. Macdonald was born in 1926 in Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK. He was a producer and director, known for The Twelve Pound Look (1957), Gruth is Uachdar (Crowdie and Cream) (2002) and BBC Sunday-Night Play (1960). He died in 1987.
- Producer, Director, Writer
- Finlay J. Macdonald
Sep 17, 2020 · Crowdie and cream. by. Macdonald, Finlay J. Publication date. 1983. Topics. Manners and customs, Harris (Lewis with Harris, Scotland) -- Social life and customs, Scotland Western Isles Isle of Harris Social life, 1914-1925 - Childhood reminiscences. Publisher.
Finlay John MacDonald - Fionnlagh Iain MacDhòmhnaill - was born on Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. He spoke Gaelic at home, and started English when he went to primary school. His three books, Crowdie and Cream , Crotal and White , and The Corncrake and the Lysander detail his childhood growing up.
- (25)
- October 14, 1987
- July 4, 1925
May 19, 1983 · Finlay J. Macdonald. Peopled with characters like Great Aunt Rachel 'built like a Churchill tank and with a personality to match', these are the stories of a childhood, of the hard years of the Depression. and then the departure of the island's young men to fight in the Second World War.
Jan 1, 1991 · Finlay J. Macdonald. An ominibus edition of Finlay J.Macdonald's nostalgic and often hilarious accounts of growing up on the Hebridean Island of Harris between the wars. They were published individually as "Crowdie and Cream", "Crotal and White" and "The Corncrake and the Lysander".
