Mayo island GAA pitch features in TG4’s 30th anniversary campaign

A GAA pitch on Inishturk has been included in TG4’s new national campaign marking 30 years of Irish-language broadcasting, bringing Mayo into the broadcaster’s celebration.

Titled ‘Súil Eile’, the campaign celebrates TG4’s distinctive approach to presenting Ireland and looks ahead to its next chapter. The broadcaster first went on air on Halloween night 1996.

Developed with creative agency The Tenth Man and filmmakers the McGloughlin Brothers, the campaign includes a film and photographs presenting Irish landscapes from unexpected perspectives.

Among the locations chosen by acclaimed photographer Kevin Goss-Ross is the GAA pitch on Inishturk. It features alongside the Crohy Head Sea Arch in Donegal, Kilclooney Dolmen in Donegal and a hawthorn tree growing from a wedge tomb in Loughmacrory, Co. Tyrone.

Goss-Ross used experimental photographic techniques, including infrared photography and a process he calls an RGB time split, to reveal colours and details not visible to the naked eye.

The infrared images transform living foliage into vivid pink tones, while the RGB technique captures changes in light over time, producing unexpected bursts of colour.

The campaign is based on the idea that the Irish language offers not only a different way of speaking, but also a different way of seeing and understanding the world.

“It was a real honour to be asked to shoot a series of photographs for TG4,” Kevin Goss-Ross said.

TG4 Director General Deirdre Ní Choistín said the phrase ‘Súil Eile’ had been central to the broadcaster since its first transmission. She said the campaign reimagined the motto’s original ambition by celebrating the distinctive perspectives and creativity the Irish language brings to the world.

“Súil Eile' was central to TG4 from the very first broadcast on Halloween night 1996. Thirty years later, 'Súil Eile' is reimagined in this campaign to reflect the ambition of the motto and to ensure it is as relevant as ever,” she said.

“It reflects the distinctive perspectives and colour that the Irish language and TG4 brings to our understanding of the world around us and a nod to the vision that came from the grassroots movement who sought a dedicated Irish language television service and hoped that would become a reality.”

The McGloughlin Brothers said the project gave them an opportunity to explore Ireland creatively, using unconventional filmmaking techniques to present the country’s landscapes, culture and language from a different vantage point.

“This project with TG4 was a breath of fresh air for us, it offered a rare chance for us to explore Ireland creatively, with a freedom to make something unconventional and emotionally resonant,” they said.

The campaign also received praise from Ken Robertson, founder and CEO of The Tenth Man, who said the idea of seeing the world differently was particularly relevant in an era increasingly shaped by algorithms and familiar perspectives.

For three decades, TG4 has provided a platform for Irish-language storytelling across drama, documentary, entertainment, music, sport, news and children’s programming.

The ‘Súil Eile’ campaign is being rolled out across TG4 television, digital and social media platforms, with support from The Tenth Man and Zenith Ireland.

The inclusion of Inishturk’s GAA pitch places the Mayo island among the locations helping to tell TG4’s story of Ireland through a different lens.