The making of Ryan's Daughter in Dingle 1969 is shrouded in myth and sensational stories. Hollywood superstars in late-1960s Ireland, the Irish climate, the studio system and one of film's greatest auteurs all combined into a troubled and fabled production. Fifty years on, Sunday Times journalist Paul Benedict Rowan reveals in fascinating detail why David Lean's behemoth holds such a unique place in movie history, bringing together exclusive interviews with cast and crew, as well as many stills photographs taken on- and off-set. Rowan pieces all into a definitive rollercoaster account of the making of one of Lean's last films.

Paul Benedict Rowan was born in Dublin in 1963. His first book, The Team That Jack Built was published in 1994, to considerable critical acclaim.

Paul has worked for a number of newspapers in Ireland, as well as the BBC World Service, where he was a producer, reporter snd presenter for eight years. He has worked for The Sunday Times since 2000, for the sport, news and travel sections. He has been travelling to Kerry since before he can remember.

David Lean's making of Ryan's Daughter in Dingle between 1968 and 1970 is shrouded in myth and sensational stories. Robert Mitchum and the glamour and mischief of 1960s Hollywood, the Irish climate, the studio system and one of film's greatest auteurs all converged to make a troubled and fabled production in an unsuspecting town in Co. Kerry.

Fifty years on, Paul Benedict Rowan has written the definitive account of one of the great movie follies and its unique place in cinematic and Irish history. Bringing together exclusive cast and crew interviews, a wealth of previously unseen archive material and extraordinary accounts of the local people who took Lean and his epic to their hearts, this pacy, entertaining and often jaw-dropping account is everything you ever wanted to know about David Lean's great 'fillum' and its tragic aftermath.