Pen Pals

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Serendipity: Pen Pals

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Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Life Stories

Factual: Life Stories

An email from a stranger sparks a remarkable friendship.

Serendipity

Documentaries

A piece of art, an email from a stranger and a friendship born out of a bloody past.

In this serendipitous trilogy of tales, one search for a piece of art led to an email from a stranger which led to a story of friendship born out of a bloody past.

In this serendipitous trilogy of tales, one search for a piece of art led to an email from a stranger which led to a story of friendship born out of a bloody past. 

In 2015, Proinsias O'Coinn made a documentary called 'Lacrimosa' in which he went in search of a piece of art powerful enough to make him cry. While starting out on his mission, Proinsias found himself facing up to bigger questions about a part of himself that he had kept hidden his whole life. 

A month later, Proinsias received an email from a woman called Donna who wanted to tell him about the work of art that makes her cry - a sculpture in Rotterdam called The Destroyed City. Donna was terminally ill with the same type of cancer Proinsias had had and together they made another documentary called 'Pen Pals' in which Proinsias meets Donna for the first time after writing back and forth for over a year. They both then go to Rotterdam to see if the sculpture would also bring him to tears. 

On that trip, Proinsias discovered another story. In the 70s, when Donna and her husband Danny lived in Holland, they signed up to a cross community initiative that brought Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland together from across the divide. Their first kids to visit were Patrick O'Doherty and Raymond Hamilton. 'Derry Boys' is the story of two children who were never supposed to be friends, united by the kindness of strangers.

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BBC Radio 4 - Serendipity, Pen Pals

After his very first documentary is broadcast, an email from a stranger sends Proinsias Ó Coinn on an unexpected journey.

In 2015, Proinsias O’Coinn made a programme called ‘Lacrimosa’ about his search for a work of art that could bring him to tears. For years, he felt he couldn’t cry because he was struggling to accept his true identity. A month after the documentary was broadcast, Proinsias received an email from a woman called Donna who wanted to tell him about the work of art that makes her cry - a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine called The Destroyed City, which commemorates the bombing of Rotterdam in WWII.

They started writing to each other and discovered they actually had a lot in common. Donna understood Proinsias’ struggle with his sexuality, as her daughter is gay. But there was something else too. They both had the same type of cancer. Proinsias found out he'd had cancer after his tumour had been removed, but Donna was not so lucky – her diagnosis is terminal.

Proinsias knew he had to meet Donna and visit the sculpture with her. Maybe, it would be the work of art that would finally bring him to tears. More importantly, he wanted to meet his new pen pal.

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