For me rural Ireland doesn’t get enough airtime on Irish television. Ten minutes on prime time isn’t enough every now and then.”

The words of Gerard Barrett, a director who cut his cloth in his farmyard in Kerry. Today, he is as respected and talented as any director in Ireland, with films including the award-winning Pilgrim Hill and Glassland.

Rural Ireland is rarely portrayed on screen. It can also be argued that when it is, it is not as accurate as it could be. The atmosphere and mood of rural Ireland is not easily captured. It takes a talented director with a talented cast. Cue Gerard Barrett. Cue the selected cast. Cue Smalltown – which premieres on TV3 on 1 September.

Set in a small town in Kerry, it tells the story of Conor (Charlie Kelly), a recently graduated 22-year-old who moves to London. After a few years away, he is ordered to come home by his brother and father after his mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer, falls very ill. When he returns, he discovers just how much he has changed and how little the town has.

It is rural Ireland to the core and makes no apologies. It deals with moving away. It looks at people moving back. It discusses the pull to come back home and the push to get out of it. It looks at life and opportunity in the countryside.

It looks at life and opportunity in the city. It talks about life and death, farming and parenthood. Girlfriends, ex girlfriends, best friends and the nostalgia that all goes with it.

I am not judging rural Ireland with Smalltown, I am presenting it as it is, warts and all. And just how beautiful it is. I am very proud of rural Ireland

What is presented is exactly what Barrett wanted.

“I definitely wanted to talk about emigration, from my own point of view and from the point of view of my friends who went to London and Australia. I wanted to discuss the parents, who were also a part of the emigration story of anybody who leaves and, lastly, I wanted to tell the story of those who are away and how they feel about being away,” he explains.

“You don’t make Smalltown for international domination; you make them for the Irish lad in Australia who tears up thinking of home.”

A fair assessment.

The sentiment was shared by Kelly, who admitted he has numerous friends who went abroad. It has been arguably the most prominent issue in rural Ireland over the last decade.

“Like so many, I have seen most of my friends go abroad to different places. As have so many in the last few years,” says Kelly.

Kelly plays Conor, the outsider of the family almost. He grew up on the farm but is far from agricultural. His move to London comes after a stint of unemployment. Similar stories are prevalent all around Ireland.

Personalities associated with the countryside

For Pat Shortt, it wasn’t until Garage in 2007 that people really differentiated between his acting and comedic talents. This certainly isn’t a comedy role, though humorous moments are present.

“People pigeonhole comedy and drama as two different things, but in actual fact it is all acting. It’s all performance,” Shortt explains.

“I think the reason Gerard wanted me for this was because I could do both.”

That he can. That he has. Pat Shortt’s performance in this drama is as accurate a portrayal of a farmer in rural Ireland as you can get. He represents the everyman in this TV series. He plays a loving husband who has to mind his wife when she is sick. He plays a farmer running a dairy farm. He plays a father. It is simply a brilliant performance.

Kudos must also go to the rest of the cast and you can’t leave out Barrett. To demonstrate what rural Ireland is takes skill. He did it in Pilgrim Hill and he has done it here again.

While Barrett says he dedicated this series to the men and women who left Ireland in search of opportunity, you can’t help think of the other personalities we associate with the countryside. To the GAA players to the farmers’ sons. From the men and women who work in the shops of local towns to the lads that work at silage in the summer.

It is a great shame rural life isn’t portrayed more on screen. So when something like this comes along, we should appreciate it.

“I am not judging rural Ireland with Smalltown, I am presenting it as it is, warts and all. And just how beautiful it is. I am very proud of rural Ireland,” says Gerard.

Smalltown will be broadcast on TV3 on Thursday 1 September at 10pm.