A Quarter of Broken Biscuits

Written by Eamon Somers, produced and directed by Berni Dwan, with audio production by Declan McGlade, A Quarter of Broken Biscuits captures a snapshot of life in Dublin’s Liberties in the 1960s. With the main action emanating from a local grocery shop, the characters grapple with two main issues – the age-old housing crisis, and the nascent realization that homosexuality does indeed exist. The backdrop of emigration and displacement adds a sense of urgency to these questions of social justice in a modest and homogenous Irish community. The author of A Quarter of Broken Biscuits, Eamon Somers, is a gay man who grew up in the Liberties, in a shop run by his parents. Eamon is perfectly placed to recall a way of life that has all but disappeared from Dublin’s inner-city neighbourhoods, as well as capturing the challenges of being a young gay man in this time and place. Made with the support of Coimisiún na Meán’s Sound and Vision scheme through the Television License Fee.