BBC - True North 1of4 The Miraculous Tales of Mickey McGuigan (2013) RMAC

Episode 1 of 4
DURATION: 1 HOUR
Do miracles exist? Mickey McGuigan, a 73-year-old Northern Irish farmer-turned-writer, is going to take us on a journey to find out.

Miracles may defy logic, but millions around the world believe in them. In Ireland, it's part of the traditional world of folklore and magic that people hang on to. If your cow's got ringworm, you call a man with the 'cure'. He may heal the animal by spitting on it. And if your child won't stop screaming for days, a woman with the 'gift' may silence it with the use of a simple piece of string!

You'll meet Father Conlan, a Catholic priest who, though paid as a parish priest, spends all his time healing the sick. There's a six-month waiting list of people desperate to see him. One day, 38 people turned up at his door, unannounced, hoping to be cured.

We'll also encounter John Purcell, a romany gypsy, who converted from Catholicism to become a Protestant evangelist. A fire-and-brimstone preacher, who claims to be able to cure anything and hundreds flock to his ministry. Mickey's our guide on this cinematic adventure through a hidden part of rural Northern Ireland, where anything is possible.