THE MAVERICK, a film and a book on Frank Duff, the forgotten Irish hero, by Gordon Lewis.

 

The story follows Frank Duff and his battle with Archbishop John McQuaid and Sean McEntee from Dublin City Council to keep the Regina Coeli hostel for 100 unmarried mothers and their children open 50 years ago.

 

Gordon said preproduction for the film has already started on “The Maverick” and will show the “true genius” of Frank Duff and how he overcame opposition to keep the Regina Coeli open after being served with closure notices in the early 1960s by the Dublin health minister. But, Frank Duff fought back and did something outrageous that church and state authorities never expected.

 

The film will be made and produced by Irish author and film producer Gordon Lewis. He spent the first nine years of his life living with his mother in the Regina Coeli hostel.

 

When Ireland was a very conservative country, Frank believed charitable works should extend to all walks of society, including prostitutes and homosexuals, and all religious faiths, which did not sit comfortably with the church and state.

 

He said Frank Duff was a frequent visitor to the hostel, always on his bicycle, and was friendly to everyone. He would enter the small chapel inside the Regina Coeli hostel and say his prayers. We, as children, knew this was his time and would wait for him outside the chapel.

 

This is how and why the film “The Maverick” happened. I wanted Irish people not to forget this incredible Irish hero who helped so many ordinary people in their difficulties.

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