Documentary film on the extraordinary life of Patrick Lydon, pioneer of social inclusion and disability, to premiere on RTÉ  

Born That Way airs Thursday 18 December on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player   

Born That Way reflects on the life and work of Patrick Lydon. The award-winning documentary premieres on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Thursday 18 December.  

Born That Way is an unflinching journey to the end of an exemplary life, probing ‘otherness’ in our society and asking searching questions about the future we want to create. Patrick’s story calls forth the story of the Camphill Movement and articulates an approach to life that struggles for survival in today’s world.

Throughout his final year of life Patrick Lydon reflects on an extraordinary life that took him from a budding career in rock journalism in America to trailblazing, with his wife, Gladys, the development in Ireland of the radically inclusive Camphill Movement in County Kilkenny, sharing life in a community with people of diverse needs and abilities and backgrounds.

Camphill saw people with and without disability as equal in spirit and integrity, and equal in respect and citizenship. Their communities were based in largely self- sustaining, organic farms and gardens. ‘Cared for’, ‘carers’ and ‘service provision’ were alien concepts and everyone contributed according to ability. Many people spent their entire lives in Camphill communities.  

In the fifty years since Patrick met Gladys they became the driving force in the development of over eighteen residential communities and social initiatives in Ireland. In 2021, just as Patrick was collaborating with his friend, the filmmaker Éamon Little, on a work to mark Camphill’s fifty years in Ireland, he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Speaking in Born That Way, Patrick Lydon said: “The moment I landed in this community in Ireland, a door was opened, and I went through it. To be part of a little society in which embracing people who are otherwise excluded was an incredible liberation.”

Ahead of the RTÉ premiere, Éamon Little, director, said: “Disability is often seen as a deficit of some kind. People see disability as not being whole, whereas, in fact, the truth is more that people are different, that’s all. There’s no reason why they can’t be contributors to society. Patrick lived that philosophy, and it’s why and I felt I needed to tell his story.” 

Adrian McCarthy, producer with Curious Dog Films, said: “With so much flux and division in society, this is a story that the world needs to hear right now. After watching it I expect many viewers will feel that something has shifted in how they look at others in their community.”

Born That Way airs Thursday 18 December, RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 10.15pm