SYNOPSIS:

At the age of four, Paddy Doyle was brought to court. His crime – his parents had both died within six weeks of each other - his punishment - to be detained in an industrial school. The feature film will see disability activist and writer, Paddy Doyle play himself as he attempts to track down the man who aided and abetted his, now deceased, abuser. The film is both a roadtrip and a memoir where a journey across North America to hunt down a paedophile plays against the parallel flashbacks of young Pat who takes us through thirteen years of institutions, hospitals and ultimately experimental surgery from which there was no return. This is the remarkable story of a survivor of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the church in Ireland. 1243 traces the story of Paddy today and his younger self, Pat with humour, dignity and above all a lack of bitterness. ‘The fact that this is my life story is irrelevant’ Doyle says, ‘the probability is that there were, and still are, thousands of “me’s”