The Irish Revolution
RTE & University College Cork, 2019
"The Irish Revolution" is a three part documentary series based upon the Cork University Press’ award-winning 'Atlas of the Irish Revolution' examining the revolutionary period 1916-23 and featuring some never before screened interviews and footage held by the Irish Film Institute. Directed by Ruán Magan and narrated by former UCC law student and Cork born actor Cillian Murphy, the series makes for an innovative approach to telling the story of Ireland’s fight for independence.
Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil of the school of history at UCC in a press interview commented that the series was “very effective, making really good use of maps and graphics while it also has a good mix of new voices from the Atlas of the Irish Revolution, a lot younger scholars who contributed some really insightful papers to the book...The other thing it achieves really well which was something we were very anxious to do in the Atlas, was to steer away from the ‘great man’ approach to Irish history. Of course Collins and De Valera feature, but there’s a very strong focus on mass movements and their role in the revolution, and the documentary captures that well, looking at, for example, the role of the international dimensions, the role of workers, the part played by women. The focus is very much on the themes that we identified in the Atlas and that comes through so it captures the book very successfully.”
Irish Times, January 29 2019,
When it came to chosing a narrator, the programme producers, Create One and Tyrone Productions brought in Murphy who was familiar with elements of the story of the Irish revolution from his part in Ken Loach’s 2006 Palme d’Or winning drama The Wind that Shakes the Barley.
The Atlas of the Irish Revolution won widespread acclaim upon its release in 2017. Edited by UCC’s Dr John Crowley, Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and Dr John Borgonovo, the book also contains contributions from more than 100 leading scholars. Listed by President Higgins as a "must-have book for every Irish household", the Atlas won the prestigious Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year 2017.
Two of the three hour long episodes are currently available here. The third will be uploaded or linked when available.
Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil of the school of history at UCC in a press interview commented that the series was “very effective, making really good use of maps and graphics while it also has a good mix of new voices from the Atlas of the Irish Revolution, a lot younger scholars who contributed some really insightful papers to the book...The other thing it achieves really well which was something we were very anxious to do in the Atlas, was to steer away from the ‘great man’ approach to Irish history. Of course Collins and De Valera feature, but there’s a very strong focus on mass movements and their role in the revolution, and the documentary captures that well, looking at, for example, the role of the international dimensions, the role of workers, the part played by women. The focus is very much on the themes that we identified in the Atlas and that comes through so it captures the book very successfully.”
Irish Times, January 29 2019,
When it came to chosing a narrator, the programme producers, Create One and Tyrone Productions brought in Murphy who was familiar with elements of the story of the Irish revolution from his part in Ken Loach’s 2006 Palme d’Or winning drama The Wind that Shakes the Barley.
The Atlas of the Irish Revolution won widespread acclaim upon its release in 2017. Edited by UCC’s Dr John Crowley, Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and Dr John Borgonovo, the book also contains contributions from more than 100 leading scholars. Listed by President Higgins as a "must-have book for every Irish household", the Atlas won the prestigious Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year 2017.
Two of the three hour long episodes are currently available here. The third will be uploaded or linked when available.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Some details on the Atlas of Irish History...
The IFI Irish Film Archive contributed extensive material to the series The Irish Revolution, providing rare glimpses of Ireland in the years before and during the War of Independence.
The IFI Irish Film Archive worked with the team at Tyrone Productions to source illustrative footage from this tumultuous time in Irish history, giving audiences a rare chance to step back more than 100 years to see familiar places in a whole new light. A significant amount of footage was used from Come Back to Erin, a 1914 melodrama produced by theO’Kalem Film Company. Sadly, only one reel of this three-reel film survives and was discovered at the Museum of Modern Art in 2011. It includes the dramatic, trans-Atlantic emigrant tale of Peggy O’Malley (Gene Gauntier) who leaves rural Ireland in search of a better life in America. This is combined with striking documentary-like elements such as an emigrant ship leaving Cobh and the Killarney cattle market.
You can watch the surviving footage and other fascinating early Irish cinema clips free on the IFI Player. Click on image below.
The period 1900-1930 was one of the most turbulent in Irish history, with WW1, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence, the Irish Civil War all taking place. Due to the emergence of cine camera technology in the 1890s these three decades are the first to be widely documented on film. However Ireland’s lack of indigenous filmmaking during the early part of the last century, meant that the moving image record of this pivotal period in history was predominantly captured by non-Irish agencies. Newsreels of Irish events were screened alongside their home-grown stories in cinemas. In the early part of the 20th century (before the advent of television) newsreels, radio and newspapers were the predominant way for the public to keep up to date with important events.
The Irish Independence Film Collection, with support from the Dept of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht in 2016 began to repatriate, safeguard and share these important visual documents – centralising them in Ireland for the first time and making them available to the Irish public.
Click the image below to access the Irish Film Institute Irish Independence Collection
The Irish Independence Film Collection, with support from the Dept of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht in 2016 began to repatriate, safeguard and share these important visual documents – centralising them in Ireland for the first time and making them available to the Irish public.
Click the image below to access the Irish Film Institute Irish Independence Collection