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History

Kylemore Abbey – Radharc

28th October 2016

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Shot in 1962, this Radharc film was made during a visit to the rebuilt and extended Kylemore Abbey in Connemara. The film celebrates the fine architecture and includes an interview with the Lady Abbess. Kylemore Abbey was built in 1867 as a family home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London. […]

Entertainment

Lemon’s Sweets: Minuet Assortment

28th October 2016

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This charming black and white animated advertisement for Lemon’s sweets was originally broadcast in 1964. In 1842 Graham Lemon opened The Confectioners Hall at 49 Lower Sackville Street, now Lower O’Connell Street in the heart of Dublin city. James Joyce helped immortalise the Lemon’s Sweet shop in his masterpiece Ulysses describing Lemon’s at the beginning […]

Entertainment

Dublin, Capital City of Ireland

28th October 2016

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This silent tourism film made for the Irish Tourist Association (the precursor of Bord Fáilte and Fáilte Ireland) provides a warmly-hued panorama of 1940s Dublin. Dublin is presented as a city of romance and contrasts which has survived countless changes through a thousand years of history. On this particular day Croke Park was packed to […]

Promo

An Introduction to the Irish Independence Film Collection

1st September 2016

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An Introduction to The Irish Independence Film Collection.

Documentary

Ocras

30th August 2016

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This powerful documentary in Irish examines the history and legacy of the hunger strike by Irish Republicans in the Maze prison in 1981. In this documentary directed by Margo Harkin, the people centrally involved – both inside and outside the H Blocks of Long Kesh prison – reveal the inside story of an event that […]

Amateur

Killarney Scenes

30th August 2016

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This colourful, amateur film by Desmond Egan features a range of scenes in the stunning surroundings of Killarney, Co Kerry. Cinematic shots showcase the landscape as the camera pans across lakes, rivers and springs and a mother and daughter enjoy a picnic at the foot of mountains. The traditional Irish craft of wool spinning is also […]

Amateur

Birds and Beasts

30th August 2016

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This amateur film, shot in 1946, is a remarkable and nostalgic window into a family day out at Dublin Zoo. Families enjoy the sights and sun and children take a tour of the zoo on top of an elephant. Desmond Egan’s lens focuses on various animals from lions and chimpanzees to pheasants and peacocks. Egan […]

Amateur

In Wicklow Hills

30th August 2016

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This short amateur film sees two of Desmond Egan’s daughters taking a stroll along a country lane in Wicklow as the Sugar Loaf Mountain towers in the background. The Sugar Loaf is located between Delgany and Kilmacanogue and, at only 501 meters high, its volcanic appearance and isolation from other hills make it appear much […]

Amateur

Harvest

30th August 2016

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This superb documentary, shot by avid amateur filmmaker Desmond Egan in 1946, explores antiquated harvesting methods used in remote areas of Ireland. From horse and cart to manual tilling of the land, Harvest proposes a more profitable and efficient way of working that would result from investing in machine technology. Desmond Egan was a skilled […]

Amateur

By Corrib Waters

30th August 2016

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This amateur documentary on the stunning surroundings of Lough Corrib and the Cong River in Connemara is considered to be one of Desmond Egan’s finest films. At the junction of the Cong River and Lough Corrib stands Ashford Castle – now a luxurious hotel but formerly the residence of the Ardilaun family. Framed by the […]

Entertainment

Ireland’s Golden West

30th August 2016

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An early travelogue made by the Irish Tourist Association (later Bord Fáilte and now Fáilte Ireland) to promote Galway as an attractive tourist destination. The film provides a scenic history of Galway city and its immediate surroundings. In warmly glowing colours the treasures of Galway city are shown: Eyre Square, the campus of University College […]

Documentary

Kathleen Lynn: The Rebel Doctor

26th August 2016

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Kathleen Lynn: The Rebel Doctor is a documentary which tells the previously unknown story of an extraordinary Irish woman. Kathleen Lynn was born in County Mayo in 1874 into a wealthy protestant family. As a young woman she was deeply affected by the abject poverty and disease that ravaged the lives of local people in […]