Irish Culture

History

Along the Line

5th June 2019

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This 1931 film from the Pathé Pictorial cinemagazine series features the Lartigue Monorail, running from Listowel to Ballybunion, Co Kerry. The steam-powered monorail (originally designed by Frenchman Charles Lartigue) operated from 1888 to 1924 and carried passengers, livestock and freight. In this newsreel we can see how the monorail rides along supported A-shaped trestles. Footage […]

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Gaol For a Kiss

5th June 2019

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This newsreel features a laughing Julia Clarke who fled Ireland after being sentenced to one month in gaol for kissing her boyfriend. Julia Clarke, from Glasgow, was sentenced by Dundalk Court for kissing her boyfriend on church property at Blackrock, Co. Louth. According to a news article at the time, ‘the local vigilance committee was […]

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Irish Culture

Irish Pigeon Derby

4th June 2019

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This newsreel shows a steamship carrying crates of pigeons arriving in Dublin in 1937 for the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes Pigeon Derby. The crates of birds are unloaded at the Dublin docks, and transported to the Croppies Accre (Collins Barracks), Dublin. As the excitement builds, crowds gather and people in fancy dress (some dressed as pigeons) […]

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Mr. Alfred Lord Mayor of Dublin

4th June 2019

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In this sound newsreel the Lord Major of Dublin, Alfred (Alfie) Byrne, discusses Anglo-Irish relations and the prospect of a United Ireland in this speech from 1936. Seated comfortably in an armchair in a garden and wearing his mayoral chain of office,  Mayor Alfie Byrne assures Pathé Gazette viewers that there is no serious animosity […]

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History

A Million People Kneel in Worship

4th June 2019

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The Eucharistic Congress, one of the largest public events to ever take place in Ireland, occurred between the 22nd and 26th of June 1932.  As part of the 31st Congress clergy and lay people from all over the world came to celebrate the ‘Holy Eucharist’ in Dublin. The vast scale of the final Congress mass […]

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History

A Bygone Craft

4th June 2019

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This 1931 newsreel depicts Irish men making a coracle, a hide-covered boat used for salmon fishing. The boat-making process is demonstrated to camera, from creating a base with twigs, to weaving the structure and covering it in animal hide for waterproofing. Men then push the coracle out onto the River Boyne and lay fishing nets. […]

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Documentary

Wonderful Western Islanders

4th June 2019

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This short documentary depicts the lives of the inhabitants of the Aran Islands off the coast of Galway in 1924. This short film, made about ten years before Flaherty’s epic Man of Aran, is probably the earliest surviving film of the islands. It presents a multi-faceted portrait of island life showing locals going about their […]

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History

Irish Co-Operative Gathers Peat

4th June 2019

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In this 1920s newsreel, an Irish co-operative digs, stacks and gathers turf. It is an activity involving the whole community – even the local priest is involved in overseeing the sacks of turf loaded onto a barge before being transported by canal. ‘Rathangan’ is inscribed on the side of the barge and a man waves […]

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Documentary

Looking On

16th April 2019

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Summer, Dublin, 1982: A collective of community activists resist the housing and urban redevelopment of the north inner-city. This largely observational documentary charts the Looking On Festival through theatre, U2 musical performances and off-the-cuff interviews with Joe Duffy, Peter Sheridan, a young Tony Gregory, Pat Kenny and Thom ‘The Diceman’ McGinty. The gatekeepers of the […]

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Documentary

Patrick Scott: Golden Boy

15th April 2019

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This Mermaid Films tribute documentary directed by Sé Merry Doyle explores the life and work of renowned Irish painter and architect Patrick Scott. Taking Scott’s major retrospective at the Hugh Lane Gallery in 2002 as a starting point, this lively account traces the artist’s childhood, his background in architecture and his many artistic achievements. Scott’s […]

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Documentary

Mairéad Farrell: An Unfinished Conversation

12th April 2019

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This Loopline documentary investigates the life and death of Mairéad Farrell who, in 1988, was shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar along with two other unarmed members of the IRA. The violent killing of the three was one of the most controversial incidents during the Northern Ireland Troubles and provoked an international outcry. Bríona […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Paul Durcan – Imprint: Writer in Profile

11th April 2019

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This episode with Paul Durcan begins with his interest in sport in his early childhood. He explains that he started writing poetry at 14 years old in the hope of attracting interest from girls. Durcan outlines his powerful relationship and mentorship with Michael Hartnett and how his influence led him to the work of James […]

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