A eulogy to the greatest institution in Irish society, the pub, or more specifically the traditional Irish publicans who run them. Speaking to pub owners all over Ireland, Alex Fegan gets into the heart of what makes "the Irish pub" the institution that it is.
A documentary on the historic first-ever visit of a Palestinian National team to Europe, following the Palestinian women's team as they arrive in Ireland to a heroes' welcome and play a solidarity friendly against Bohemian FC on May 15th, 2024. The sold-out match marked the 76th anniversary of the Nakba and highlighted the ongoing genocide and human rights violations happening every day in occupied Palestine. It was one of the most emotional and important games ever held at Dalymount Park in its long and storied history since 1901, and the event raised over €100,000 for three Palestinian humanitarian organizations.
A forgotten history of Northern Ireland is unveiled through a journey into Ulster Television’s archives, and the rediscovery of the first locally-produced network drama, Boatman Do Not Tarry.
The story of the Northern Ireland Troubles through the unflinching testimony of two men who played key roles on opposite sides of that bloody conflict. Nearly ten years ago the two paramilitary leaders told their stories on condition that they could never be revealed while they were still alive. The stories told by the Irish Republican Army's Brendan Hughes and Ulster Volunteer Force's David Ervine tell us of the motivations of the participants, the planning of campaigns of violence, the misery of a hunger strike, the tracking and killing of informers and the duplicity that ended a conflict that had lasted too long. It is also a narrative of the fate of combatants when their wars are over.
Exclusive two-disc film documenting the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in the summer of 1997. The unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the team shows the preparations, the training, the fun, the team selection, the 'earthy' language, the bonding, the awesome task of playing and some shocking footage of injuries. Despite securing the series with wins in the first two tests, the Lions remained motivated by the prospect of a 3-0 whitewash, a feat never achieved against the Springboks throughout the century.
This beautiful and poignant film was commissioned by TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland) and is a conversational piece which explores gender identity and transgender experiences in Ireland.
Directed by John Blackman, "A Wing and a Prayer – The Story of Knock Airport" follows the efforts to construct an international airport at Knock in County Mayo during the early 1980s. Originating from a 1981 RTÉ News report, the film charts Monsignor James Horan’s campaign to build a full-length runway in a remote, rural location, documenting the political resistance, changing governments, and repeated setbacks that accompanied the project before the airport’s opening in 1986.
An island of radiant greens, like the facets of an emerald, Ireland is known as the friendliest land on earth.
The evolution of skateboarding culture in Ireland since the late 1980s.
Ireland, June 1944. The crucial decision about the right time to start Operation Overlord on D-Day comes to depend on the readings taken by Maureen Flavin, a young girl who works at a post office, used as a weather station, in Blacksod, in County Mayo, the westernmost promontory of Europe, far from the many lands devastated by the iron storms of World War II.
Ardal O’Hanlon explores a 1930s quest to find the first Irish men and women using archaeology, answering his deepest questions about what it means to be Irish.
Horses have been part of daily life for generations in the deprived Dublin suburb of Ballymun – and for 17-year-old Lorna and her family too. Her unemployed father finds structure and purpose in daily life by caring for his horses, while her sick mother wistfully remembers the days when she used to turn heads as she galloped through the town. These days it's Lorna who likes to spend all her free time in the stable or riding Bigfoot, her horse.
Ireland's history is steeped in religion and mystery. Why did its people stop worshipping the earth 5,000 years ago? Did St. Patrick really act alone in converting the Irish to Christianity in the 5th century? Historians, astronomers, and other scientists believe answers to these and other questions lie in the stars. Discover the role that celestial occurrences have played in Irish religious beliefs and practices as we explore ancient hallowed sites and even the heavens above.
Mary Jane Irwin O'Donovan Rossa of Clonakilty, West Cork, was an Irish nationalist and activist. She was the wife of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, the famous Fenian prisoner and agitator whose funeral in 1915 sparked the Easter Uprising that led to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. But Mary Jane had more to do with the revolutionary Fenian movement, Rossa's release from prison and making the historic funeral a reality than has been acknowledged. While Rossa's funeral was a huge and widely reported event, Mary Jane's death in the summer of 1916 was hardly noticed. While Rossa is buried in the Republican Plot at Glasnevin National Cemetery in Dublin, Mary Jane's grave in Staten Island, NY is largely forgotten. Directed by Williams Rossa Cole, Mary Jane's great-grandson as a companion work to his 2016 documentary "Rebel Rossa".
On the 27th of December 1973, a nightmare began for an entire family. On that night, a German businessman called Thomas Niedermayer was kidnapped from his home in Belfast. He was never seen alive again by his friends or family. He became one of the "disappeared", and it seemed that no-one knew what had happened to him.
Seamus Murphy’s documentary examines Irish writer Pat Ingoldsby’s unique world. Ingoldsby’s poems and candid anecdotes bear witness to a visceral relationship with his beloved Dublin, fellow Dubliners and anything that catches his interest. Personal challenges, a sensitive humanity and a lifetime as a maverick have taught him to harness reality and reach well beyond it to avenge the banal with absurd magic. It heals him as it does us.
A documentary on the life of the people of the Aran Islands, who were believed to contain the essence of the ancient Irish life, represented by a pure uncorrupted peasant existence centred around the struggle between man and his hostile but magnificent surroundings. A blend of documentary and fictional narrative, the film captures the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands.
With warmth, wit and honesty, Derry Girls' Jamie-Lee O'Donnell reflects on her childhood experiences and discovers what life's like for young people growing up in Derry today.
A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.
A biography of the poet W. B. Yeats and his contribution to the Irish independence movement as a Protestant nationalist.