An exploration of Ancient Ireland, from 2000 B.C., when Stone Age farmers built some of Europe's largest and most spectacular Neolithic monuments, to 1167 A.D., when invading Normans seized Ireland for England's king.
Over the 1980s and 1990s Dublin transformed from a recession-blighted backwater to one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. As its fortunes changed so did those of its criminals, who began selling heroin, ecstasy and cocaine. Dublin Narcos tells the story of the rise in addiction, violence and organised crime which persists to this day, with first hand testimony from the kingpins and cops to the ravers and users. We also hear from the fearless journalists whose attempts at exposing the drugs barons led to the death of one of their bravest, Veronica Guerin.
Adolf Hitler pretended to be poor but amassed a huge private fortune. The Führer may have believed he was Jewish. Rigorously fact-checked revelations throw a genuine new light on the Nazi regime.
The assassinations of Nazis, terrorists and Iranian nuclear scientists have given the Mossad a fearsome reputation that has come with a moral cost. For the first time, former spy chiefs and operatives discuss personal and operational challenges, ethical dilemmas, and the personal price they were forced to pay.
Travelogue of England, Ireland and Wales, presented by Billy Connolly, including clips from his stand-up performances.
Little-known events that played a large role in determining the outcome of World War II are revealed in this documentary series.
An original perspective on how and why a generation of men and women living in a European society became the leaders of one of the most terrifying regimes of all time, responsible for 60 million deaths. Visiting the places where elite Nazi leaders grew up and the sites of their worst atrocities, James Ellis, a dedicated young historian, explores the defining moments which transformed everyday Germans into mass murderers.
The story of Hitler’s war on the Eastern Front – an attempt to liquidate the Russian people and gain living space for his superior Aryan race. It is a conquest that takes the Nazis all the way to the gates of Moscow and back to the heart of Berlin, and culminates in the collapse of the Third Reich. The series reveals the cunning strategy, defensive megastructures and military technology deployed in this devastating war of brutality between giants.
Eoin Warner sails a 140-year-old Galway Hooker out into the Atlantic to showcase the extraordinary wild magic of Ireland's western islands, from Basking Sharks off Inishtrahull, to White Tailed Eagle off the Cork coast.
With the aid of rare archives, this film retraces the bloody history of the SS, some of whose members are still alive and have accepted to speak.
A reassessment of the role Albert Speer played in the Third Reich. Speer, who was ultimately convicted at the Nuremburg trials and served a 20-year prison sentence, was known for designing many of the Third Reich's buildings and for being Hitler's minister for war production.
This series gives a new life to silent archives. It shed new light on WWII and the preceding years by revealing what the masters of the Reich and their acolytes were really saying to each other while being filmed, thinking no one could hear them. Surprising or trivial, mundane or astonishing, their words now deciphered give a new perspective on these historical archives and get us closer to the harsh reality of these tragic days.
Sex & Sensibility is an RTÉ television series which reflects on changing attitudes to sex in Ireland. The four-part series was presented by Simon Delaney. Directed by Imogen Murphy, it was filmed in April and May 2008 on location in Dublin. It was broadcast in June and July 2008. Features included some commentary from Bill O'Herlihy, Mary O'Rourke, Michael McNiff, Claire Tully, John Kelleher and night club owners Valeria Roe and Maurice Boland. The series reflected on the changes that had taken place in Ireland since the 1960s, an era when the sexual revolution had not yet reached the shores of the island. It showed how television had played a major part in "loosening everyone up" and altered Irish society "from a gloomy 'Irish Taliban'-style theocracy to the nation of fun-loving sex maniacs we are today". Terry Prone demonstrated her view that soaps, rather than "dusty old current affairs programmes", had been central to social change. The Riordans caused scandal when one of the characters, named Maggie, went on the pill. The "contraceptive train" to Belfast was also focused on, evoking memories of an era when the devices were illegal in the Republic of Ireland, prompting people to travel to Northern Ireland to stock up on their contraceptive needs. Also featured was The Late Late Show and the uproar it caused when it gave airtime to a group of lesbian nuns, Bill Hughes, who spoke about the underground gay scene in Ireland, Senator David Norris having his sexuality called into question when he was asked if he was "sick" by a TV presenter, the Leeson Street clubbing scene in its early years and Toni the Exotic Dancer, a housewife from Tallaght, Dublin who flashed her ample bosom for the crowds who thronged the urban pubs after mass. Video of protesters with portable Virgin Mary statues at work outside the RTÉ studios were also shown.
After 40 years, Sir Terry Wogan returns to Ireland, stepping back into his past to explore how the country helped shape him, and looking at what it means to be Irish in the 21st century.
May 10th, 1940, Hitler takes on the West. Will he precipitate Europe into the Apocalypse?
On the 22nd June 1921 King George V and Queen Mary arrived in Belfast for the official opening of the first Northern Ireland parliament. Fearful for their lives, they had come to a city scarred by bitter sectarian violence. The King’s visit to Belfast was the culmination of three centuries of history – and three years of political brinkmanship and brutal communal violence. The occasion marked the creation of the new state of Northern Ireland. A line had been drawn on the map – a new border that separated the north and south of the island. One hundred years on, this is the story of the dramatic events that led to the partition of Ireland. A story that continues to reverberate to the present day - and dominate relationships between the islands of Britain and Ireland.
Through new discoveries in science and archaeology, explorers take a look at the origins of the Vikings and how they influenced history.
Great Lighthouses of Ireland tells the story of Ireland’s lighthouses and their continuing importance to the country’s survival. For all their romance and mystery, lighthouses remain a vital part of Ireland’s maritime infrastructure.
In a landmark 7-part series, Spotlight - Northern Ireland’s leading team of investigative journalists - reveal important new discoveries about the conflict known as the Troubles, in the 50th anniversary of the deployment of British troops to Northern Ireland.
A Cleveland grandfather is brought to trial in Israel, accused of being the infamous Nazi death camp guard known as Ivan the Terrible.