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.
John Creedon is a man on a mission, teasing and exploring the true meaning behind some of Ireland's most unusual, iconic and famous place names.
Travelogue of England, Ireland and Wales, presented by Billy Connolly, including clips from his stand-up performances.
Kevin explores various aspects of life in America—gun rights, intimacy in the digital age and whether you really can choose your family.
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.
The 3-part documentary series The Irish Civil War tells the epic and often challenging story of the origins, conflict and legacy of the civil war that took place in Ireland in 1922 and 1923. Narrated by Brendan Gleeson, produced in partnership with University College Cork by RTÉ Cork as part of the Decade of Centenary commemorations and based on UCC’s “mammoth and magnificent” Atlas of the Irish Revolution, this documentary series features extensive archive film footage, photographs and materials, interviews with leading academics, archive interviews with contemporary participants and witnesses, firsthand witness accounts read by actors, detailed and dynamic graphic maps based on those featured in the Atlas of the Irish Revolution, and stunning cinematography of the very locations where events took place.
A team of expert presenters in engineering, architecture and geography explore some of the finest example of Ireland’s building and engineering heritage.
Ireland’s Deep Atlantic sees underwater cameraman Ken O’Sullivan embark on a series of voyages out into the open North Atlantic in search of large whales, sharks and cold water coral reefs 3,000 down on Ireland’s deep sea bed. The two-part series will document many of these creatures’ behaviour for the first time in any TV program and investigate the health of our deep Atlantic waters.
Set against the backdrop of IRA activity, this gripping documentary investigates the extraordinary kidnapping of Shergar, a Derby-winning racehorse and global icon.
In this two-part series, veteran broadcaster Cathal O'Shannon sets out on a journey across three continents to uncover the true story of Ireland's Nazis.
In this series forensic experts attempt to join the dots and identify some of the unidentified remains that lie in mortuaries, forensic labs and graveyards across Ireland.
Each episode looks back at the news and events of a particular year, using news archive footage, along with subtitles as the means of narration, to recount notable Irish and international events of the time.
Documentary series which goes behind the scenes of the five-star Merchant Hotel in the centre of Belfast
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.
The story of the Irish politician Charles Haughey, told by his family as well as those who worked most closely with him in politics and in the private business circles from which his most controversial payments were drawn.
Michael Portillo charts the War of Independence in Ireland, following the journey from the Peace Conference in Versailles to the historic ceasefire in 1921.
A docudrama telling the story of the events that unfolded when a Scottish army led by Robert Bruce tried to drive the English out of Ireland 700 years ago.
The journey through Ireland begins in the Rugged North, in the middle of the rough and untamed nature. From there, we travel to the West of Ireland, where the original, traditional life is preserved. From the traditional west, our route takes us to the popular south, with a milder climate and lush vegetation. Our journey ends in the lively East, where the contrast between today and the past is not only palpable, but also visible. On our journey we meet people who would never leave their homeland despite the harsh living conditions, we wander through spectacular landscapes, get an insight into the traditional ways of life and experience the four sides of Ireland in a completely new way.
Award-winning, British/Australian Actress and Activist, Miriam Margolyes, joins one of Ireland’s newest and most high-profile political figures, Dubliner, Senator Lynn Ruane on a road trip across Ireland in a documentary shining a light on the Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager, whose work, influence and impact on Irish political and literary life has often been neglected.