Collection

English

20 items

30m 00s

Paul Durcan - Imprint: Writer in Profile

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 Joyce and Ulysses in particular. Theo Dorgan quizzes him on his status as a well-known public and important cultural figure. Durcan skates around the notion of celebrity and speaks about the importance of addressing public matters directly through poetry. He also discusses the writing process – the assembling and re-assembling of phrases in the middle of the night and the way a poem ‘announces itself’. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

30m 00s

Colm Tóibín - Imprint: Writer in Profile

Irish novelist, short story writer and journalist Colm Tóibín talks to Theo Dorgan about his early childhood in Enniscorthy, his early poetry writing and studying at University College Dublin. Tóibín lived in Barcelona between 1975 and 1978 and explains how this experience of Spanish life, gothic architecture, and the death of Franco shaped his work. When he returned to Ireland, he worked as a journalist and editor of Magill recalling the immense drive of Irish journalism at the time and his experience working with Vincent Browne, Mary Rafferty and Fintan O’Toole. He describes the act of writing as a pleasant ‘ordeal’ and Dorgan asks about the political undertones and autobiographical nature of his work. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

30m 00s

Margaret Atwood - Imprint: Writer in Profile

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is perhaps best known for The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that was recently adapted into a gripping TV series. This episode was filmed in 2001 and delves into, what Atwood describes as, her ‘precocious’ childhood, her early writer’s block and her desire to be a painter. She discusses how she wrote The Handmaid’s Tale quickly but that it required extensive research into totalitarianism and the suppression of women. The role of politics in her writing is analysed and Atwood expresses the responsibility and pressure that result from being known as Canada’s leading writer. Imprint, a literature review programme, and its sister show Imprint: Writer in Profile screened on RTÉ1 for three seasons. Both were presented by Irish poet, writer and lecturer Theo Dorgan. Over the course of the Writer in Profile series Dorgan conducted extended, in-depth interviews with a wide range of Irish and international writers including Colm Tóibín, Bernard MacLaverty, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O’Connor, Michael Longley, Doris Lessing, John Montague, Eavan Boland, Gore Vidal, Richard Ford and Margaret Atwood.

3m 50s

Beauty Now

This satirical view of our contemporary attitudes about beauty is presented in the style of a 1950’s informational film. With kind permission of Boulder Media.

10m 54s

Geist

A shipwrecked fisherman is led to a dark secret and soon realises he is not alone. With kind permission of Giant Animation Studios.

32s

Ronson Escort 2000

An advertisement for the Ronson Escort 2000, in which a woman wears the portable hairdrying system along with other gifts recieved from her family.

50s

CIE: Traffic Control Room

An advertisement for CIE highlighting the unseen work done by inspectors in their control room to keep Dublin’s traffic network running smoothly.

12m 00s

Granite and Chalk

As rebels planned Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising, they were watched by two spies code-named Granite and Chalk. This documentary delves into British intelligence to tell their story, one century on. Funded by Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland (formerly Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board), After ’16 is a creative response by Irish filmmakers to the events of Easter 1916. This collection of nine short films is a mixture of live-action, animation and documentary, telling stories from the eve of the Rising all the way to the Troubles in 1970s Northern Ireland and beyond.

11m 32s

A Father’s Letter

On the eve of his execution on May 7th 1916, Michael Mallin’s two-year-old son Joseph was brought to see him in Kilmainham Gaol. That night, his father wrote a letter that would change Joseph’s life forever. In it he tells his family that he loves them and asks his little boy to be a priest. Funded by Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland (formerly Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board), After ’16 is a creative response by Irish filmmakers to the events of Easter 1916. This collection of nine short films is a mixture of live-action, animation and documentary, telling stories from the eve of the Rising all the way to the Troubles in 1970s Northern Ireland and beyond.

13m 00s

Mr. Yeats and the Beastly Coins

In the wake of the Irish Civil War and the establishment of the new Irish Free State, this film documents the creation of a new coinage for Ireland in 1926. Poet, William Butler Yeats was already an internationally renowned figure when invited to chair the design committee for a set of coins which would proudly befit the new state. However, not everyone was impressed with the designs which featured a selection of Irish livestock, and much controversy was caused at home and abroad. Adding to this controversy, the coins, intended to distinguish Ireland as a sovereign nation independent from Britain, were created by an Englishman and produced in London. The film utilises animation, a mix of archival and modern footage, and photographs to tell this remarkable story. The inflammatory nature of the tale is animated by a wryly entertaining voiceover and by spirited music by the composer Hugh Rodgers. The 'beastly' coins were eventually held with great affection by Irish people and became a distinctive symbol of a newly independent Ireland. This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.

1h 7m

Waiting for the Light

This compelling biography shines a spotlight on one of the titans of Irish cinema George Morrison. Waiting for the Light is a moving and illuminating portrait of the then 85-year-old Irish film auteur, George Morrison. Ciarín Scott explores his work, his life and his loves in frank and intimate interviews interwoven with previously unseen stills and films from his extensive private collection. Creator of the internationally acclaimed Mise Eire, Ireland’s first feature documentary, as well as the hugely successful Saoirse. Scott uncovers his triumphs, his passion for film, his obsessive perfectionism, and his great personal charm and humour. With kind permission ofCiarín Scott.

14m 33s

Glamour of Galway

Galway old and new, is captured in glorious colour in this 1957 Bord Fáilte (now Fáilte Ireland) tourism film produced and directed by Colm Ó Laoghaire. Situated on the west coast of Ireland, Galway is one of the largest cities in Ireland and boasts a complex history dating back to medieval times. The film highlights the city’s many wonderful historic buildings and points of interest such as market days, picturesque thatched cottages, the Taibhdhearc Theatre, the Galway Blazers hunting club and the electric atmosphere at the world renowned Galway Races.

10m 29s

Dublin, Capital City of Ireland

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 capacity as Limerick took on Kilkenny in the 1940 All Ireland Hurling Final. Going into the city centre, Dublin trams can be seen passing through a busy O’Connell Street, past Nelson’s Pillar (now home to The Spire) towards Bank of Ireland on College Green. The infamous Moore Street Market is a hive of activity, full of busy shoppers looking for a bargain, in complete contrast to the tranquil gardens of Stephen’s Green, where people are sprawled out on sun loungers making the most of a blissfully sunny day. As the film proudly states, “to the visitor, it is a city of pleasure offering every amenity for enjoyment and happiness”.

27m 33s

President Kennedy in Ireland

This documentary film produced by the Columban Fathers chronicles President John F. Kennedy’s historic visit to Ireland in June 1963, only 5 months before his tragic assassination. The producer, Fr Gerry Smith, a Cavan-born missionary priest had studied filmmaking in the U.S. and made a number of films about “the old country” before making this documentary which was intended to be shown at fundraising events for Irish-American audiences. Kennedy was the first American president to visit an independent Ireland, and his visit was seen as both an endorsement of Ireland’s success and a national celebration of homecoming due to his Irish ancestry. There were several films made of the Kennedy visit, but his was the only professionally-made film shot in colour. It shows the visit to his ancestral home in Dunganstown in Co Wexford; sequences from his visits, attended by enormous crowds, in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick; and a series of excerpts from his many public speeches.

14m 57s

Love and Money

In this light-hearted cautionary tale Milo O’Shea and Maureen Toal star as young office workers whose engagement is doomed unless they create some financial security. The film sponsored by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs illustrates the benefits of saving with the Post Office. Donal (Milo O’Shea) is forced to take action after his fiancée, Maureen (Maureen Toal) returns his engagement ring because he has no money saved for their big day. In a series of Walter-Mittyesque fantasies he dreams up a series of get-rich-quick schemes – from winning the lottery to saving a wealthy heiress – before he finally does the decent thing and sorts out his Post Office Savings account. One of a series of dramatised public information films written by actor/playwright Gerard Healy, this one was produced by the National Film Institute (now IFI), directed by Ronald Liles and commissioned by the Savings Committee of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in the straitened 1960s, in an attempt to encourage Irish spendthrifts to avoid squandering their money away and to start saving With kind permission of An Post.

13m 53s

Errigal

This stunning documentary is set against the scenic backdrop of Mount Errigal in County Donegal. The mountains of Donegal are depicted like fairytale characters, where the hero Mount Errigal competes with neighbouring villain Mount Muckish. A fantastical narrative explains that the landscape is ‘a battleground where the weapons are the elements themselves’. Dramatic footage of storms and lightning blends with a superb score by Irish composer Brian Boydell.

17m 16s

Yeats Country

Yeats Country is a lyrical film commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs to commemorate the centenary of the birth of William Butler Yeats. The first film made by cinematographer and director Patrick Carey in Ireland, this documentary celebrates the landscape of Yeats’s poetry through stunning photography and a voiceover rich in poetry and in biographical detail narrated by Tom St. John Barry. Evocative images of the west of Ireland illustrate the poet’s life including: Thoor Ballylee Castle where he lived; Coole Park, home of Lady Gregory where literary figures of the period socialised; Lissadell House; Knocknarea Mountain; the slopes of Ben Bulben; the waterfall at Glencar; and finally, Yeats’s grave at Drumcliffe. Yeats Country is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1965. With kind permission of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

10m 58s

Faithful Departed

This short documentary draws on the photographs of Robert French from the William Lawrence Collection held in the National Library. The photos illustrate the Dublin of 1904 which served as a backdrop to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Directed in 1968 by renowned drama and documentary maker Kieran Hickey, the film traces Joyce’s childhood and adolescence, his meeting with Nora Barnacle on June 10th, 1904, and the highways and byways which Leopold Bloom wandered through on June 16th, 1904. The music in the film references some of Joyce’s favourite songs, many of which appear in Ulysses. With kind permission from Barry Lyons & Patrick Duffner.

22m 03s

Once Upon a Tram

Take a nostalgic trip along the beautiful Dublin coast, escaping the hustle and bustle of the city while enjoying the clatter and clang of the old Howth tram. This gentle film, directed by John Sarsfield and James Maguire and narrated by Cyril Cusack, records one of the last journeys of the Howth Tram, as it passes through the village, past the golf club and along the coast – a most elegant form of transport from a bygone era. Constructed in 1901 the line serviced Howth Head and was run by the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). It was designed to bring visitors to the seaside villages of Sutton and Howth both located along the North Dublin coast. The tram line was officially closed on 31 May 1959 and the route was replaced by CIE buses. Four of the trams survive today with one on display at the National Transport Museum of Irelandj right beside Howth Castle near its former terminus. With Kind permission from Maeve Maguire.

27m 36s

JACK OF ALL MAIDS

Renowned Abbey actor Jack MacGowran, investigates Irish courtship rituals from a male perspective in this slice of 1952 whimsy. A series of humorous vignettes showcase the talents of this extraordinary character actor, best known for his theatre work with Samuel Beckett and also known for his film work including a role in the classic horror movie, The Exorcist. MacGowran features as a romantic philosopher and adopts various roles throughout the film to demonstrate how to court and woo a colourful array of comely maids. From a gaeilgeoir, to a Frenchman to a coy Victorian gent his characters delight and entertain. And the ladies provide fine performances too with star turns from Abbey Theatre actresses Joan O’Hara, Marie Ní Dhomhnaill and Doreen Madden among others. Directed by Abbey stalwart writer/ director Tomás MacAnna the film provided an opportunity for the players to explore the relatively new medium of film and now survives as a wonderful record of Irish acting talent of the day. Eamonn Andrews provides a light-hearted commentary throughout in what was hailed by The Irish Times as “The first all-Irish comedy film”. With kind permission of John Flynn.