Irish Film Institute
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Collection

The Loopline Collection

57 items

Loopline is an independent production company established in 1992 by award-winning filmmaker Sé Merry Doyle. Since its foundation, Loopline has been at the heart of Irish independent broadcasting creating a wealth of important and diverse material on topics such as folklife, ethnology, architecture, art, literature and inner city life. The subjects explored by Loopline were chosen by Merry Doyle for their cultural and social importance. This first tranche of the Loopline Collection covers key areas of Irish history and arts, and contains a unique wealth of stunning images revealing everyday Irish society in urban settings. The focus of the filmmaker is on national identity in a changing world and Sé Merry Doyle set up Loopline Film with the specific intention of making creative documentaries that would endure and stand the test of time. The collection contains a large quantity of urban material that chronicles the changing landscape of Dublin, its buildings and its citizen’s ways of life. The films include such historically resonant images as the clearance of slums, the closure of traditional markets, and tragic accounts of young teenagers dying from the heroin epidemic of the early 90’s. Portraits of artists, architects, writers and poets are also a cornerstone of the collection with riveting interviews with the very best artistic talent in the country. Patrick Kavanagh, John Montague, Hugh Leonard, James Gandon, Jennifer Johnston, Doris Lessing, John Henry Foley, Eavan Boland, Brendan Kennelly and Joseph O’Connor are but a fraction of those featured. We hope you enjoy the first volume of material released, and we look forward to sharing more Loopline material with you in the near future.

7m 23s

Joe Duffy on Education

Joe Duffy on Education is from the Looking On Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

30m 00s

Looking On

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, musical performances and off-the-cuff interviews with Peter Sheridan, a young Tony Gregory, Pat Kenny and Thom ‘The Diceman’ McGinty. The gatekeepers of the community are introduced, resisting the might of the encroaching developers: families of street traders fight market closures; activist Mick Rafferty voices concern about Dublin Corporation; and Christy Flood, the last occupant of the Gardiner Street tenements, fights to retain his homestead. Locals look on as the tenements are demolished and the city transforms around them. Sé Merry Doyle offers a vital study over a definitive period in Dublin’s history, asking us to question the function of a city and the vital role of communities. Looking On foregrounds these issues as do Alive Alive O – A Requiem for Dublin and Essie’s Last Stand.

1h 10m

Patrick Scott: Golden Boy

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 zest for life and humble reflections on the creative process accompany moving moments at home with his cat whilst working on his signature gold leaf paintings. A fascinating account of the 1950s bohemian art group the White Stag and contributions from  Seamus Heaney, Stephen Pearce and Dorothy Walker enrich this celebration of the life and work of the ‘Golden Boy’ of Irish art. Patrick Scott: Golden Boy was produced by Maria Doyle Kennedy and Andrea Pitt, of Mermaid Films, and was commissioned by RTÉ Arts Lives. Patrick Scott was born in 1921 in Kilbrittain, Co Cork. He began his career as an architect where he worked with Michael Scott on CIE’s Busáras before committing to life as a full-time painter in the 1960s. He won a National Prize at the Guggenheim International Award in 1960 and represented Ireland at the  Venice Biennale in the same year. His paintings have been exhibited worldwide and his work features in public and private collections.

2m 23s

Patrick Scott's Cats

Patrick Scott's Cats is from the Patrick Scott: Golden Boy Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

4m 23s

The Making of Patrick Scott

The Making of Patrick Scott is from the Patrick Scott: Golden Boy Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

2m 39s

A Ballad to Dublin

A Ballad to Dublin is from the Alive Alive O: Requiem for Dublin Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

3m 34s

People of Dublin

People of Dublin is from the Alive Alive O: Requiem for Dublin Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

1m 25s

Letter from Armagh Prison

Letter from Armagh Prison is from the Mairéad Farrell: An Unfinished Conversation Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

52m 00s

Mairéad Farrell: An Unfinished Conversation

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 Nic Dhiarmada, who was writing a book about Farrell at the time of her death, now attempts to contextualise and make sense of her friend’s life and death. She visits Armagh Prison where Farrell was incarcerated and explores her legacy through rare audio interviews, personal memories and conversations with historians, politicians and peers. Due to her youth, her gender and her stature within the IRA, Farrell was quickly subsumed into the pantheon of Irish republican martyrs. However, behind the mythologising and demonisation of Farrell, there was also a real person who was prepared to kill and die for her beliefs.

4m 52s

Introducing James Gandon

Introducing James Gandon is from the James Gandon: A Life Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

1h 0m

James Gandon : A Life

This Loopline documentary follows the life of  architect, James Gandon, whose plans were realised when Ireland operated under British colonial rule. James Gandon (1743–1823) is recognised today as one of the leading architects to have worked in Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century. His neo-classical buildings still dominate Dublin’s urban landscape, including the Custom House, the Four Courts, King's Inns and Emo Court in County Laois. The viewer is offered an extensive overview of the life and times of Gandon through the generous contributions of Maurice Craig, Hugo Duffy, Edward McParland and David Slattery.

4m 32s

Loopline's Shooting Style

Loopline's Shooting Style is from the James Gandon: A Life Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

3m 23s

Jimmy Kelly Sings Raglan Road

Jimmy Kelly sings Raglan Road is from the Patrick Kavanagh: No Man's Fool Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

2m 00s

Kavanagh's Grand Canal

Kavanagh's Grand Canal is from the Patrick Kavanagh: No Man's Fool Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

1h 10m

Patrick Kavanagh : No Man's Fool

Sé Merry Doyle’s award-winning Patrick Kavanagh: No Man’s Fool is a rich visual journey, exposing the contradiction that existed between Kavanagh’s public persona and his poetry. The film maps out Kavanagh’s life from his native Inniskeen in County Monaghan, to Dublin where he spent most of his life. Against the odds he survived great poverty and ill health to deliver a canon of powerful and evocative poetry.  We are offered a rich and diverse portrait of the poet with contributions from TP McKenna, John Montague, Leland Bardwell, Macdara Woods, Dermot Healy and Kavanagh’s one time girlfriend Deirdre Manifold.

4m 33s

Paul Durcan on Kavanagh

Paul Durcan on Kavanagh is from the Patrick Kavanagh: No Man's Fool Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.

4m 36s

Theo Dorgan on Kavanagh

Theo Dorgan on Kavanagh is from the Patrick Kavanagh: No Man's Fool Outtakes and part of The Loopline Collection Volume 1.