Collection

Religion in the Irish Free State

4 items

3m 45s

Religion in the Irish Free State

Brenda Malone, Curator of Military History at The National Museum of Ireland, examines religion in the nation including the performance by famous Irish tenor Count John McCormack at the 1929 Catholic Emancipation Centenary Celebration in Cashel, the 1932 The Eucharistic Congress in Dublin and the case of Julia Clarke (a woman sentenced to a month in gaol for kissing her boyfriend). This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.

1m 54s

"Irish Catholic Ceremony at Castle / Cashel of the Kings"

This newsreel shows the Catholic Emancipation Centenary Celebration which took place at the Rock of Cashel in June 1929. This was the first time mass was celebrated on the Rock in 300 years. Count John McCormack, a famous Irish tenor can be seen performing to the enormous crowd during the Mass. The Rock of Cashel comprises five buildings, the oldest of which, the Round Tower, dates from the early 12th Century. The outstanding Romanesque chapel, named after King Cormac, dates from the same period, while construction on the largest building on the site, the Cathedral, began in the 1290s.

2m 17s

A Million People Kneel in Worship

The Eucharistic Congress, one of the largest public events to ever take place in Ireland, occurred between the 22nd and 26th of June 1932. As part of the 31st Congress clergy and lay people from all over the world came to celebrate the ‘Holy Eucharist’ in Dublin. The vast scale of the final Congress mass was filmed by many Irish and international filmmakers and newsagencies and showcased the piety of the Irish people. A large crowd gather to pray at Phoenix Park, Dublin, as Michael Joseph Curley, Archbishop of Baltimore begins a mass service. At O’Connell Bridge, on a specially erected altar, Papal Legate, Cardinal Lauri gives benediction. O’Connell Street is thronged with people and political figures Éamon de Valera, newly elected president of the executive council, and Minister Seán T. O’Kelly join the devotions. This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.

14s

Gaol for a Kiss

This newsreel features a laughing Julia Clarke who fled Ireland after being sentenced to one month in gaol for kissing her boyfriend. Julia Clarke, from Glasgow, was sentenced by Dundalk Court for kissing her boyfriend on church property at Blackrock, Co. Louth. According to a news article at the time, ‘the local vigilance committee was shocked and the Dundalk Justices were so scandalised that, although Miss Clarke already had returned home to Glasgow, they passed the sentence “with a view to keeping her out of the country for ever”. Her unnamed boyfriend had already appeared before the Court and was ordered to pay a small fine. Ms. Clarke was the first woman sentenced under Eamon de Valera’s ‘Vice Act’. In this newsreel, she doesn’t appear too worried about the sentence. This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.