IFI Irish Film Archive

Connemara’s Appeal

Year1925 Duration3m 37s

Following the War of Independence, the Civil War and economic depression, Ireland was in a ruinous state. Between 1923 and 1924, wages were cut by 16%, the old age pension was reduced by 10% and a seven day working week was introduced. For farmers, especially in the west of Ireland, harvests were particularly poor and animal stocks died in large numbers due to hunger related diseases and turf, the main fuel resource could not dry due to the wet damp weather. By the beginning of 1925, hundreds of thousands of people were in dire need. In this newsreel we get a glimpse of some of the struggles people in Connemara (considered one of the most impoverished regions) experienced. The conditions were so dire that, even with government aid grants of £500,000, these conditions resulted in many deaths and widespread suffering.

The early 1920s were a turbulent time for Ireland. Following the War of Independence and The Civil War, Ireland experienced a severe economic depression. Farmers in the west of Ireland were the most severely hit with poor harvest prospects and little to no employment prospects. One industry that was still thriving during these difficult economic times was Horse racing. In 1922 differences were briefly put aside during the Civil War to find the winner of the 1922 Irish Derby. Horse racing was still proving to be financially fruitful, however the downturn in the home economy had encouraged owners to reduce training fees. In this newsreel from the Curragh in 1924, the impact of the downturn in the economy is shown as stable boys sit on fence striking after having their wages cut.

22s

Coal Strike – Ireland

This newsreel shows the impact the mining crisis in England (March 1921) had in Ireland. The camera pans across the docks showing boats being held up and coal wharfs empty in the ports. In the aftermath of the First World War,the Triple Alliance (a group made up of (Railwaymen, Transport Workers, and Coal Miners) were regarded by many trade unionists as a defence against the threat of wage reductions occasioned by the onset of economic depression. A complicating factor was that both the coal industry and railways had been controlled by the state during the war and were not immediately returned to private hands. The Coalition-Liberal Government of David Lloyd George was unwilling to impose wage reductions, as this would provoke strike action against the government, with political implications. Reductions for miners were postponed until the industry was de-controlled on March 31st 1921. Miners who refused to accept the reductions were locked out of employment.

3m 55s

A Day of Drama - Trish McAdam Filmmaker Playlist

Our second IFI Filmmaker Playlist is curated by filmmaker and visual artist Trish McAdam. Since the production of her early shorts in the 1980s, Trish has created a vibrant and varied body of work, embracing a range of forms and subjects and retaining a singular, independent voice. We're delighted to welcome Trish to the Irish Film Institute to select her top picks from films preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive and presented on the IFI Archive Player. This newsreel shows a crowd of people outside Mountjoy Prison in December 1922 in support of, and praying for the hunger striking prisoners. Lord Mayor of Dublin Laurence O'Neill and Maud Gonne McBride stand outside the Mountjoy Prison gates. Between the years of 1913 - 1922 more than 1000 hunger strikes occurred in both England and Ireland. These types of protests were centred on common political issues, with seven people dying during this period as a result, and many more from complications later on.

13m 00s

If These Walls Could Talk

IFTA-winning director Anna Rodgers highlights the plight of those who  suffered and died in Dublin’s old psychiatric institutions.  Opening with a quotation from Sebastian Barry’s novel The Secret Scripture, in which the main character is a resident in a Roscommon mental institution, the film takes us on a haunting tour of a vast and desolate  building, once an Irish asylum. The voices of former residents describe their experience recounting their loneliness and suffering, and the harsh practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Their recollections  reveal how people were committed and shed light on the social, economic and political factors that lead to their admission. The decision to feature voices and not faces allows the residents to maintain their anonymity. This film won the IFI’s Best Short at the Stranger Than Fiction Awards (now IFI Documentary Festival) and Best Documentary at the Kerry Film Festival in 2010.  This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.

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.

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.