IFI Irish Film Archive
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.
Brenda Malone, Curator of Military History at The National Museum of Ireland, discusses the creation of checks and controls of the Irish Border and the affect it had on the lives of people in the region. She references early footage of border controls, a speech made by Lord Mayor Alfie Byrne and how this is an ongoing issue in Ireland in 2019. 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.
Brenda Malone, Curator of Military History at The National Museum of Ireland, explores brand Ireland promoted by British Pathé as a tourist destination. Aspects of Ireland's beautiful landscapes are uncovered including Glendalough, The Giant's Causeway, Kerry's Lartigue Monorail and how the sleepy village of Ennis is dealing with the increase of transatlantic flights at Shannon airport. 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.
Brenda Malone, Curator of Military History at The National Museum of Ireland, discusses the contrasting aspects between rural and urban modernisation in the Irish Free State, from the development of electricity and the Shannon Scheme to potato blight in Connemara and coracle making near the River Boyne. 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.
Brenda Malone, Curator of Military History at The National Museum of Ireland, introduces the Irish Free State, emerging from the violence and destruction of the War of Independence. 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.
This newsreel shows a steamship carrying crates of pigeons arriving in Dublin in 1937 for the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes Pigeon Derby. The crates of birds are unloaded at the Dublin docks , and transported to the Croppies Accre (Collins Barracks), Dublin.. As the excitement builds, crowds gather and people in fancy dress (some dressed as pigeons) stand ready to release the birds. Signs show what clubs the birds have come from – many in the UK. , and the sky fills as the birds are released and scatter to find their bearings. Afterwards, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Alfred (Alfie) Byrne and an unnamed young woman receive gifts of pigeon eggs from a girl dressed in a pigeon suit. The Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstake was a lottery established in the Irish Free State in 1930 - with tickets sold as far afield as the UK and US - to finance hospitals and medical services. 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.