IFI Irish Film Archive

Vice-Regal Procession

Year1915 Duration45s ProducerTopical Film Company

This newsreel shows Lord Wimborne, The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland being received by the officers and men of the Leinster Regiment on their state visit to Ballincurra on 21st August 1915. During this time, those who volunteered in 1914 would have completed their training and would be sent to the Western Front or Gallipoli. Lord Wimborne was a British politician, and one of the last Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, serving in that position at the time of the Easter Rising. He was strongly criticised for not taking sufficient action to help prevent the 1916 Easter Rising.

This short newsreel shows the arrival of Lord Wimbourne on a ship to Ireland. The newsreel is intercut with scenes of O’Connell street that were taken prior to the 1916 rising and reused in various other newsreels from the Pathé Collection. Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, known as Lord Wimborne from 1914, was a British politician, and one of the last Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, serving in that position at the time of the Easter Rising.

42s

For the Treaty

Filmed in February 1922: this footage shows Seán Milroy addressing a large crowd of people in front of the Town Hall in Cootehill, Cavan. Milroy was an Irish Revolutionary and politician who actively took part in the 1916 Rising, served in the second Dáil during the War of Independence, and in the Senate of the Irish Free State. In this clip he is insisting that as a Pro-Treaty candidate he too wants to see a united Ireland and that the division had already been decided by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, long before the Peace Treaty talks. He believed that the Treaty would allow the six counties of Northern Ireland to be united with the rest of Ireland over time.

1m 13s

Free State or Republic

Scenes of Polling stations at the Irish general election are shown in this newsreel, where the main issue being voted on was whether the country should remain as a Free State or become a full Republic – the goal of de Valera’s Fianna Fáil party. Crowds of people gather on Marlborough Street and Free state soldiers stand guard at the exterior of a polling station. Inside, men are seen distributing ballots as the count progresses. General Richard Mulcahy, Minister for Defence is returned. At Stephen’s Green Mrs Charlotte Despard, noted republican and suffragette stands and speaks to camera. Ms Despard was sister of former Viceroy Lord French and president of the Women’s Freedom League. Final intertitle introduces young Vivian (sic properly Vivion) de Valera, son of Eamon. Richard Mulcahy was an army general and commander-in-chief for the Irish Republican Army. He later served in the cabinets of W. T. Cosgrave and John A. Costello. He fought in the 1916 Easter Rising, served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence and became commander of the pro-treaty forces in the Irish Civil War after the death of Michael Collins. The uniform of General Mulcahy’s from 1922 is currently held by the National Museum of Ireland.

3m 48s

The Trial of Roger Casement

This newsreel contains various segments, the first short item capturing crowds gathering on Bow Street Magistrates Court waiting to hear the outcome of the trial of British diplomat turned Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement. Only one piece of footage of Casement himself is known to exist, and for this Topical Budget’s newsreel, cameras had to improvise as his dramatic downfall played out. Arrested on April 21st 1916, hours after landing on the Kerry coast in a German submarine and just three days before the Easter Rising began in Dublin, Casement was whisked away to London to stand trial for treason. He was executed on August 3rd , his fate sealed by the discovery and distribution of the legendary ‘Black Diaries’, which contained accounts of his homosexual activities. His body was buried in quicklime at Pentonville Prison and his remains not repatriated to Ireland until 1965. The remaining segments include Sir John Maxwell inspecting the troops in the Trinity College grounds in May 1916 as well as soldiers stacking up Rifles and Pikes at Islandbridge Barracks.

1m 10s

The Outgoing President

In this newsreel the Ministry and members of the Republican Party who opposed the Treaty stand for the camera after contesting the policy of the Free State Party at the elections in 1922. On 14th January 1922 a meeting of the members elected to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland was held at the Mansion House, Dublin. At the meeting the Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified by the Irish side and a Provisional Government was elected. Michael Collins was appointed its Chairman and the Provisional Government took up office two days later on January 16th 1922 when the British administration handed over Dublin Castle to Collins in person. The Treaty, which would replace the Republic as a dominion of the British Commonwealth, was signed on December 6th. De Valera was not happy with the signing of it as he had stipulated that regardless of the outcome the delegates should not be pressured into any agreements and should return to consult with the cabinet and him, their President. After the Treaty was narrowly ratified, de Valera and a large majority of Sinn Féin T.D.s left Dáil Éireann and Arthur Griffith was elected President.

4m 30s

Trouble in Ireland

This newsreel is a compilation of events that happened in Ireland between 1916 and 1922. The order of the events is not presented sequentially but it gives a glimpse of the level of military presence and destruction in Ireland (predominantly Dublin city) during this time. The first segment shows British soldiers leaving Athlone Barracks following its takeover by General Sean MacEoin in the summer of 1922. Following this, soldiers are shown setting up barbed wire fences near City Hall, Dublin,and then in Dun Laoghaire horses are being groomed near Martello Tower. In the last segment, circa 1916, the devastating impact the Easter Rising had on O’Connell Street is shown, the destruction of many buildings can been seen as the camera slowly pans the main thoroughfare as pedestrians wander around the street. A shot of the first issue of ‘Irish War News’ can be seen, displaying the date April 25th 1916, this was printed in the GPO by Drogheda businessman Joe Stanley.