IFI Irish Film Archive

West Clare Railway: The Last Run / Iarnród Iarthar Chláir: An Turas Deireanach

Year1961

The station flag is raised for the departure of the last train from Ennis to Kilkee, which had been in service for over 80 years. Ardaíodh bratach an stáisiúin agus an traein dheireanach ag imeacht ó Inis go Cill Chaoi, traein a bhí i mbun seirbhíse le breis agus 80 bliain. Produced by Gael Linn, Amharc Éireann (A View of Ireland) is Ireland’s first long-running indigenous newsreel series. It was distributed to cinemas throughout the country to promote the Irish language. Between 1956 and 1964, 267 editions of the newsreel were produced for cinema exhibition. With kind permission of Gael Linn. Léirithe ag Gael Linn, ba í Amharc Éireann (A View of Ireland) an chéad sraith dhúchasach de nuachtríleanna fadbhunaithe in Éirinn. Dháiltí iad ar phictiúrlanna ar fud na tíre leis an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn. Idir 1956 agus 1964, léiríodh 267 eagrán de na nuachtríleanna le taispeáint sa phictiúrlann. Le caoinchead ó Gael Linn.

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. November 1961 and students from Trinity College marched the main streets of Dublin in protest at nuclear bomb testing. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CND, was established in the UK in 1958 in the wake of widespread fear of conflict and the effects of nuclear testing. CND quickly grew with branches in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. This newsreel recorded Irish student protesters as they marched in Dublin from St. Stephens Green to the Ambassador Theatre on O’Connell Street. Their placards demanded 'Ban the Bomb' and called for world peace. Produced by Gael Linn, Amharc Éireann (A View of Ireland) is Ireland’s longest-running indigenous newsreel series. It was distributed to cinemas throughout the country to promote the Irish language. The first 36 issues were produced as single-topic films which were released monthly, followed in 1959 by weekly, multi-story newsreels featuring a broad range of topics, from hard news stories to lighter magazine-style items. Between 1956 and 1964, 267 editions of the newsreel were produced for cinema exhibition. With kind permission of Gael Linn.

9m 35s

Housing Discrimination - 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. Shot in 1953, this film highlighted housing discrimination practiced by the unionist-controlled council in the town of Fintona in County Tyrone. It outlines the inequalities faced by the poorer, and usually nationalist, inhabitants, and details how new council houses are being given to unionist residents who are in less need of the houses than nationalists. It argues that the discrimination is motivated by the desire to maintain a majority of unionist voters in certain constituencies. Housing Discrimination was produced by the Information Division of the Irish Department of External Affairs (now the Department of Foreign Affairs) and was allegedly partly shot using a hidden camera. In 1954 it was distributed in Britain by the Anti-Partition League, which prompted the Northern Ireland provincial government to complain to the British government, asking it to lodge a complaint with the Irish government. The film is interesting for a number of reasons; its originator (effectively the Irish government), its subject matter (housing discrimination in Northern Ireland), its argument (discrimination represents a conspiracy against the people of Ireland by a ruling group acting in concert with the British government) and its language (virulently Irish nationalist and anti-British). With kind permission of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

35s

President of Éire

Large crowds gather on the streets of Dublin as Ireland’s first President, Dr. Douglas Hyde, is installed. This newsreel from 1938 depicts the military procession that leads Douglas Hyde past the Grand Central Cinema and the GPO on O’Connell Street, Dublin to the Phoenix Park where he is to be installed as President of Ireland. When he arrives at Áras an Uachtaráin he is greeted by Eamon de Valera, Prime Minister, and Seán T O’Kelly, Tánaiste who would succeed Hyde as President in 1945. Áras an Uachtaráin was built in 1751 in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It had been acquired for use by the Viceroys who oversaw British rule in Ireland until 1922 but became the President of Ireland’s official home in 1938. 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.

11m 51s

Irish Co-operative Gathers Peat

In this 1920s newsreel, an Irish co-operative digs, stacks and gathers turf. It is an activity involving the whole community - even the local priest is involved in overseeing the sacks of turf loaded onto a barge before being transported by canal. The crew work tirelessly to load a barge. ‘Rathangan’ is inscribed on the side of the barge and a man waves an ‘Up Kildare’ flag in shot. The turf is possibly extracted from the Bog of Allen – a large, raised bogland stretching over 5 counties in Ireland. In the 19th and early 20th century, non-agriculturally viable bogland was Ireland’s primary indigenous fuel resource. It is estimated that 6 million tonnes of sod turf was produced in 1921. In Ireland today a focus has shifted to a more environment-friendly energy production and there has been an attempt to restore Irish boglands. 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.

10m 43s

Dots, Whips and Cobwebs - The Roy Spence Collection

This film looks at the work of three prominent lace makers in Carrickmacross, Northern Ireland in the 1980s. Mary Wilson, Mary McMahon and Rose Feeney show various intricate lacework techniques that were inspired by their natural surroundings, as well as teaching us the history and language of lace through detailed demonstrations, all captured beautifully in this film by Roy Spence for the Ulster Folk Museum. Although the popularity of lacework has declined in recent years, the Ulster Folk Museum continues to preserve these disappearing traditions for future generations. Roy Spence is an award-winning amateur filmmaker. For the past 50 years, Spence has been making and screening a series of remarkable and sometimes eccentric films in his cinema in Comber, Co. Down. The films span many genres from sci-fi to horror to folk-life documentaries shot between 1965 and 1986. His collection of over 40 films (13 documentaries/non-fiction and 29 fiction feature films) is held and preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive.