fbpx
  1. Home
  2. Irish Culture

Irish Culture

The Colleen Bawn

IFI Archive Player Admin
The Colleen Bawn is an ambitious story which evolves from a simple rural tale to a complex narrative of social status, love, murder and deception. The film is inspired by the true events of the 1819 murder of 15 year-old Ellen Scanlan in Co. Clare, and based on the 1860 play of the same name […]

Bold Emmett, Ireland’s Martyr

IFI Archive Player Admin
Irish revolutionary, Robert Emmett, leads a rebellion against British soldiers but his compatriot Con Daly is the true hero of the film. Despite the misspelling of Robert Emmet’s name throughout and some historical inaccuracy (Emmet fought in the rising of 1803 not 1798), the film is typical in its pursuit of authenticity in character and […]

You Remember Ellen

IFI Archive Player Admin
Adapted by Kalem scenarist Gene Gauntier from the Thomas Moore poem of the same title, You Remember Ellen is a romantic drama of love across the economic divide. A humble, hard-working farmer’s daughter (Gauntier) lives a simple life until she happens upon a handsome young man on a country road. They fall in love, marry […]

The Lad From Old Ireland

IFI Archive Player Admin
Terry (Sidney Olcott) , a poor Irish farmer, dreams of a better life and is tired of working the land. He decides to head west to build a better, more prosperous future in the USA. He bids farewell to his darling Aileen (Gene Gauntier) but promises he will return to her some day when he […]

Come Back to Erin

IFI Archive Player Admin
Only one reel of this three-reel film has survived the ravages of time and so the tale is incomplete – but worth watching nonetheless. In this transatlantic tale, feisty young Peggy O’Malley (Gene Gauntier) refuses her father’s orders to marry Jerry, the village blacksmith and runs away to New York City via steam-liner. Upon landing […]

His Mother

IFI Archive Player Admin
A wealthy American tourist couple happen upon a talented violinist, Terence, and his mother in a small cottage in rural Ireland. Terence grasps the opportunity and, thanks to his mother’s meagre savings, leaves his peasant roots in Ireland for the bright lights of the New York stage. He thrives in New York society but, back […]

For Ireland’s Sake

IFI Archive Player Admin
For Ireland’s Sake tells the story of Marty O’Sullivan (Jack Clark), a young blacksmith who forges pikes which are used as weapons against English soldiers. Spotted by British Soldiers, Marty flees and manages to evade capture thanks to the quick thinking of his sweetheart Eileen (Gene Gauntier). She cunningly hides Marty in her voluminous cloak […]

Hallowed Fire: The Art of Evie Hone

IFI Archive Player Admin
This short documentary about renowned Irish cubist painter and stained glass artist Evie Hone was one of a series of artist profiles commissioned by the Cultural Relations Committee of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. Filmed at her Dublin studio in Marley Park in Rathfarnham in 1950, it explores the artist’s life, creative process and […]

Errigal

IFI Archive Player Admin
This stunning documentary is set against the scenic backdrop of Mount Errigal in County Donegal. The mountains of Donegal are depicted like fairytale characters, where the hero Mount Errigal competes with neighbouring villain Mount Muckish. A fantastical narrative explains that the landscape is ‘a battleground where the weapons are the elements themselves’. Dramatic footage of […]

Yeats Country

IFI Archive Player Admin
Yeats Country is a lyrical film commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs to commemorate the centenary of the birth of William Butler Yeats. The first film made by cinematographer and director Patrick Carey in Ireland, this documentary celebrates the landscape of Yeats’s poetry through stunning photography and a voiceover rich in poetry and in […]

Housing Discrimination

IFI Archive Player Admin
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. […]

Lipservice

IFI Archive Player Admin
The Oral Irish, a compulsory language exam dreaded by secondary school students, is the subject of this short directed by Paul Mercier. In a Dublin school, an examiner (Sean McGinley) meets a variety of students to test their proficiency in the Irish language. He encounters low levels of fluency but impressive levels of bravado as […]