Documentary

Cradle of Genius

4th October 2021

IFI Archive Player

British documentarian Paul Rotha celebrates the playwrights and players of the Abbey Theatre, the national theatre founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904. The film, made some years before the theatre moved into its present-day Abbey Street premises, tells the history through colourful reminiscences from an extraordinary line-up of Abbey stalwarts – Siobhan […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Thomas Kilroy – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

IFI Archive Player Admin

Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy was born in Limerick and through a career spanning fifty years, he has resisted fixed categories and boundaries in both his stagecraft and themes of his plays. This episode begins with a discussion about what interviewer Theo Dorgan refers to as a ‘double life’ – Kilroy’s role as a playwright and […]

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Imprint: Writers in Profile

Hugh Leonard – Imprint: Writer in Profile

2nd April 2019

IFI Archive Player Admin

Hugh Leonard was a prolific Irish dramatist, television writer and essayist. In this episode, Leonard takes us through his childhood in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, writing his early plays and his influences from Lennox Robinson and Sean O’Casey, to ‘the greatest’ Samuel Beckett. He offers an in-depth look at his creative process, how ideas arise and […]

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Entertainment

Jack of All Maids

22nd August 2016

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Renowned Abbey actor Jack MacGowran investigates Irish courtship rituals from a male perspective in this slice of 1952. A series of humorous vignettes showcase the talents of this extraordinary character actor, best known for his theatre work with Samuel Beckett and his film work including a role in the classic horror movie, The Exorcist. MacGowran […]

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Irish Culture

Ireland in Spring

22nd August 2016

IFI Archive Player Admin

Ireland is beautiful all-year-round but spring is when it really blossoms. Produced by Colm O’ Laoghaire (director of the Amharc Éireann newsreels for Gael-Linn) this film is a celebration of all things Irish and a delightful window on 1950s Eire. The film focuses on An Tóstal (Irish for “The Pageant”) which was a series of […]

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