Film & History: Documenting Ireland

(2.5-3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Taught at a host institution. This course will examine how modern Irish history has been presented in both documentary and feature film from the silent era to the present day. It will interrogate the possibilities and pitfalls of history for film-makers and look at how Irish history has been presented to a mass audience through cinema and television. Films discussed will include Irish Destiny (1926), The Dawn (1936), Anne Devlin (1984), Michael Collins (1996), The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2003), Mise Eire (1959), Saoirse?/Freedom? (1961), Insurrection (1966) A Television History of Ireland, The Troubles (1981), Seachtar na Casca. Students will also have the opportunity to gain hands on experience of the issues facing film makers and historians through the Keough Naughton project 1916: A Television History which will be in production in Dublin during the Spring semester.