I have coordinated SDGs on Irish History and Irish Literature and I thought that an SDG on Irish Movies would be a good complement. While reading about Ireland is useful, there is nothing like the emotions and visuals of a movie. They not only engage the viewer in a powerful way, but often stay longer and more clearly in the viewer’s memory. Fortunately, there are many movies about Ireland that carry those attributes. For example, I think most people will remember the violence and fear in the movie “Belfast” long after they have forgotten the details of the Troubles and how they began.
The focus here is on movies that illuminate aspects of Irish history and aspects of life, as lived, in Ireland (including the unique Irish humor) and that are well made and entertaining. There are so many excellent movies about Ireland, made in Ireland and in America, that it is hard to choose. The movies designated below include the following historical events: the 19th century famine, the 1916 Easter Rising, the Irish war for independence, the civil war that followed, the longstanding problem of emigration, the role of the Church in forcing pregnant girls to work in laundries and give up their babies and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Movies on life in Ireland include the iconic “The Quiet Man” and later films on the roles of women, the attachment of rural Irish farmers to the land and James Joyce’s great story, "The Dead."
The method of this SDG is to view one or two movies per week, to combine that with readings on the subjects of the movies and to then discuss the movie and the history and the themes they present. Short selections from books in the bibliography and certain short stories on the themes of the movies will be designated for most weeks and identified on-line or copied and distributed. They will be required reading, not merely optional. Finally, there are some additional movies which are designated as possibilities which we can discuss when the SDG begins—the SDG members can decide whether to include one or more of them in a weekly session, to schedule additional sessions for them or simply to leave them as suggestions to be viewed at leisure. All of the movies are easily available on one of more of You Tube, archive.com, Amazon Prime and Netflix.
These are the movies to be viewed and discussed in each of the 14 weeks, including notations on the major theme of each:
Week 1: The Quiet Man—Popular Irish Themes
Week 2: Black ’47—Famine in the 1840’s
Week 3: The Field—Fierce Pride in Owning Land
Week 4: A Terrible Beauty—1916 Easter Rising
Week 5: The Playboy of the Western World--Classic IrishHumor
Week 6: Michael Collins—Civil War
Week 7: Philomena—The Church & Treatment of Pregnant Single Women
Week 8: The Dead--Classic James Joyce Story
Week 9: Hunger AND Bloody Sunday—The Troubles in Northern Ireland
Week 10: Belfast—The Troubles in Northern Ireland
Week 11: The Irish Pub—Documentary AND Waking Ned Devine—Irish Comedy
Week 12: Circle of Friends AND The Country Girls—Women’s Lives
Week 13: Hear My Song AND The Commitments—Irish Music and Humor
Week 14: Brooklyn—Pull of America to Irish Youth
The SDG members will also be asked to consider including one or more of the following additional movies:
In the Name of the Father—The Troubles
Leap Year—Irish Comedy
The Matchmaker—Irish comedy
Da—Author’s Recollection of His Father in Ireland
Bloom—Joyce’s Novel ”Ulysses”
Young Cassidy—Bio of the writer Sean O’Casey
The Boys and Girl from County Clare—Young musicians from Western Ireland
Sing Street—Poor young boy musicians in Dublin
Core Book:
Bardon, "A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes"
The 250 episodes are transcriptions of RTE radio programs. All are short pieces on aspects of Irish history. They
will be designated to describe the themes and backgrounds of the weekly movies.
Additional Materials:
Both of the following are histories of Ireland. Sections can be consulted for background and context.
Cronin, "A History of Ireland"
Moodya & Martin, "The Course of Irish History"
Selected stories of James Joyce, Frank O’Connor and Edna O’Brien, which are relevant to themes of some of the movies,
will be identified