It airs tonight. Don’t miss it.
“Yeah, it’s very nice to be asked to do these things and it’s special to be involved – especially with the centenary and all that”.
It may have only been 24 brief words but when JOE caught up with Cillian Murphy a few months ago for a quick chat about Season 5 of Peaky Blinders, there’s no denying that the word of mouth was already building ahead of his work on Ruan Magan’s three-party series, The Irish Revolution.
Of course, the story of Ireland’s pursuit of independence from the British Empire was always bound to pique the public’s interest, but the addition of Murphy as the narrator has added an extra layer of gravitas.
Aside from his stellar work in the likes of 28 Days Later and Dunkirk, the Corkonian is arguably one of the most famous faces and voices in the world due to his work in Peaky Blinders – one of the few shows that can rival Game of Thrones in terms of being ‘event’ programming that’s beloved around the world.
This being said, Murphy obviously has a personal connection to Irish history because it’s a period that he’s already explored as an actor.
In fact, Murphy has previously talked about how important his time working on Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley was to his career, but with one of 2019’s most eagerly-anticipated shows set to air tonight, what can history lovers expect?
🇮🇪 The Irish Revolution 🇮🇪
Cillian Murphy narrates a documentary marking the centenary of the Irish War of Independence
Monday 9.35pm pic.twitter.com/z5tfSMANDJ
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) February 1, 2019
Well, simply put, The Irish Revolution is an incredibly fresh and interesting take on a story that we already know so well.
Part One tells the story of how a group of young revolutionaries who came of age in the first two decades of the 20th century changed Irish and British history forever.
While the key historical figures and moments are all covered, what’s refreshing is the voices that are actually telling these stories.
Granted, every documentary will usually feature a leading authority and expert in that relevant field/topic, but the same faces telling the same stories can make things seem stale, or formulaic.
This isn’t detracting from the level of insight and intelligence that was previously on offer, but it’s nice to freshen things up and hear new voices and ideas.
As Dr Donal O Drisceoil states below, the documentary is an attempt to tell the story of the Irish revolution in terms of its background, its evolution, its events and the aftermath.
We’re all familiar with the key players and events, but there’s an important caveat to this feature which Dr John Crowley stresses.
While figures like Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera, Tom Barry etc. are incredibly important, the story of the War of Independence was so much greater than these men.
Prior to the war starting, Dáil Éireann was desperately trying to gain international recognition for the Irish Republic at the Paris Peace conference in Versailles. Elsewhere, Eamon de Valera was undertaking a marathon tour of the US in 1919 and 1920 to raise funds.
The War of Independence was just as much about the perception of Irish sovereignty abroad as the achievement of the status itself was.
In fact, one of the documentary’s best moments is when they focus on the sheer pandemonium and love that de Valera inspired in the Irish-American community during his visit.
Seriously, think The Beatles at Shea Stadium and multiply it by 100.
Aside from this, the documentary never loses sight of the important role that the Irish public had in stoking the flames of rebellion.
Make no mistake about it, the Irish revolution was a national movement and while the IRA were fighting on the frontline, it took a collective effort to usurp British authority in the country.
The revolution came from the ground up and the filmmakers deploy some excellent tools to demonstrate this point.
For example, a series of informative maps with regards to certain statistics – abandoned RIC barracks, the ratio of IRA volunteers around the country etc. – are an excellent learning tool. In terms of visuals, they also represent a nice change from the more standardised ‘talking head over image’ format that we’re accustomed to seeing.
Most importantly, this is a documentary that’s extremely accessible.
New voices, younger historians, and a broad range of scholars all bring a fresh perspective.
The interviewees aren’t just confined to those who study history though because the areas of humanities, the arts, cartography, geography, and politics are observed too.
In terms of the show’s aesthetic approach and the narrative, the filmmakers use archive clips, contemporary interviews and a lot of drone footage to give it a really different feel.
Granted, there are only so many ways that you can shoot some of Ireland’s most famous building/locations and make them seem fresh, but the use of drones does give the feature a more cutting-edge and modern look.
As for the archive footage, the breath of the interviews obtained are absolutely stunning because there’s nothing quite like having a first-hand account for authenticity and detail.
History savants will devour it, casual TV viewers will learn something new.
Part One of The Irish Revolution airs tonight on RTÉ1 at 21.35pm.
Clips via UCCIreland and RTÉ
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