IFI Irish Film Archive – Outside Looking In

Archive Programme 2

The Irish or The Memory of a People
Commissioned by French broadcaster ORTF 3 in 1971, The Irish or The Memory of a People provides a record of Irish traditional music at the height of its popularity in Ireland and worldwide. A broad sweep of the musical landscape, the film draws in vibrant performances from Willy Clancy, Mrs O’Tuama, Christy Moore and Planxty, The Dubliners, Ceoltoiri Laighean and Tony MacMahon amongst others. The film provides a richly textured view of the place of traditional music in Irish life – in homes, in pubs, in clubs (such as the Piper’s Club in Dublin) and in university halls (where Christy Moore and Planxty perform for a lecture theatre full of bearded and beaded students in Belfield). Made shortly after the death of musician, Sean O Riada, the film includes an interview with his widow Ruth and a rare interview with O Riada himself, unearthed by the director, Robert Manthoulis, in Norway.