Rocky Road to Dublin

During the 1916 Easter Uprising, Ireland gained its independence from Great Britain. Some 50 years after this turning point, Irish journalist and filmmaker Peter Lennon takes stock of the situation on the basis of interviews and archive research. What do you do with a revolution once it’s achieved? By detaching itself from the British, Ireland ended up in cultural isolation. In order to oppose the former rulers, far-reaching measures are devised: the Gaelic Athletic Association imposes a ban on playing or watching “foreign sports” including soccer, cricket, rugby and hockey. But there are also obstacles thrown up on a broader societal level. The Church has a particularly significant influence on political policy and family life: in the mid-1960s, matters such as emancipation and birth control are on the back burner. Sex is taboo, contraception is a sin and mixed schools or sport clubs are out of the question. Newspapers are subject to censorship and by and large tied to a diocese; the list of banned, “sinful” books leads to an exodus of Irish writers. And even though the general outcome isn’t particularly positive, this Irish self-study is richly peppered with cheerful folk songs and nostalgic footage.