FILM AND MEDIA
Television and Irish History
SPRING HN277
Thursdays
Tutor: David Ryan
‘Of course television distorts history, but historians forget that they distort it also, more permanently and certainly more boringly’.
A.T.Q. Stewart
This 8-week course will explore the ways in which Irish history has been presented in television documentaries, offering a comprehensive overview of productions from the 1980s to the 2010s and their impact and significance. The tutor, a professional television researcher/ writer who has worked on many historical documentaries, will give a first-hand view of the practical realities of programme-making and the balancing act of creating compelling televisual narratives while trying to maintain historical accuracy.
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BELFIELD |
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8 Thursdays |
Jan 31, Feb 7, 14, 21, 28, Mar 7, 14, 21 |
7.30pm - 9.30pm |
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FEE €155 |
Print Open Learning Application Form 2012.13 or ring (01) 716 7123 for Laser/ credit card payment |
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Tutor Details
David Ryan (MA History, NUI Galway) works as a television researcher and writer, specialising in historical documentaries. He is also a freelance historian and his first full-length work, Blasphemers & Blackguards: The Irish Hellfire Clubs, was published in May 2012. David has worked as a writer and researcher on a numerous RTE, TG4 and TV3 series, including Dead Money, Behind Bars, Death or Canada, The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut, and Cromwell in Ireland, which won an IFTA Award in 2009 for Best Documentary.
Course Outline:
Irish History on Television – an Introduction
Just what is television history? This introductory class will look broadly at the historical documentaries that have been made on Irish subjects over the past 35 years and explore the pressures and agendas that dictate what we see onscreen. What sorts of historical documentaries get made and why? For instance, why are there many programmes and series on 20th century Ireland and the revolutionary period of 1916–22, but almost none on medieval Irish history? Finance, commercial factors, broadcasters’ agendas, public interest, and issues of visualisation all play a part.
The 1980s: History and the Troubles
In this class we will look at two early landmark historical documentary series, Ireland: A Television History (BBC/ RTE, 1980–81) and The Troubles (Thames Television/ UTV, 1981). We will consider the political situation which led British programme-makers to explore Irish history: the violence in Northern Ireland. Did these series succeed in furthering awareness of Ireland’s past and the events that led to the Troubles, and what was the critical and popular reaction to them? Students will have an opportunity to watch and discuss one of the key programmes from the Ireland series. Comparisons will also be drawn with the recent BBC/ RTE series The Story of Ireland (2011).
The Nineties and the Noughties
We will focus on how growing public interest and increases in television budgets during the late 1990s and 2000s enabled an unprecedented number of Irish history documentaries to be made. We will look at RTE’s Hidden History series, which included programmes on both mainstream and little-known subjects, and TG4’s increasing historical output. We will also consider how the visual and stylistic approach to making history documentaries had moved on from the 1980s.
Presenter-Led ‘Event’ Documentaries
This class will explore two landmark documentary series, Cromwell in Ireland (RTE, 2008) and The Limits of Liberty (RTE, 2010), and the context in which they were produced. There will be an in-class discussion of the degree to which these series were successful in elucidating two complex and crucial periods of Irish history – the Cromwellian Conquest of 1649–53 and the early decades of independent Ireland. Having viewed one of the programmes, students will be asked to consider the merits and effectiveness of the stylistic and visual approach that were used. They will also discuss the programmes from the perspective of content and clarity, and as emotive reflections on our past in the late/ post Celtic Tiger era.
Revisionism Onscreen?
This class will consider the nationalist and revisionist approaches to Irish history and the degree to which these divergent agendas have been transmitted on television. As a case study we will consider the 2007 RTE programme The Killings at Coolacrease, which focused on the controversial shooting of two Protestant brothers by the IRA in County Offaly in 1921. The programme sparked a heated reaction from both academics and the general public. What motivates such reactions and are they justified?
Visualising the Past
We will focus on the different ways in which events which happened many years ago can be visualised onscreen. We will look at the use of archive footage and rostrum (still photographs, paintings, woodcuts and other images) in documentaries. For many historical periods and subjects, such material is unavailable or severely limited, and programme-makers are forced to employ other methods of visualisation, from dramatic reconstruction to animation to CGI. How effectively are these methods employed, and do they enhance or distort the past?
From Page to Screen
Drawing on the tutor’s professional experience, this class will explore the practicalities of programme-making. How do programme-makers bring history to the screen? We will consider the factors that influence the subjects of documentaries, how scripts are constructed, the process of dramatic reconstruction, filming, presenter-led vs. non presenter-led documentaries, the editing process, and the finished product.
Television History and Historical Accuracy
Hollywood movies on historical subjects and historical dramas are frequently criticised for taking liberties with the truth. Historical documentaries are sometimes also subjected to criticism of this kind. Is it justified? The final class will explore why television cannot accommodate the same level of detail and nuance as academic history. Students will be asked to consider the visual nature of the medium, restrictions on time and the need to appeal cogently to a popular audience. Yet television also has the power to bring history to a wide audience, stimulating people to learn more about the past and how we can use it to understand the present.
Provisional Reading List:
The following is a selection of recommended texts for those interested in reading further around the course content. We advise that you do not buy books in advance of the course as your tutor will discuss the list and suggest the most relevant reading for particular interests.
Erin Bell and Ann Gray, ‘History on television: charisma, narrative and knowledge’, European Journal of Cultural Studies 10 (1) (Feb. 2007), pp. 113–33.
David Cannadine (ed.), History and the media (Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004)
Bob Ferguson, Television on history: representations of Ireland (London: University of London, Institute of Education, 1985)
Nick Folley, ‘RTÉ and the holy grail of revisionism’, in Paddy Heaney, Pat Muldowney et al, Coolacrease : the true story of the Pearson executions, an incident in the Irish War of Independence (Aubane, Co. Cork: Aubane Historical Society, 2008)
History Ireland‘TV Eye’ column – selected reviews of Irish historical documentaries
Lance Pettitt, Screening Ireland : film and television representation (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000)
Graham Roberts and Philip M. Taylor (eds), The historian, television and television history (Luton: University of Luton Press, 2001)
Simon Schama, ‘Television and the trouble with history’, BBC History Magazine, July 2002
List of Television Programmes and Series:
The following is a brief list of some of the historical documentaries and series that will be discussed in the course. Certain especially significant programmes will be provided to students on DVD for viewing and discussion purposes.
17th–19th Century:
Imeacht na nIarlaí (The Flight of the Earls) (TG4, 2007)
Plantation: the Truth and the Legacy (UTV, 2010)
Cromwell in Ireland (RTE / History Channel, 2008)
Rebellion: A Television History of 1798 (RTE, 1998)
Death or Canada (RTE/ History Television Canada, 2008)
1916 / Revolutionary Period
Seachtar na Cásca (TG4, 2010)
The Burning of Cork (RTE, 2005)
Rebel County (RTE, 2006)
Get Collins (RTE, 2007)
The Killings at Coolacrease (RTE, 2007)
1920s–1990s
Seven Ages (RTE, 2000)
The Limits of Liberty (RTE, 2010)
Ireland’s Nazis (RTE / History Channel, 2007)
Haughey (RTE, 2005)
General
RTE’s Hidden History series (RTE, 2000s)
Ireland: A Television History (BBC / RTE, 1980– 81)
The Troubles (Thames Television/ UTV, 1981)
The Story of Ireland (BBC / RTE, 2011)
The Irish Abroad
The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut (RTE, 2007)
Mobs Mheiriceá (TG4)
Bothar go dtí an White House(TG4, 2009)
