That, in a nutshell, is why I try to go to the Capital Irish Film Festival every year. Last weekend‘s 42 films offered a rich array, in both English and Irish, of reflections on past oppression and conflict, current challenges, and the simple richness of life. No green beer in sight.
This important post is relevant on this side of the Atlantic too! Its insights could transform understanding of what happened to our Celtic nations. They could also transform our attitude towards migration and migrants today. And they could transform future policies around salvaging and developing our languages and culture. All of which begs the question: how can we circulate the information so that it sparks the public discourse?
This might seem to be an unlikely recommendation, but I will vouch for people to watch House of Guinness on Netflix. In a way, it perfectly captures nearly all the issues this article lays out so well—there’s even quite some space made for An Gorta Mór/the Famine and its aftermath. Also, the Irish Gaelic language has more than a couple features in both Dublin and Galway, which was refreshing.
It seems on the surface to play into some tropes about Irishness, but in a way actually gives a lot more nuance to where the marketing of Irishness began as well as how explosive the political situation was, including from the Gaelic Irish and some Gaelic-sympathetic Anglo-Irish. Definitely better fare than the likes of Disney or other Hollywood depictions of the Irish people.
So yes, a perfect show to enjoy a Guinness to, but also something that I think deepens an understanding of the Irish (as well as American) political context surrounding the expansion of the Guinness business empire, and could function as something of a gateway to the more serious topics regarding Irish history.
That, in a nutshell, is why I try to go to the Capital Irish Film Festival every year. Last weekend‘s 42 films offered a rich array, in both English and Irish, of reflections on past oppression and conflict, current challenges, and the simple richness of life. No green beer in sight.
This important post is relevant on this side of the Atlantic too! Its insights could transform understanding of what happened to our Celtic nations. They could also transform our attitude towards migration and migrants today. And they could transform future policies around salvaging and developing our languages and culture. All of which begs the question: how can we circulate the information so that it sparks the public discourse?
This might seem to be an unlikely recommendation, but I will vouch for people to watch House of Guinness on Netflix. In a way, it perfectly captures nearly all the issues this article lays out so well—there’s even quite some space made for An Gorta Mór/the Famine and its aftermath. Also, the Irish Gaelic language has more than a couple features in both Dublin and Galway, which was refreshing.
It seems on the surface to play into some tropes about Irishness, but in a way actually gives a lot more nuance to where the marketing of Irishness began as well as how explosive the political situation was, including from the Gaelic Irish and some Gaelic-sympathetic Anglo-Irish. Definitely better fare than the likes of Disney or other Hollywood depictions of the Irish people.
So yes, a perfect show to enjoy a Guinness to, but also something that I think deepens an understanding of the Irish (as well as American) political context surrounding the expansion of the Guinness business empire, and could function as something of a gateway to the more serious topics regarding Irish history.