The IRA on Film and Television
A History
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About the Book
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has for decades pursued the goal of unifying its homeland into a single sovereign nation, ending British rule in Northern Ireland. Over the years, the IRA has been dramatized in motion pictures directed by John Ford (The Informer), Carol Reed (Odd Man Out), David Lean (Ryan’s Daughter), Neil Jordan (Michael Collins), and many others. Such international film stars as Liam Neeson, James Cagney, Richard Gere, James Mason and Anthony Hopkins have portrayed IRA members alternately as heroic patriots, psychotic terrorists and tormented rebels.
This work analyzes celluloid depictions of the IRA from the 1916 Easter Rising to the peace process of the 1990s. Topics include America’s role in creating both the IRA and its cinematic image, the organization’s brief association with the Nazis, and critical reception of IRA films in Ireland, Britain and the United States.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Mark Connelly
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 273
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, notes, chronology, filmography, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4736-7
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8961-9
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Introduction 5
1 The Troubles I: The War of Independence and the Irish Civil War 15
2 The Big Fellow: Michael Collins 38
3 The Shamrock and the Swastika 62
4 The Troubles II 100
5 The Classics: The Informer and Odd Man Out 147
6 American Angles 161
7 International Intrigue 198
8 The Gangster Film: Criminalizing the IRA 204
9 Themes and Characters 215
10 Post Troubles? 236
Conclusion 242
Chronology 245
Filmography 247
Chapter Notes 251
Bibliography 260
Index 265
Book Reviews & Awards
“This interesting volume on political cinema examines depictions of the Irish Republican Army in film and television”—Reference & Research Book News.
