Join us for free screenings of films from the IFI Irish Film Archive. Simply collect tickets at IFI Box Office.

This programme is in two parts:

Part 1 plays on Mondays.
Part 2 plays on Wednesdays.
Parts 1 & 2 play on Saturdays.

Ireland the Tear and the Smile

Aimed at US television audiences, this two-parter, presented by TV legend Walter Kronkite, “the most trusted man in America” was written by Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen, and filmed by Bob Monks. It aimed to provide an accurate picture of life in Ireland in 1960 recording the opinions of an impressive range of political, literary and cultural figures including: President Eamon de Valera, Taoiseach Seán Lemass, Seán O Faolain, Siobhan McKenna, Brendan Behan, Nora Connolly O’Brien, Sybil Connolly and Barbara Dickson, Women’s Editor of The Irish Times. It also includes vivid images of urban and rural life, Dublin pub scenes, gambling, Maoinis and Carna in the west of Ireland, and harrowing scenes of emigration.

FILM INFO: 27 mins, USA, 1961, Digital, Black & White

The programme can be viewed in full at our Archive at Lunchtime: Double Bill