2009 Irish Film Series

The 2009 Boston College Irish Studies Film Series continues with Fleá Ceoil and O'Donoghue's Opera tonight, March 19, 2009 at 6:30pm in Cushing Hall 001. Fleá Ceoil captures the resurgence of interest in traditional Irish music in the 1960s when Irish folk singers like Dolly McMahon, who appears in the film, were seen as part of a worldwide boom in folk music. O'Donoghue's Opera stars Ronnie Drew and his band of bohemian merrymakers, The Dubliners (shown above). Drew finds himself caught in a hangman's noose as a reward for his dubious career as "the best burglar in all Ireland." The film was shot in 1965, but was left uncompleted after the production ran into financial difficulties. In 1996, filmmaker Sé Merry Doyle oversaw its restoration, and it has since garnered cult status.

The Irish Film Series runs through Thursday, March 26. See the Irish Studies Film Series calendar for additional details.

Image from the International Federation of Television Archives.