History revisited as the ‘Atlas of the Revolution’ hits television screens

THERE was a full house in Cork Opera House last night for a special preview of The Irish Revolution, RTÉ’s major new documentary.

President Michael D Higgins was in attendance for the screening, which was followed by a debate chaired by historian and TV presenter John Bowman.

The three-part documentary, due to be aired on RTÉ shortly is based on the bestselling Atlas of the Irish Revolution book, the work of a group of historians and academics from UCC.

The enormous 5kg publication, which was Irish Book Of The Year in 2017, covers the story of the revolution as it played out across all 32 counties, including hundreds of images and maps.

Cork University Press said sales of its Atlas of the Irish Revolution have reached more than 28,000 worldwide, including over 2,000 in the US, and the book is now in its fifth print run.

The TV programme, narrated by Cork film star Cillian Murphy, features 3D-CGI mapping as part of the many dramatic visuals and rarely seen images.

“The digitisation of many of these maps for television gives them a new vibrancy, and the visual imagery and archive film footage will supplement the book,” said UCC director of cultural projects Virginia Teehan.

She is an executive producer of The Irish Revolution on behalf of UCC, along with head of RTÉ Cork Colm Crowley.

“It is one of the most successful projects initiated and developed by the university, and its key success has been making scholarship available to the widest available audience,” said Ms Teehan.

Like the book on which it is based, the producers of The Irish Revolution said the TV series tells the story of the period as it has never been told before.

As well as better-known events and personalities, other elements are examined in more detail.

Profits from the special preview will go local charity Cork Penny Dinners.