''Radharc'' was an Irish television documentary series broadcast by

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

from 1962 until 1996. The documentaries were created by a film unit funded by the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Archbishop of Dublin,

John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive governme ...

, in anticipation of the inauguration of television broadcasting in Ireland by RTÉ in December 1961.Radharc A Celebration
RTÉ Archives, 2012-11-19.

History and operations

Initially founded in the late 1950s by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin The Archdiocese of Dublin ( ga, Ard-Deoise Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the eastern part of Ireland. Its archepiscopal ...

, the ''Radharc'' film unit was staffed exclusively by Catholic priests, including the founders Joe Dunn and

Desmond Forristal Desmond Forristal (1930–2012), was an Irish priest, writer, and along with Fr. Joseph Dunn, the founder of Radharc, for which he worked as a writer and director. Desmond Timothy Forristal was born in Dublin in 1930, and lived in Glasnevin. He w ...

(1930-2012), as well as Peter Lemass. The

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

word ''

radharc ''Radharc'' was an Irish television documentary series broadcast by RTÉ Television from 1962 until 1996. The documentaries were created by a film unit funded by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, in anticipation of the inau ...

'' means vision, view, or panorama. ''Radharc'' produced over 400 programmes, with filming occurring in over 75 countries. It was also the first independently produced series on RTÉ Television. Fr. Dermod McCarthy, editor of RTÉ Religious Programmes from 1991 to 2008, worked as a producer for Radharc from 1965 to 1982. Others who worked for Radharc include Fr. Liam Swords, Fr. Tom Stack and Liam O'Rinn. Others who featured in producing some of the films include, the actor

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his int ...

who introduced and narrated a number of radharc films, Cardinal

Tomás Ó Fiaich Tomás Séamus Cardinal Ó Fiaich KGCHS (3 November 1923 – 8 May 1990) was an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Catholic Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh from 1977 until his death. He was created a Cardinal ...

, the broadcaster

Andy O'Mahony Andy O'Mahony is an Irish broadcast journalist who worked for RTÉ (Raidio Telefís Éireann) from 1961 to 2013. He was one of the network's first television news anchors, and thereafter was a radio and television host of various long-running ...

and journalist

Richard Crowley Richard Crowley (December 14, 1836 – July 22, 1908) was a United States representative from New York. He was born in Pendleton, New York. He attended the public schools and Lockport Union School. Later, he studied law, was admitted to the bar ...

. Radharc Films ceased production following the death of Joe Dunn in 1996.

Awards

The series won its only Jacob's Television Award in 1963, as ''Most Enterprising Programme''.''The

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', "Presentation of television awards and citations", 4 December 1963 * 1966 -"Turkana (Radharc/RTÉ)" First Prize UNDA/WACC Monte Carlo * 1968 - "The Restless Knives (Radharc/RTÉ)" First Prize - General Interest Category UNDA/WACC Monte Carlo * 1977 - "Heirs of the Father" (Radharc/RTÉ) First Prize Drama/Liturgy/Entertainment UNDA/WACC

Influence and archive

''Radharc'' has been the subject of academic research, including about the changing representation of priests on Irish television. ''The Radharc Squad'' produced and directed by

Ruán Magan Ruán Magan (born 1968) is an Irish director, producer, writer and creator whose work in drama, documentary, theatre and major stadium events has been recognised with over 40 international industry awards and has reached audiences of millions ar ...

for Tyrone Productions in 2013, was a two part documentary on Radharc. It was shown on RTÉ and won the

Irish Film & Television Academy The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

"Best Current Affairs" prize in 2013. The Radharc Trust is a charity which was formed to maintain and oversee the archive of Radharc materials.

Documentaries

Irish documentaries

* ''Brigid's Night - Lá 'Le Bríde'' (1961) * ''Croagh Patrick, Mass Rock & Men's Sodality'' (1962) * ''Paddy The Cope - Templecrone Co-op'' (1962) * ''Young Offender'' (1963) * ''Open Port'' (1968) * ''The Road to Nowhere'' (1971) * ''Dying for a Drink'' (1983) * ''When Ireland Starved (1): Causes Of Poverty'' (1992) * ''When Ireland Starved (2): THE Irish Holocaust'' (1992) * ''When Ireland Starved (3): Managing The Famine'' (1992) * ''When Ireland Starved (4): Exodus'' (1992)

International documentaries

* ''Night flight to Uli – Famine in Biafra'' (1960) * ''High Noon In Chol Chol'', Director Fr. Dermot McCarthy, editor Liam O'Rinn (1982) * ''Cuba – Land of Hope and Glory'' (1986) * ''Guatemala – Where the Pope is a Communist'' (1984) * ''Life and Death in Bali'' (1980) * ''Who is for Liberation'' (1980) * ''The Gaucho Irish – The Irish of Argentina'' * ''The Black Irish – the Irish of Montserrat in the Caribbean'' (1976)The Black Irish of Montserrat Irish accents in the Caribbean
www.youtube.com * ''The French Connection' (1993) * ''Irish And The Making Of Canada'' (1993) * ''NYPD Green'' (1995) * ''Travellers of Murphy Village – Irish Travellers in the US'' (1995)

References

External links

The Radharc Film Archive
* {{IMDb title, tt0474510
RTÉ Archives – Radharc exhibition
1962 Irish television series debuts 1996 Irish television series endings 1960s Irish television series 1970s Irish television series 1980s Irish television series 1990s Irish television series Irish documentary television series Jacob's Award winners RTÉ original programming Television production companies of Ireland Catholic media Irish religious television series