Radharc Films, also known as the Radharc Trust, is an Irish charity which oversees the

film archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

of the ''

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 ...

'' series of documentary programs. The organisation is based in

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The archive, overseen by the trust, includes a collection of over 400 topical and religious documentaries spanning over 30 years.

History

Radharc was Ireland's first independent television production company, filming their first television documentary in 1961. Primarily run by Catholic priests, the film company produced a religious programme, titled ''

'', which was broadcast on

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 ...

for 35 years. The company made programmes until the death of founder Fr Joe Dunn in 1996. From 1997, the focus of the Radharc Trust changed from producing new programming to a "mandate to preserve and promote both the substance of the programmes and the values they championed". The Radharc Archive was set up and overseen by the Radharc Trust, with the physical resources in the collection held by the

Irish Film Institute The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, ...

and the

RTÉ Archives (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

. The archive contains over 400 documentary films, recorded over several decades, as well as associated documentation, research materials and correspondence. A 2013 programme, ''The Radharc Squad'', which included footage provided by the archive, won the "Best Current Affairs/Factual Programme" award at the 10th Irish Film & Television Awards. The Radharc Trust also hosts the biennial ''Radharc Awards''. Founded in 2002, these awards are given to the producers of documentary films which reflect the "spirit of Radharc" and deal with social justice, morality or faith-related topics.

References

External links

Radharc Films website
Film archives in the Republic of Ireland {{film-org-stub

History

See also

References

External links