Irish Film Institute has released hours of Irish historical footage for free

THE IRISH Film Institute (IFI) have released hours of footage of the last century’s most important events in Ireland

The archival footage documents over 100 years of Irish achievements and experiences, spanning from 1897 to the present day.

Some of the most important social, political and historical events of the last century are represented, giving Irish people instant access to their past.

The release encompasses both amateur and professional material - be they home movies, newsreels, travelogues, animations, feature films, public information films or documentaries.

JFK’s final visit to Ireland five months before his assassination is just one of pieces released as part of the IFI Player launch.

“June 26, 1963 is a memorable day in the life of Ireland,” says the narrator. “This is the day that the Irish people anxiously awaited, for today JFK arrives among them.”

A never-before-seen advert featuring a young Bob Geldof is also now accessible, in which the Dublin singer takes aim at phone box vandals.

“Phone wreckers are idiots,” Geldof declares in classic 1980s garb.

Other collections include an early 1940s travelogue promoting Galway as an attractive tourist destination, to newsreel coverage in the Irish language of the 1962 Rose of Tralee final - won by the Dublin Rose, Ciara O’Sullivan.

“The IFI Player is a ground-breaking development for the IFI, as it allows us to fulfil our mission to make our collections from the IFI Irish Film Archive available to a much broader audience base,” said IFI Director Ross Keane.

“We look forward to building on the content over the coming months and years.”

Head of IFI Irish Film Archive, Kasandra O’Connell, said that the IFI Player’s content had been carefully selected to give viewers a taste of the “breadth and depth” of Irish historical footage.

“This project is the result of an extensive Digital Preservation and Access Strategy developed over several years,” she added.

“The final clip of film on the player is the result of months and even years of work by Archive staff.”

The IFI Player’s launch marks a significant step forward in the democratisation of Irish collections, but it’s unlikely to stop there.

With thousands of hours of footage still in the IFI’s vaults, archivists will have a job on their hands deciding what to release next.

The IFI Player can be accessed here.