"The Irish in Film"

Three of the four diverse films will be introduced by a faculty member who teaches in the Irish Studies minor.  The fourth will be introduced by special guest Williams Rossa Cole, director and documentary filmmaker.

The series begins on On October 8 with "Michael Collins" (1996), directed by Neil Jordan and set during Ireland's War of Independence.  Actor Liam Neeson stars in the title role as the heroic leader of the Irish Volunteers, and Stephan Rea plays Ned Bray, an Ulster Protestant and government employee sympathetic to the Republican cause.  Alan Rickman plays Eamon De Valera, who opposes the treaty with Britain that leads to the Irish Civil War.  The drama includes Aidan Quinn as Irish rebel Harry Boland and Julia Roberts as Kitty Kiernan, with whom Boland and Collins fall in love.  Jordan's film illustrates the violence of Ireland's turbulent beginnings. 

Dr. William Abbott, Co-Director of the Irish Studies Program, who teaches in the History Department, will introduce the film and afterwards lead the Q. & A.