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AR SON NA POBLACHTA

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Ar Son na Poblachta returns to RTÉ One screens as the decade of centenaries continues.  Now we will address the next turbulent period of our history – Cogadh na Saoirse / The War of Independence, bringing some fresh insights, fresh narratives of real people that cast light and understanding on our past.

In this three part series Ar Son na Poblachta will explore the issues and forces at play as war unfolded on the city streets and country roads across Ireland.  One important episode, which is seared into the public imagination, took place in the same streets, houses and in the same stadium where, 100 years on, we live out our 21st Century lives. That event is “Bloody Sunday” 21st Nov 1920.

The original “Bloody Sunday” is a stark example of the vicious nature of the military campaign for independence and the bloody counter-measures undertaken by the British Authorities, loathe to even acknowledge the “disorder” as a war.

Episode 1

In the first episode of the trio we lay out the key forces and the lead up to that challenge match between Dublin & Tipperary in Croke Park – this in the context of the increasingly bloody war which was being fought in a new and irregular way, characterised by assassination, reprisal and counter-reprisal.

“This is an assassination war, this is an intelligence war, this is a propaganda war…” Liz Gillis

As important as the military & guerrilla campaigns were, on both sides the intelligence and propaganda campaigns were equally, if not more vital, as the body count inexorably rose.

The attack by Crown forces (a combined force of Black & Tans, RIC & Auxiliaries backed up by British Military) on Croke Park shortly after 15.15hrs that Sunday resulted in 14 deaths, among them Tipperary Captain Michael Hogan, Jane Boyle, a young woman due to marry the following week and William ( Perry ) Robinson a young boy who was shot out of a tree.

“It only lasted 90 seconds …not that long but it was enough to kill 14 people and leave an indelible mark on Irish history…” Michael Foley, Author – “The Bloodied Field”

The impact of this attack was out of proportion to the body count. It reinforced a changed relationship between the GAA and Republicanism. World Headlines drew attention to the failure of the British Authorities who continued to claim that they had the “disorder” under control and represented a distinct shift in public opinion.

However the deaths of 14 following the Croke Park attack was not the only bloody event that Sunday and as Episode #1 draws to a close we reveal that there’s another bloody story to be told – the assassination of 14 British Officers in their beds by the IRA across Dublin city that morning….

Contributors to the series include:

Eunan Ó hAilpín

Anthony Ryan

Ciara Breathnach

Richard Staveley

Diarmaid Ferriter

Aogán Ó Fearghaill

Tómas MacConmara

Michael Foley

Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh

Cormac Ó Comhraí

Liz Gillis

Presenter / Reporter : PÁDRAIG O’DRISCOLL

Producer /Directors : FRANK HAND & DIARMUID GOGGINS

Exec Producer : KEVIN CUMMINS