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

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...

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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, 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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of Roman civilization * Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter ...

, the ''Radharc'' film unit was staffed exclusively by Catholic priests, including the founders Joe Dunn and Desmond Forristal (1930-2012), as well as Peter Lemass. The

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

word '' radharc'' 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 who introduced and narrated a number of radharc films, Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich, the broadcaster Andy O'Mahony and journalist Richard Crowley. 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 was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', "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 for Tyrone Productions in 2013, was a two part documentary on Radharc. It was shown on RTÉ and won the Irish Film & Television Academy "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

* * {{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 Irish documentary television series Jacob's Award winners RTÉ original programming Television production companies of Ireland Catholic media Irish religious television series