External Site: The Radharc Film and Document Collection[info]
Radharc was an Irish television documentary religious affairs 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 inauguration of television broadcasting in Ireland by RTÉ in December 1961. The film unit was staffed exclusively by Catholic priests, including Joe Dunn, Desmond Forristal and Sean Lemass. The Irish language word radharc means vision, view, or panorama.
The Radharc collection is one of the most important and substantial bodies of work held by the Irish Film Institute. The collection totals some 2,340 cans and 2,093 broadcast quality tapes. Over 130 documentaries deal with non-Irish issues. The material acquired comprises the various preservation elements required to produce a finished documentary, including soundtracks, voiceovers, sound effects, off cuts, final mix negatives, cutting copies and final prints, with copyright in the films shared between the Radharc Trust and RTÉ.
A number of the titles can be viewed freely on the website.