"Primarily, I Felt I Was Fighting For Ireland"
EXHIBITION : IRELAND AND THE GREAT WAR
About this Item
Emmet Dalton outlines his reasons for joining up and describes the initial reaction of his father to seeing his son in a British Army uniform.
- Title Emmet Dalton Remembers
- 1st Broadcast 07/03/1978
- ContributorCathal O'Shannon (Presenter)
Niall McCarthy (Producer) - Clip Duration 00:02:12
- Material Type Video
- Clip title "Primarily, I Felt I Was Fighting For Ireland"
- Extended description
Emmet Dalton talks about how he came to join the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Cathal O'Shannon asks Dalton did he feel he was joining to fight for Britain, Ireland or little Belgium? Dalton replies, "For all three but primarily I felt I was fighting for Ireland."
Emmet Dalton was only seventeen and felt a sense of adventure in joing up. He also describes the reaction of his father when he arrived home wearing a British Army uniform.
- Information
'Emmet Dalton Remembers' was first broadcast following the death of Emmet Dalton in March 1978. The programme was made in the final eighteen months of his life.
Emmet Dalton had a remarkable life. At the age of seventeen he joined the Dublin Fusiliers and served as a Lieutenant at Guinchy and the Somme and was awarded the Military Cross.
Returning to Ireland he fought in the War of Independence and was with Michael Collins when he was killed at Béal n mBláth. An article in the RTÉ Guide noted that is this wasn't extraordinary enough then,
"Add further that Emmet Dalton became clerk to the first Irish Senate, a first class golfer and international selector, a whiskey and insurance agent, a movie-maker and the founder of Ardmore Studios and his own life assumes something of an epic quality."
(RTÉ Guide August 18, 1978 vol. 2 No 33. p9)
- Local keywords First World War, World War 1, Great War, War, Cathal O'Shannon, Emmet Dalton, Conflicts, Recruiting
- Geographical coverage Ireland
- Genre Factual
- Topic Wars and Conflict
- Publisher Broadcaster RTÉ
- First broadcast channel RTÉ
- Production year 1978
- Country of production Ireland
- Original identifier P75/00078
- IPR restrictions Rights Reserved - Free Access
- Rights terms and conditions
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- Item colour Colour
- Item sound Mono
- Aspect ratio 4:3
- Language used English (eng)
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"Primarily, I Felt I Was Fighting For Ireland"
Broadcast - 07/03/1978
Clip Length - 00:02:12