06: Golden Jubilee of 1916 in Colour

Colour film of commemoration events held around the country to mark the golden jubilee of the Rising.

In 1966 Telefís Éireann, was broadcasting in black and white. Any recordings of commemoration events to mark the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising would only exist in black and white.

Television producer Michael Johnston came up with the idea of using colour film to document the Easter Week events in Dublin and around the country. The thinking being that these films would exist as a colour record of commemorations marking the Golden Jubilee of the Easter Rising.  

RTÉ cameramen, Stuart Hetherington, Godfrey Graham and Will Warham recorded the official public ceremonies in Dublin on 16mm colour film. This means that RTÉ Archives now have colour footage of the ceremonies in O'Connell Street, at the Garden of Remembrance, Kilmainham Jail, the unveiling of the Thomas Davis statue and the pageant at Croke Park. 

Outside of Dublin, cameramen were also engaged to record parades and events in Galway, Limerick, Cork, Monaghan, Tralee and Cloughjordan. These colour films are an additional record to the broadcast coverage.

Presented here is footage shot at 14 events in Dublin and around the country which have been edited by RTÉ Archives.