The majestic Giant’s Causeway in Co Antrim takes center stage in this 1953 film that's now available to stream on the Irish Film Institute's IFI Archive Player.
In "The Causeway of the Giants," a Pathétone Weekly cinemagazine, a man clambers on some of the 37,000 basalt rock columns as a narrator describes the Giant's Causeway location as one of the ‘wonders of the world’. Most of the rocks are hexagonal in shape but there is one octagonal rock is known as the Keystone.
Good fortune awaits those who sit in the Wishing Chair or drink from the Wishing Well.
The narrator tells the legend of how an Irish giant built the causeway while trying to get to Scotland to fight a rival. He then adds how "it is probably really formed by volcanic action’ and is ‘one of the most superb rock formations in the world."
This short film is part of the Irish Film Institute's The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State which explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.
The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State at the Irish Film Institute
The Easter Rising, the War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War formed one of the most turbulent political periods in Ireland’s history. The impact of this struggle would define the social and political landscape of the emerging Irish Free State.
The Early Irish Free State Collection leads on from the IFI's previous historical release The Irish Independence Collection and explores aspects of the nation. Film production in Ireland was of low political and economic priority during this period and the newsreels, documentaries and cinémagazines in this collection were filmed by the non-indigenous agency, British Pathé. Although this representation of Ireland through a foreign lens offers us a very specific view of the fledgling nation, it also documents aspects of Irish life that may otherwise not have been recorded. We see parts of the country struggling with potato blight, traditional craft-making and the isolated way of life of the western islanders, in stark contrast to modern developments such as the development of hydro-power, manufacturing fairs, the promotion of brand Ireland and finally the beginning of the Irish Border, a concern which would return in this century.
These Irish newsreel stories were not held in an Irish archive until very recently and many had not been made available to the public since their distribution nearly 100 years ago. With the support of the Department of Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht, the Irish Film Institute was able to work with the original custodians of these collections (the British Film Institute and British Pathé) in order to repatriate, safeguard and share these vital visual records. By digitizing the fragile, original nitrate film prints to high-definition format, historians, academics, and the public can now witness details not evident in the standard definition versions of the material, previously available.
The Early Irish Free State Collection enlists the expertise of Brenda Malone, of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), to examine and add context to depicted events, people, and locations, many of which were originally missed by non-Irish cataloguers. Additionally, Brenda links artifacts held at NMI, that carve out a broader, contextual historical map of politics, folklife, religion, and tourism in the Irish Free State. Through this multiplicity of perspectives, we are able to see a nation forging its identity whilst grappling with the legacy of its tumultuous history.
"The Causeway of Giants" is published here with thanks to the Irish Film Institute (IFI), who IrishCentral has partnered up with to bring you a taste of what their remarkable collection entails. You can find all IrishCentral articles and videos from the IFI here.
To watch more historic Irish footage, visit the IFI Archive Player, the Irish Film Institute’s virtual viewing room that provides audiences around the globe free, instant access to Irish heritage preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive. Irish Culture from the last century is reflected through documentaries, animation, adverts, amateur footage, feature films, and much more. You can also download the IFI Archive Player Apps for free on iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.
IrishCentral has partnered up with the IFI to bring you a taste of what their remarkable collections entail. You can find all IrishCentral articles and videos from the IFI here.
*Originally published in August 2023. Updated in May 2024.
