Westmeath native on ‘Irish Revolution' television series

A Westmeath native is among 20 academics who were interviewed as part of the RTÉ 1 series, ‘The Irish Revolution’, the second part of which aired on Monday of this week.

Castlepollard’s Dr Marie Coleman is a senior lecturer in modern Irish history at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast.

A graduate of University College, Dublin, the subject of Dr Coleman’s doctoral thesis was the revolutionary period in Longford. In recent years, she has worked on the definitive history of the Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstake, on revolutionary-era military service pensions, and violence against women during the Irish Revolution.

The final part of the series airs next Monday night (9.35pm) on RTÉ 1, while the second episode repeats on RTÉ 2 HD this Sunday night at 7.30pm. Episodes one and two can be streamed on RTÉ Player.

The three-part series, narrated by actor Cillian Murphy and tied in with the celebrated Cork University Press publication, ‘The Atlas of the Irish Revolution’, is directed by Ruán Magan, brother of Collinstown-based Manchán Magan.

The first episode, aired on February 11, featured cameos from Westmeath footballers Denis Corroon and John Heslin (taken from the 2017 NFL Division 4 league final in Croke Park), during a segment on the GAA’s role in the build-up to the Irish Revolution.