Episode 1 This major new seven part historical documentary series, narrated by Brendan Gleeson and featuring dramatic reconstructions of key scenes, examines the lives of the seven men who were the signatories of the 1916 Easter Proclamation. This is the first major television series on the Rising since the 50th anniversary, over forty years ago. The seven signatories have become legendary figures in Republican and Nationalist mythology but their personal stories and the factual basis of their lives are often masked or lost in the hagiography.The Proclamation, is, of course, one of the best-known and most often-quoted summary of republican and nationalist aspirations and ambitions. But who were these seven men who drafted and signed it and in doing so effectively signed their own death-warrants. Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, James Connolly, P H Pearse, Éamonn Ceannt, Thomas MacDonagh and Joseph Plunkett are the names but this series goes in search of the men, their backgrounds and their families.Each man had his own story and they were a much more diverse group than is generally realized. One was crippled by polio at the advanced age of 28. Another was an accountant and a gifted piper who had played for Pope Pius X in Rome in 1908. One of them had spent eight years studying for the priesthood while another was a Scotsman by birth. One signatory had spent 15 long years in a British jail before 1900, convicted of Republican crimes and yet another signatory was the son of a wealthy Dublin landlord. The most famous was an educational theorist, a loner with a gift for oratory who was also an acclaimed poet and short story writer. This important series chronicles the story of each man and probes the individual circumstances and chain of events in each man's life that led him to the GPO on Easter Monday 1916, the defining moment in 20th century Irish history. Produced for TG4 by Abú Media - Pierce Boyce and directed by Dathaí Keane, the script was written by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh and music is by Ronan Browne. This project received funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Sound and Vision scheme as well as from the Section 481 support schemes.

• published: 17 Jan 2014
• views: 85