RTÉ Documentaries

Gerry Ryan's distinctive voice, infectious laugh and unforgettable character are forever missed by his loyal listeners since his passing 10 years ago. We get a unique insight into the legendary broadcaster, using unseen archive footage from Gerry’s life and many contributions from those close to him.

The story of how David Gray, a broke Welsh singer, made an album in his spare room that became the biggest selling of all time in Ireland.

The sequel to The Enemy Files: Easter 1916, this is the story of a guerrilla war as told in the testimonies of those who tried to suppress it. Presented by Michael Portillo, Hawks and Doves: The Crown and Ireland’s War of Independence draws on 'the enemy files’ to explore the point of view of the British politicians, officials, and generals tasked with suppressing the republican insurrection of 1919-21. From the earliest memoirs by Volunteer leaders such as Tom Barry – which depicted a heroic struggle in which guerrilla fighters prevailed against overwhelming odds – to the more even-handed histories of recent years, our understanding of the War of Independence is largely shaped by Irish perspectives. New sources, such as the Military Service Pension records, have reinforced the centrality of republican agency to our understanding of the conflict, with study after study reconstructing the IRA’s campaign in almost every Irish county. But what happens if we reverse this perspective?

In March 2010, two American women, including one who named herself ‘Jihad Jane’, were arrested in a number of high-profile arrests in Waterford, Ireland, which were trumpeted by the US attorney’s office as ‘the new face of terrorism’. Facing huge jail sentences, the two women pleaded guilty but now for the first time ever, with unprecedented access, Jihad Jane tells the story of the most absurd terror cell ever to come together.

Details the British government's role in the murder of over 120 civilians in counties Armagh and Tyrone. The so-called Glenanne Gang rampaged through those two counties, and across the Republic Of Ireland in a campaign that lasted from July 1972 to the end of 1978. The British government knew that collusion was going on and condoned it. The suffering of victims and survivors is today compounded by the refusal of both the Irish and British governments in dealing with the past by facing up to their responsibilities in pursuing truth and justice for those affected. The film hopes to redress an imbalance within public discourse while also offering a contextual appreciation of these tragic events from the perspectives of the families themselves, an important procedure not adequately afforded by institutional broadcasters in cases of state violence.

On the afternoon of the November 21st 1920, a combined police and military force, with orders to carry out a search operation, descended on Croke Park, Dublin, where a Gaelic football game between Tipperary and Dublin was taking place. What unfolded there was a massacre that changed Irish history. Ninety seconds of shooting claimed 14 lives. For nearly a century, the full story of what happened on Bloody Sunday was locked away; the story of the Croke Park victims was lost. This documentary, based on the award-winning book, ‘The Bloodied Field’, by Michael Foley, lifts the veil on that story, recounting the events of one of the darkest days of the Irish War of Independence from the perspective of those who participated and perished in its horror. Featuring contributions from family members of those who died on the field, as well as leading historians and academics, this programme recounts the dramatic events of a vicious day, and places them within a wider context of national identity and cultural history. It also explores our relationship to myth, collective memory and commemoration. Broadcast on the week when the centenary of Bloody Sunday will be marked at Croke Park and elsewhere, the documentary brings to life one fateful day during a complex tit-for-tat war in which spies, informers and agents were commonplace.

In 1845, a potato blight arrived in Ireland that would lead to the deaths of over a million people and the emigration of even more. This major new documentary tells the story of the Famine and its consequences in Ireland.

Baz Ashmawy makes the trip to Kerry in the aftermath of Fungie the Dingle Dolphin’s disappearance to explore the magic and the mystery of the cheeky, solitary, wild dolphin who made Dingle Bay his home for 37 years.

John B Keane's son, broadcaster and writer, Billy Keane, goes in search of the truth behind the murder that inspired his father's most famous work. Billy explores the story behind The Field and looks at its progression from real murder to theatre to film.

Documentary telling the story of Johnny Cash’s 1963 Irish tour and his relationship with Ireland, with unique archive and first hand accounts of a troubled time in Johnny Cash’s life. Featuring Irish people who saw him up close and personal in rural venues around the country.