And the Red Poppies Dance

[Tankie]

anyone watching this? for the basis of some of the discussions on this board I think people should.

I'm finding this really interesting!

[Gnevin]

Very interesting . Very sad too .

[Gnevin]

"1918 RTÉ Television

On RTÉ Television, viewers of the 1918: Ireland and the Great War season will see a moving account of the music of World War One, with evocative performances from Liam Clancy among others, as well as special editions of Nationwide and Would You Believe, a restored documentary presented by Myles Dungan and a Remembrance Service from the Abbey and Adelaide Road Presbyterian Churches. To find out more about all of the television programmes, day by day, use the buttons on the right of this page."
http://www.rte.ie/1918/tv.html

[Tony Baloney]

Very good programme. Shows that rte can make decent productions when they set their mind to it.  There was a very powerful, angry performance of The Green Fields of France by Liam Clancy.

The sheer number of young men but down in their prime is shocking every time I hear them. Twenty thousand lost in a day. Ulster regiment went out with 11500 one day and returned with 5500 the next day. The loss of life and the conditions from the footage and photos is hard to comprehend.

[Tankie]

about time RTE did something decent with my money. Very interesting show, its hard to believe how we have forgotten about these men who put there lives on the line for Ireland and the World but yet we seem to have allowed to wipe them from our memory.

[Doogie Browser]

A very good show and was interesting to see the differing agendas of songs of that time either pro or anti-war and some songs were produced as a riposte to anti war songs. The 36th Ulster Divison suffered massive losses during the battle of the Somme, never been but the Somme heritage centre in Newtownards is meant to be well worth a visit.
RTE is getting a bit of stick but their documentary output has been consistently good in recent years, Hidden History for instance. 
I agree about Liam Clancy, he is always a very emotive singer.

[saffron sam2]

Anywhere I could get a copy of the show? Sounds very interesting.

I have a CD with Liam Clancy doing a version both of "No Man's Land" (as "The Green Fields Of France" was originally known) and "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda".  Breathtaking stuff - you wouldn't listen to the Furey Brothers' version ever again.

[mannix]

i read recently over a thousand mayo lads died there, i  visit the battlefields frequently, they are still digging up the remains of war.Northern France is a great place for war and history buffs.

[Donagh]

An interesting show from a cultural perspective though the potted history from the renowned "historian" Kevin Myers was superficial and at times wildly inaccurate. Liam's stares into the camera were a bit freaky to say the least.   

[orangeman]

Vert very sad - this was a particularly brutal war, fought with mens' limbs - nowadays there are very few casualties and computers make the decisions for us in most cases.

[Rossfan]

At least 10 million lives wasted in an immoral war just because the Bully boy Political leaderships of the European Empires couldnt live in peace with each other.
Then again the whole ethos and foundations of these empires was built on bully boy wars and stealing oher peoples' lands so it was hard to expect anything else from them.

The frightening thing was how the propoganda got so many people to rush off to their deaths.
And in case ye think we are too sophisticated for that kind if thing nowadays - cast ye're minds back to when War Criminal Bush launched his illegal invasion of the sovereign state of Iraq..... the whole US media and 90% of the population seemed caught up the whole frenzied tissue of lies.

If politicians had to fight in the wars they cause we'd have peace forever.

Mind you I still only commemorate those who fought for Irish Freedom from Brits- especially those who fought to defend Irish democracy in the 1918 to 1921 period.

[mannix]

Rossfan, I really must agree with you. BBush has killed a lot of people, he was a poor choice as president and rumsfeld/cheney were the drivers of his tyranny.
By the way sorry to see that a roscommon team lost to a sligo team at the weekend, now if a Mayo team were in that position it would have been different.

[Canalman]

Interesting enough programme. Hope this and the other programmes on the various media channels will finally put paid to this "myth" being pedalled by the likes of Kevin Myers and Myles Dungan about this "forgotten sacrifice" and the "betrayal" of this sacrifice by the Irish State. The Irish in WW1 imo have gotten saturation coverage in the recent weeks and fair enough I suppose.

However, it is still left to TG4 to show the really contentious historical documentaries without the political spin which imo attaches itself to these WW1 "documentaries".
I'm afraid that I will remain somewhat sceptical of this type of programme until the likes of Myers,Dudley Edwards etc cast a non fawning eye on the Dublin Fusiliers, Connaught Rangers, the 36th Ulster Division etc and their actions. I doubt that you will hear Machine Gunners in WW1 referred to as psycopaths and sadists or any unmarried WW1 veterans as closet homosexuals as Irish insurgents have been labelled in the past. Until this happens I'm afraid that I will not buy into this type of programme uncritically.

My father's 2 uncles fought for Britian in WW1 I would like to point out.

[Rossfan]

By the way sorry to see that a roscommon team lost to a sligo team at the weekend, now if a Mayo team were in that position it would have been different.

And I'm equally sorry that Mayo have a Roscommon team as their County Champions 

Canalman - you're spot on there with your comments and the fawning of Myers etc over British Army Regiments named after Irish Provinces.

No relatins of mine ever fought for the British Empire thank God.

[magickingdom]

sounds very interesting, anyone know if it will be repeated? radio kerry had an interesting discussion on kerryman who fought in ww1 yesterday - loads of them including john joe sheehys (an ira leader killed during the civil war) brother who died in the war.