South Armagh voices on RTÉ's 'The Silent Civil War'

An RTÉ documentary series 'The Silent Civil War' concludes tonight Wednesday 3 May with several South Armagh connected speakers involved. Episode 2 airs at 9.35pm tonight on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and will feature a number of compelling accounts from locally based descendants of the Civil War in Ireland.

South Armagh Historian Kevin Murphy gives great context to the situation and the bitterness and the abandonment that those in the border counties felt when the Civil War began while  Dr Rory O'Hanlon speaks about his family’s involvement in Anti-Treaty IRA Civil War in South Armagh and border areas. Also speaking will be Dr Síobhra Aiken, QUB Lecturer who interviews her grandfather Frank Aiken Jr, son of Irish Civil War revolutionary and politician Frank Aiken. Frank details how the Civil War found his father and recounts him burning everything when he resigned. 

The documentary series also unearths over 30 hours of previously unheard audio recordings of 32 prominent figures involved in those revolutionary years in Ireland. Recorded by a young American researcher, Harlan J. Strauss, as part of his post-graduate work in 1972, the tapes feature original recordings of Frank Aiken, Dan Breen, Peadar O’Donnell, Máire Comerford, John A. Costello, Ernest Blythe, Seán Dowling among many others. Those tapes have remained untouched for fifty years.

RTÉ Director General, Dee Forbes said: “I am so proud of this important two-part documentary series which we are bringing, with the support of our partners, to RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and which forms part of the latest chapter of RTÉ’s continuing commemoration of the Decade of Centenaries. The inclusion of invaluable memories of the Civil War that were passed on through families and communities throughout Ireland, along with audio recordings of men and women central to this revolutionary period in Irish history bring powerful and significant perspectives to the complicated story which has shaped modern Ireland.” 

Dr Sandra Collins, University Librarian at University College Dublin said: “We are delighted to add these voices recounting the impact of the Civil War to the National Folklore Collection in UCD Library. Having the interviews preserved and available in the National Folklore Collection supports research and teaching across the university, and enables us to increase awareness and engagement across Ireland and internationally. This is a very valuable addition to a range of successful activities carried out by UCD throughout the Decade of Centenaries.” 

Liam McGrath, Executive Producer of The Silent Civil War said: “It was a great privilege for our team to sit down and record so many people about the stories of the Irish Civil War that were passed down to them. We are delighted that all these interviews will be preserved for future generations to learn from.”

The Silent Civil War is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries Programme, 2012 – 2023. Commissioned by RTÉ, this series was produced by Scratch Films in association with the National Folklore Collection, UCD and RTÉ Archives.

Key members of Silent Civil War Memory Project Historical team include: Dr. Conor Mulvagh, UCD School of History, Dr. Críostóir MacCárthaigh, National Folklore Collection, Dr. Mary McAuliffe, Tomás MacConmara, Liz Gillis, Caitlin White, Dr Síobhra Aiken and Thomas O’Callaghan.

The television series is accompanied by a library of supporting pieces written by those involved in the project. This is available on www.rte.ie/history 

IF you missed the first episode or want to watch either of the two part series later you can access them via the RTÉ Player.