Terrible Beauty, drama made by Bernard Clarke for RTE lyric fm, first broadcast 29/12/2016 as part of the Lyric Feature. Terrible Beauty won the Grand Prix Marulić 2017
The piece re-imagines the Easter Rising from a single point of view, that of Irish Volunteer, Gerald Doyle.
Doyle was a member of B Company of the Fourth Battalion of the Irish Volunteers. His experiences of the Rising - and the brutal aftermath - are recorded in a witness statement he gave to the Bureau of Irish Military History.
The original document is “From the Bureau of Military History 1913-21. Statement by Witness. Document No. W.S. 1511” by Gerald Doyle.
This documentary account is brought to life in Bernard Clarke’s sonic version, combining memoir, dramatic scenes and sound design.
Credits[]
Script adaptation, sound design and narration by Bernard Clarke
Commissioning editor, Aodán Ó’Dubhghaill
Archive Voices
Margaret Skinnider (1892 – 1971) On Stephen’s Street, Dublin in 1916 “I Was There” RTÉ Tape AA016791, RTÉ Sound Archives Library, Dublin
Joe Guilfoyle ( 1897-19730 On fighting in 1916, Bolands Flour Mills, Dublin) “I Was There” RTÉ Tape AA016791, RTÉ Sound Archives Library, Dublin
Leslie Bean de Barra (1893 – 1984) On her memories of Easter Monday 1916 “Women of the Rising” RTÉ Tape AA160463, RTÉ Sound Archives Library, Dublin
Other Voices
Zoe Crawford, Emer Byrden, Ian McGlynn, Michael O’Kane, Colin Barker, Darryl Lucas, Alan Dunn, Sean O’Brien, Paul Herriot, Dennis Waterman
Music: Brendan Behan Who Fears to Speak of Easter Week?
Special thanks to all above for time, favours and talent. Also special thanks to Rob Canning (RTE Archives), Olga Buckley, Eoin O'Kelly (producers RTE Lyric FM) and Aodán Ó'Dubhghaill
This programme is dedicated to the memory of Gerald Doyle
The piece was adapted, narrated and sound designed by Bernard Clarke and originally aired in RTÉ The Lyric Feature 2017 produced by Olga Buckley and Eoin O’Kelly.