Irish Destiny

Irish Destiny
Poster
Directed by	George Dewhurst
Written by	Isaac Eppel
Starring	Paddy Dunne Cullinan Frances Macnamarra
Production company	Eppels Films Ltd.
Release date	24 March 1926 (1926-03-24)
Running time	73 minutes (5 reels)
Country	Ireland
Languages	Silent film English intertitles

Irish Destiny is a 1926 Irish film directed by George Dewhurst and written by Isaac Eppel produced in the Irish Free State period to mark the tenth anniversary of the Easter Rising. A cut version was released in Britain, entitled An Irish Mother. ^{[1] [2]}

The film was considered lost for many years until in 1991 a single surviving nitrate print was located by the Irish Film Institute in the United States' Library of Congress. The institute's archive had the film transferred to safety stock and restored. The institute then commissioned Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin to write a new score for the film. ^{[3] [4]}

Irish Destiny is the first fiction film that deals with the Irish War of Independence, and the first and only film written and produced by Isaac (Jack) Eppel, a Jewish Dublin GP and pharmacist who also enjoyed a career as theater impresario and cinema owner. ^{[5] [6]}

Cast

• Paddy Dunne Cullinan as Denis O'Hara
• Frances Macnamarra as Moira Barry, a schoolteacher and Denis' fiancée
• Daisy Campbell as Mrs. O'Hara, Denis' mother
• Clifford Pembroke as Mr. O'Hara, Denis' father
• Brian Magowan as Gilbert Beecher, a gang leader of the poteen-makers
• Cathal MacGarvey as Shanahan, a jarvey
• Evelyn Henchey as Kitty Shanahan's daughter
• Kit O'Malley as Captain Kelly, commandant, Clonmore Battalion, IRA
• Val Vousden as Priest
• Tom Flood as Intelligence Officer, IRA headquarters
• Derek Eppel as Schoolboy
• Simon Eppel as man with cigar at Vaughan's Hotel

References

1. "An Irishman's Diary". The Irish Times.
2. Pettitt, Lance (6 January 2000). Screening Ireland: Film and Television Representation. Manchester University Press. ISBN   9780719052705 – via Google Books.
3. Flynn, Roddy; Tracy, Tony (9 August 2019). Historical Dictionary of Irish Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   9781538119587 – via Google Books.
4. O'Flynn, John (5 July 2017). The Irishness of Irish Music. Routledge. ISBN   9781351543378 – via Google Books.
5. Flynn, Roderick; Brereton, Patrick (30 July 2007). Historical Dictionary of Irish Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   9780810864351 – via Google Books.
6. Dobson, Nichola (6 January 2010). The A to Z of Animation and Cartoons. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   9780810876231 – via Google Books.

External links

• Irish Destiny at IMDb
• Cornerhouse article
• Irish Destiny on DVD
• Irish Destiny 1926 Paddy Dunne Cullinan, Frances Macnamarra, Daisy Campbell on YouTube