National Library of Ireland
Archive for ‘Portfolio Category’
Home : Carrickmacross Workhouse
A deeply moving ‘imagining’ of a family’s experience in the Carrickmacross Workhouse during the Famine years
The Carrickmacross Workhouse was one of 130 Workhouses built throughout Ireland between 1841 and 1843 to house the poor, hence the Irish name of Teach na mBocht – The Poorhouse.
The poor had to apply for admission to the Workhouse and successful applicants had to surrender any land before entering as ‘inmates’.
Once admitted, they were subjected to a strict regime: families were segregated and forbidden from seeing each other without permission; their diet was meagre and unvarying; difficult, and often pointless, work had to be undertaken; there was little heat and no comfort.
These deliberately harsh conditions meant that Workhouses quickly became known as the Poor Man’s Jail, and the poor only applied for admission as their last resort.
Home is a deeply moving ‘imagining’ of a family’s experience in the Carrickmacross Workhouse during the Famine years. It describes their ‘fall’ as a result of successive crop failures due to potato blight, leading them inexorably to the Workhouse, and their lives within these walls.
The story also highlights the Earl Grey Scheme under which 4,114 girls between the ages of 14 and 18 were emigrated from Irish Workhouses to Australia as wives and servants of the settlers and convicts there.
This number included 38 girls from Carrickmacross Workhouse.
Client : Monaghan County Council
Voice Talent: Leah Leslie
Writer : Leah Leslie
Producer : Mark Leslie
Director : Luke Leslie
Illustrations : Holly Ingram
Storyboards : Matthew Shiell
Animations : Daniel McNicholl, Rafael Araújo de Medeiros & Luke Leslie
3D Models : Iván Pais Nieto
3D Model Textures : Alex Glenn Murray
Original Music : Jonathan Casey
Traditional Vocals : Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin
Violin : Anna Rice
Cello : Ailbhe McDonagh
Recording Studio : Red Box
Special thanks to : Mayo County Library Service, Maggie Land Blanck Collection, and Views of the Famine for their 19th Century Prints. With calligraphy by Christiane Foller.
Ormond Castle : Elizabeth Berkeley
Ormond Castle was the medieval stronghold of the powerful Butler dynasty. Thomas Butler 10th Earl of Ormond built an Elizabethan manor house onto the front in 1665, ostensibly to please his English wife. But the iconography of the decorative plasterwork suggests that ‘Black Tom’ Butler expected a visit from his royal cousin Queen Elizabeth I.
The exhibition room is a holding area for guide-led tours. The restored 16th-century ambiance is maintained by reproductions of period woodcuts, paintings, and tapestries. These are arranged in a sequence that follows the story of Tom Butler’s pivotal role in the downfall of the Fitzgerald dynasty. Interactive digital books on Tudor lecterns provide information in eight languages. Digital technology has been used to transform John Derricke’s famous woodcuts into two spectacular animated movies. The emotional tension between Tom Butler, and two Elizabeths – one his wife – the other his queen, is presented from contrasting standpoints, in two complementary audiovisual dramas.
Client : OPW – Ormond Castle
Voice Over : Tara Flynn
Director : Luke Leslie
Writer : Leah Leslie & Mark Leslie
Production Manager : John Raftery
Storyboard Artist : Matthew Shiell
Illustrations : Holly Ingram, Alan Dunne, Brian Gallagher
Horse Animations : Ivan Pais Nieto
Original Score : Jonathan Casey
Featuring Traditional Music by Kíla
Ormond Castle : Thomas Butler
Ormond Castle was the medieval stronghold of the powerful Butler dynasty. Thomas Butler 10th Earl of Ormond built an Elizabethan manor house onto the front in 1665, ostensibly to please his English wife. But the iconography of the decorative plasterwork suggests that ‘Black Tom’ Butler expected a visit from his royal cousin Queen Elizabeth I.
The exhibition room is a holding area for guide-led tours. The restored 16th-century ambiance is maintained by reproductions of period woodcuts, paintings, and tapestries. These are arranged in a sequence that follows the story of Tom Butler’s pivotal role in the downfall of the Fitzgerald dynasty. Interactive digital books on Tudor lecterns provide information in eight languages. Digital technology has been used to transform John Derricke’s famous woodcuts into two spectacular animated movies. The emotional tension between Tom Butler, and two Elizabeths – one his wife – the other his queen, is presented from contrasting standpoints, in two complementary audiovisual dramas.
Client : OPW – Ormond Castle
Voice Over : Stephen Brennan
Director : Luke Leslie
Writer : Leah Leslie & Mark Leslie
Production Manager : John Raftery
Storyboard Artist : Matthew Shiell
Illustrations : Holly Ingram, Alan Dunne, Brian Gallagher
Horse Animations : Ivan Pais Nieto
Original Score : Jonathan Casey
Featuring Traditional Music by Kíla
Saving Kilmainham – Teaser
