Sat 15 July | 11:00 | Pálás Screen 1

2023 | Ireland | 70’ | Documentary

Director Ciara Hyland explores the hidden stories of eight female couples who were at the heart of the Irish Revolution that freed Ireland from the British Empire. These women’s likely lesbianism has largely remained unexamined, denied and hidden from history – until now.

These women were extraordinary in the lives they lived – they were radical in their politics, in their feminism, their socialism and their devotion to freedom and equality. In the end, many of them picked up a gun and went and fought for that freedom and equality. They suffered huge losses but ultimately lived life on their own terms – where the personal was political and their private lives were as radical as their public.

This is also the story of ‘doing gay history’ – the difficulties of finding evidence of love that by necessity had to fly under the radar, the glimpses we get of how people lived in the past and the burden of proof placed on examining gay relationships.

This is a documentary about ‘the love that dares not speak its name’ – found at the very heart of the Irish Revolution.

World Premiere | Post Show discussion will follow

Director/Writer: Ciara Hyland
Producers: Ciara Hyland, Ann Dalton