Galway Airport stages its own version of the Rising!

A new three-part bilingual drama series pitched as an Irish ‘Back to the Future’ has filmed all its key scenes at a Galway Airport hangar, which was transformed into the GPO of 1916.

‘Éirí Amach Amú’, or ‘Wrecking the Rising’ is a comedy drama written by James Phelan, who wrote ‘Rasaí na Gaillimhe’ for TG4.   Tile Films were commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and TG4 to make the series to be broadcast around Easter 2016 to mark the centenary of the Rising.

The plot revolves around three modern day history enthusiasts from Dublin, who travel back in time to 1916, just as the Easter Rising is about to break out.

Their first act on arrival is to accidentally kill Pádraig Pearse. Realising they have inadvertently ruined the Rising before it has even begun; they must somehow concoct a plan to keep history on course.

But these three self-proclaimed Rising experts find that they are altering history at every turn. Soon they are battling not only for their own futures but the entire country’s future too.

The cast includes Peter Coonan (‘Love/Hate’), Owen McDonnell (‘An Klondike’), Sean T Ó Meallaigh (‘Charlie’), Jeanne O’Connor (‘Sineater’), Enda Oates (‘Moone Boy’ and recent IFTA winner for ‘Fair City’), Eva Jane Gaffney (‘What Richard Did’) and Olga Wehrly (‘Dark Touch’).

As well as the three main protagonists – including a fluent Peter Coonan, who went to a gaelscoil in Dublin – Irish is spoken by all the gaelgeoirs during the Rising.

“It’s kind of a Back to the Future with a touch of Monty Python. It’s going to be shown after all the serious stuff and will be a more light-hearted take on the Rising,” explained executive producer Stephen Rooke.

“Although it is a comedy and a little bit of a piss take of 1916, it is educational and gives quite a good insight into what happened. All the characters featured in the GPO, events are set around an accurate timeline.”

See full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.