DANIEL O'CONNELL: THE EMANCIPATOR
Presented in partnership with the University of Notre Dame and University College Cork
Sunday, March 1 • 1:45 PM • T2
Followed by a panel discussion with film director Ruán Magan, Dr. Chanté Mouton Kinyon, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, and Dr. Jay Roszman, Lecturer, School of History, University College Cork, moderated by Author and Diplomat, Christopher Morash.
Documentary Feature | North American Premiere
Screening generously sponsored by Andrew Clarke & Chip Sherrill
Written and directed by multi-award-winning filmmaker Ruán Magan and narrated by Domhnall Gleeson, this documentary celebrates the life and legacy of Daniel O’Connell. Marking the 250th anniversary of his birth, the film reveals how his campaigns reshaped Ireland’s political and cultural landscape—positioning O’Connell as a model for later figures, including Frederick Douglass, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. In his time, O’Connell was renowned across the world as a visionary statesman, reformer, and champion of human rights. Known as The Liberator and The Emancipator, O’Connell dedicated his life to the struggle towards achieving Catholic Emancipation, pioneering non-violent mass political mobilization, and inspiring democratic movements around the world. Featuring newly uncovered archival material, the film traces O’Connell’s journey from a young Catholic living under the oppression of British rule to his rise as a lawyer and global advocate for justice.
DIR/SCR/PROD Ruán Magan; PROD Suzanne Colwell; NARRATOR Domhnall Gleeson; CONTRIBUTORS Colin Barr, Cornelius Buttimer, Claire Connolly, Niamh Gallagher, Patrick Geoghegan, Declan Kiberd, Mary McAleese, Chanté Mouton Kinyon, Jay Roszman, Kevin Whelan; CAST Marty Rea, Olga Wehrly, Peter Warnock, Eon Grey; DOP Oliver Hegarty, Colm Hogan, Ruán Magan; GRAPHICS Eric Dolan; SCORE Colm Mac Con Iomaire. Ireland, 2025, color, 55 min. In English and Irish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Funded by RTÉ, University College Cork, and the University of Notre Dame, with the support of The Government of Ireland's Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
🎟 For further information regarding bookings:
Please call 301-495-6720 between M-F, 9 AM - 5:30 PM or email silverinfo@AFI.com
As a director and producer, Ruán Magan’s work has reached audiences of millions throughout the US, Europe, Africa, India and China and has received over 40 international awards.
Notable projects include the feature film Báite (Moe Dunford, Juliette Crosbie, Eleanor O’Brien) the comedy-drama series, Wrecking the Rising (Peter Coonan, Owen McDonnell) and the documentaries, Our Blue World (narrated by Liam Neeson) Patrick (Ciarán Hinds), Steps of Freedom, The Irish Civil War (Brendan Gleeson) and 100 Years of Ulysses (Ann Skelly).
Dr. Chanté Mouton Kinyon is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. A scholar of transatlanticism and race, Mouton Kinyon investigates African American, Irish, and Caribbean literature and culture from the end of the nineteenth century to the present. In addition to her scholarship on the long history of the Irish-Black cultural exchange, her research also considers the transnationality of writers and art that is often limited to discussions of its national impact and significance in contrast to the very international explorations of the artists themselves. In particular, her scholarship focuses on performative material that articulates race and identity; her goal is to illuminate a narrative of cultural exchange that is rooted at the intersection of literature and history.
Originally from Shelburne, Vermont, Dr. Jay Roszman is a lecturer in 19th century Irish history at University College Cork, Ireland, a position he took up in 2018. His first book, Outrage in the Age of Reform (Cambridge 2022) examined how Irish agrarian violence shaped the politics of the United Kingdom in the 1830s. Most recently he has published research on Daniel O’Connell, with an article that explores O’Connell’s global humanitarianism and views on the British Empire. His new project investigates the Queen’s College – Belfast, Cork, Galway – and their role in training Irish men for careers in the British Empire.
Chris Morash is an Irish diplomat and author, based at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington D.C., where he works on political and diaspora affairs. Prior to joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Chris wrote Young Ireland: A Global Afterlife, which won the 2025 National University of Ireland Publication Prize in Irish History and the 2024 Lawrence J. McCaffrey Prize for Books on Irish-America, given by The American Conference for Irish Studies. Chris holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, where he was funded by a National University of Ireland Travelling Studentship. Chris also holds degrees from Maynooth University, the University of Oxford, and Trinity College Dublin.
DINNER AND A MOVIE DEAL
Our festival partner, McGinty's Public House, has generously offered an ongoing discount from February 27 through March 2 for all CIFF ticket holders! When you dine at the restaurant, show your CIFF ticket or pass for a 10% off discount on your bill. Located just around the corner from AFI Silver Theatre, McGinty's (911 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910) is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat between screenings.
The Capital Irish Film Festival is supported by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Embassy of Ireland, Northern Ireland Bureau, Northern Ireland Screen, and the Irish Film Institute’s IFI International Programme supported by Culture Ireland. Solas Nua is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.
