IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT IRELAND traces the history and legends of ancient Ireland. Beginning in 2000 B.C. -- when Stone Age farmers built some of the largest and most spectacular Neolithic monuments in Europe -- the series explores events and stories from millennia of history, to 1167 A.D., when the Norman invasion placed Ireland under control of England's king.

Michael Collins The film follows Collins as he matures from guerrilla leader to national hero and statesman. Jordan's take on Collins is that he was set up by Irish president Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman), who was jealous of Collins's legendary popularity. De Valera puts Collins in the position of negotiating a peace treaty that would never satisfy the Irish hero's hard-core followers. When the IRA leader returns with a first-step compromise, De Valera undercuts Collins's popularity by refusing to support the revised treaty. And the civil war continues for decades.

Out of Ireland The enormous story of Irish emigration is well told in this documentary that mixes an adept historical overview and deeply touching personal stories with well-chosen archival material and gorgeously filmed modern footage. The troubled history of Ireland is covered by way of explaining why millions fled their homeland, and deserved attention is given to the uprising of 1798 and the Great Famine of the 1840s.

The Irish Empire: The five-part series Irish Empire, first broadcast on BBC Ireland in 1999, offers a compelling, contemporary historical perspective on the events, people, and influences that shaped the identity of Irish culture as it expanded throughout the world. The focus is not on Ireland as a country but the Irish as a global community--an "empire" formed by the emigration of millions of Irish natives, with pockets of culture all over the world and majority populations concentrated in England, America, and Australia. Wide-ranging in scope (despite an occasionally nagging lack of narrative cohesion), the series chronicles the expansion of Irish culture as a bona fide diaspora, grander in scale than that of almost any other ethnic group. This expansion began in the 15th and 16th centuries, intensified with the great famine of the 19th century, and continues to this day as many native Irish seek opportunities they could never find at home.

The five segments focus on a variety of topics, including the initial scattering of Irish people throughout Europe; the forging of an Irish identity throughout the world; the role of women in the expansion of Irish culture and the improvement of Ireland's native economy; the history of Irish Catholic and Protestant populations at home and abroad; and the often startling contrast between the Ireland of myth and memory and modern Ireland as it continues to keep pace with an ever-changing world. Overall, this is an epic account, filled with great pride and great sadness, with horrible crises and magnificent achievements. It's perhaps a bit too dry to achieve any kind of mainstream appeal, but this series should be considered essential viewing for anyone seeking to appreciate the fullness of Irish history and the place of Irish culture in the gene pool of humanity.

Video Visits—Discovering Ireland:  Experience the land of ancient myth, poetry and rebellion. A country that teems with nightlife, monuments and ruins. Explore famous places that include St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Guinness Brewery, the Rock of Cashel and the "Giant’s Causeway." Learn how Waterford crystal and harps are crafted. Watch a horse race, see a hurling match and—go ahead—kiss the famous Blarney Stone! Extra Feaures: Ireland's National Parks - Two of the Emerald Isle's national parks - Connemara and Glenveagh - are featured. Both of them are havens for diverse wildlife and natural beauty. Enjoy visiting these marvelous preserves of forested greenery. Galway Christmas Choir - Listen to the Galway Baroque singers and the Choristers of Belfast Cathedral perform four wonderful songs of the Christmas season: "Good King Wencestas," "The Zither Carol," "Silent Night," and "Gaudeamus Omnes."

Bloody Sunday:  With breathtaking verisimilitude, Bloody Sunday posits an immediate, you-are-there re-creation of Ireland's most controversial contemporary tragedy. From dusk to dawn, the events of January 30, 1972, are presented in convincing verité fashion; by employing rapid fade-to-black transitions, director Paul Greengrass approaches two perspectives with equal anticipation of potential disaster, based on facts as reported in Don Mullan's politically influential book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday. Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt) is, ironically, a Protestant Member of Parliament, leading a peaceful but tensely expectant civil rights march through the Catholic "bogside" of the city of Derry, in protest of the British practice of internment without trial. He watches in horror as his throng of unarmed protesters splinters against British paramilitaries who impulsively open fire. No question where Greengrass's sympathies lie (heard but not seen, the first shots are British), but despite charges of inaccuracy and bias, Bloody Sunday will likely stand as the definitive cinematic representation of that horrible day when deadly confusion reigned supreme. (U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" plays over the closing credits; any other choice would have been blasphemous.)

In The Name Of The Father:   Based on a true story, this rousing and tough-minded film details British overzealousness in prosecuting an IRA bombing in the 1970s. Grabbing up a pair of small-time thieves (Daniel Day-Lewis and John Lynch) and their families, the government concocts a conspiracy case against them and tosses them all in jail. Until then, Day-Lewis has been a ne'er-do-well, an apolitical goof looking for a quick score. But confronted with the toughness of his own father (Pete Postlethwaite) in the face of British torture, he begins to realize just what the stakes are. In the Name of the Father is at times grueling and never less than compelling, with a complex performance by Day-Lewis and a strong one by Emma Thompson, as the lawyer who finally cracks through the British obstructions to the truth.