FAIRFIELD — “The Irish in Film,” a popular movie series sponsored by Fairfield University’s Irish Studies Committee, opens its third series on March 17with “Omagh” (2004), an award-winning drama based on a Northern Ireland IRA bombing, directed by Pete Travis. The series is an Arts & Minds Season offering.
A Fairfield University professor who teaches in the Irish Studies Minor introduces each of this series’ four diverse offerings, the university said in a statement. The films are shown in the Multimedia Room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library at 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Fairfield University students and the public are welcome to the free event. Light refreshments will be served.
Kevin Cassidy, director of Irish studies, introduces “Omagh” (2004), a TV drama based on a bombing that took place in Northern Ireland by a group of Provisional IRA members opposed to the 1998 Good Friday Peace Accord.
Omagh, a small market town of Protestants and Catholics that had lived in peaceful co-existence during the Troubles, suffered the death of 29 of its citizens from a car bomb that exploded on a busy main street, the statement said. Among the dead is the 21-year-old son of Mike Gallagher, a garage mechanic played by Gerard McSorley.
The story focuses on the effort of the father and others who suffered the loss of a loved one to find out why the bombers were never found and brought to justice. The award-winning film was co-written by Paul Greengrass, director of “Bloody Sunday," which was featured in the 2008 spring series and Guy Hibbert. Cassidy teaches “Northern Ireland: Politics of War and Peace.”
Fairfield University is located off I-95, exit 22 at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield.