The story begins with a Prologue, set during the War of Independence and depicting the shooting of Commandant Jack Carberry (Gerald Sullivan) by the Black and Tans. Alongside him is his friend Mick Deveraux (Niall McGinnis) to whom a dying Carberry mysteriously urges to ‘see to everything.’ Moving forward to the 1950s, Jack Carberry is now a patriot martyr, and there is a planned statue to his memory in the town of Ballymorgan. But with the arrival of Englishman Crispin Brown (Leslie Phillips), and through the many characters and sub-plots that develop, long-held secrets begin to emerge that explode the mythology surrounding Carberry’s and Ireland’s past.

The film is a witty and complex satire, whose principal target is Irish romanticisation of Ireland and Irish identity. Its optimistic ending points towards a more outward-looking, modern Ireland.

Digitally remastered by the IFI Irish Film Archive in collaboration with the BFI under an initiative of the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) with the support of the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

From 31 Mar - 16 Apr, Visions of Europe returns to celebrate the breadth of European cinema. With a handpicked selection of 24 films from a Macedonian witch tale to a race through Berlin, we take in the best of European film including previews, festival hits and classics returning to the big screen.