Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoí
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
HONORARY CONFERRING
Thursday, 5 September 2024 at 5.30 pm
TEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY DR AOIFE WHELAN, UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folkore on 5 September 2024, on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Arts, honoris causa on COLM BAIRÉAD AND CLEONA NÍ CHRUALAOI.
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A Uachtaráin, Céimithe, Comhghleacaithe, agus aíonna onóracha.
President, Graduates, Colleagues, Honoured Guests.
Is mór an onóir domsa labhairt libh inniu ar son Scoil na Gaeilge, an Léinn Cheiltigh agus an Bhéaloidis agus thar ceann Choláiste na nEalaíon agus na nDaonnachtaí.
Good evening everyone. I’m honoured to speak to you this evening on behalf of UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore in the College of Arts and Humanities.
Tá lúcháir orainn go bhfuil Céim Dhochtúireachta Oinigh á bronnadh ag an gColáiste Ollscoile Bhaile Átha Cliath ar Cholm Bairéad agus ar Chleona Ní Chrualaoi mar aitheantas don éacht atá bainte amach acu beirt i ngort na scannánaíochta Gaeilge, go háirithe as ucht an rath domhanda a bhain siad amach lena bhfadscannán An Cailín Ciúina eisíodh i 2022.
We are delighted that University College Dublin is awarding an Honorary Doctorate to Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoi in recognition of their immense achievements in the field of Irish language filmmaking, particularly in response to the global success of their feature film An Cailín Ciúin [The Quiet Girl] released in 2022.
An Cailín Ciúin broke box-office records in its opening weekend and went on to become the highest-grossing Irish language feature film to date. The film was nominated as Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, the first time ever that Ireland was represented in this category. In 2022 the film earned seven Irish Film & Television Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director and also Best Actress, acknowledging the spellbinding performance of the cailín herself, Catherine Clinch.
Through the phenomenal critical reception of An Cailín Ciúin, the teamwork of Colm Bairéad (as writer/director) and Cleona Ní Chrualaoi (as producer) has firmly cemented Irish language filmmaking within the upper echelons of international cinematic production. As many of you will know, this film is based on Claire Keegan’s captivating novel Foster, written in English, and adapted into a screenplay as Gaeilge for cinematic purposes. This bold choice reflects the power of film as a universal medium that can transcend spatial, linguistic and cultural boundaries, in this case reaching an international audience, many of whom may not previously have been aware of the existence of a distinct Irish language film and arts sector. The film earned a British Academy of Film and Television Arts nomination for its Adapted Screenplay, as well as in the category of Film not in the English Language.
Colm and Cleona both have extensive experience working through the medium of Irish and their combined success reflects the evolution of the Irish language at home and abroad over the past quarter century, from the establishment of our Irish language television channel, TG4, in 1996, to the recognition of Irish as an official language of the EU in 2007. As emerging filmmakers, the opportunities provided to them through various productions for TG4, allowed them the time and space to hone their craft in this field.
Colm studied film at Dublin Institute of Technology and his first commissioned short film, the semi-autobiographical Mac an Athar [His Father’s Son] achieved success on the international festival circuit. As writer and director, his documentary work has garnered numerous Irish and international nominations and awards. In 2012, Colm was honoured by the Screen Directors’ Guild of Ireland for his ‘outstanding work as a director in the Irish language’.
Cleona’s career has enjoyed a similar trajectory working through both Irish and English. Graduating with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University, she went on to work first in radio and then in television. As a freelance producer, her production credits include works of documentary, docusoap and docudrama, such as the IFTA-winning Connected and Cumann na mBan - Women of the Revolution, along with the groundbreaking IFTA-nominated series The Joy portraying life inside Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison. In 2012, Cleona and Colm established their own production company, Inscéal, which has focussed on developing and producing narrative feature films.
2012 also saw the release of Colm and Cleona’s documentary ‘Lorg na gCos: Súil Siar ar Mise Éire’. The UCD College of Arts and Humanities has demonstrated significant leadership in the Creative Arts including Film and Media through dynamic programme provision in these areas through the medium of Irish, European languages, and English with the focus on film and media in the Irish language in the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore. Our Creative Futures Academy is building on this reputation with many exciting adventures and events encompassing teaching, research and public outreach in this area. Indeed some time before Colm and Cleona’s rise to fame on this platform UCD were already to the fore on this and in the Irish language module paying homage to George Morrison’s 1959 documentary Mise Éire [I am Ireland], we consulted with them on the approach. It is fitting that our Irish language film studies module ‘An Ghaeilge ar an Scáileán’ is now bookended by these works, beginning with analysis of Mise Éire and concluding with the evocative An Cailín Ciúin.
This award also reflects the values of UCD’s Centre for Global Irish Studies and our College Research Strand on ‘Ireland in the World’. Both Colm and Cleona have proved themselves to be outstanding ambassadors for the creative arts, for Irish filmmaking and for the Irish language itself through media interviews, personal appearances, screenings and various events across the globe. Their success aligns with UCD's global engagement objective: to bring the best of the world to Ireland, and the best of Ireland to the world.
Following the success of An Cailín Ciúin, Cleona was awarded the Film & Drama Award at the Tatler Women of the Year Awards and was selected as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow in 2022. Colm was also the recipient of the Screen Ireland-IFTA Rising Star Award in 2022, joining the ranks of previous winners including Nicola Coughlan, Jamie Dornan and Saoirse Ronan. These Rising Stars are described by Screen Ireland as having ‘shown themselves to be world class talents in their respective fields’.
UCD’s Latin motto is ‘Ad Astra’ meaning ‘To the Stars’ and I would encourage each of our graduates today to reach for the stars as you move on from UCD. I hope that Colm and Cleona’s success will inspire you, our next generation of graduates to be bold, to be the disruptors, to embrace new opportunities and to not let anything hold you back.
Following the phenomenal success of An Cailín Ciúin, we’ve seen Rich Peppiatt’s film Kneecap win the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and Aislinn’s Clarke’s Fréamhacha recently debuted at the Locarno Film Festival. As funding continues through the Cine4 scheme supported by TG4, Screen Ireland and Coimisún na Meán, it looks like the Irish language film industry will be anything but ‘ciúin’ or quiet for the foreseeable future.
Ní bheidh scannánaíocht na Gaeilge ‘ciúin’ riamh arís ar an ardán domhanda.
Mar aitheantas don tsár-obair atá bainte amach acu beirt in earnáil na scannánaíochta Gaeilge, is mór an onóir don Choláiste Ollscoile, Bhaile Átha Cliath an Chéim Dhochtúireachta Oinigh seo a bhronnadh ar Cholm Bairéad agus ar Chleona Ní Chrualaoi.
For their considerable contribution to Irish language filmmaking, University College Dublin is delighted to award this Honorary Doctorate to Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoi.
Comhghairdeachas libh beirt agus guímid gach rath ar bhur gcuid oibre.
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Praehonorabilis Praeses, totaque Universitas,
Praesento vobis hanc meam filium filiumque meum, quos scio tam moribus quam doctrina habiles et idoneos esse quai admittantur, honoris causa, ad Gradum Doctoratus in Artibus; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.