Plot

In 2008 a most extraordinary event took place in Dublin. An eighty year old artist came back from New York, where he has been living for the last 50 years, to kill off his alter ego, Patrick Ireland.

In 1972 the artist Brian O'Doherty vowed that he would stay in the character of Patrick Ireland for as long as it took for the British Army to leave Ireland and for civil rights to be ensured for all. It was a brave gesture, perhaps a slightly ridiculous one, but it came from deep in the heart of an artist who felt that as an expatriate, the only thing he could offer was a name and that this name would represent his bond with and empathy towards the country in which he no longer lived. It was a gesture of peace, and also a gesture of dissent. On the 20th May 2008, as Patrick Ireland was being buried, he was heard to say 'We are burying hate and it's not often you get the chance to do that'. This event provides very powerful material for a documentary. We wanted to explore what happened on that day and what it represents for us all as an artistic response to recent Irish history. We feel strongly that the subject matter and material makes for an unusual and compelling film about art, identity and history using the burial as a fulcrum for our visual explorations. The creative heart of this film comprises of the extraordinary event of the burial of Patrick Ireland. We also celebrate and explore the work of this most interesting and vital of artists.—Vanessa Gildea