What We Leave in Our Wake

Developed in the midst of Ireland’s devastating property crash and subsequent recession, director Pat Collins uses this documentary to explore the materials – the institutions, attitudes, and politics – from which modern Ireland is made.

Essentially structured as a series of conversations on modern Ireland and reflections on what could be described as The Irish Condition, the film invites us to muse upon a formidable array of topics: emigration, mythology, consumerism, socialism, the place of the Church in Irish life, the central role of land in Irish history, and the sense of a civic society, or lack thereof. Contributors range from Peter McVerry, Lelia Doolin, Olivia O’Leary and Declan Kiberd to (via choice archive footage) John McGahern and John Moriarty. The results are utterly compelling, resulting in one of the key Irish films of recent years.