The return of 13 islanders’ skulls stolen from Inishbofin in the late 19th century is set to feature in a new TG4 documentary on museums and decolonisation, to be broadcast next week.
Iarsmaí will look at Irish institutions and museums and the decolonisation of their historical collections.
The programme, which explores Irish institutions as they wrestle with the decolonisation of historical collections acquired during the British colonial period, can be seen on Wednesday, October 9 at 9.30pm.
Though the stolen Inisbofin skulls — which were stored in TCD for 130 years before returning to the island last year — along with aboriginal material in the Ulster Museum, and a collection of looted Benin Bronzes in the National Museum in Dublin, the documentary explores what decolonisation means, and why Black Lives Matter protests helped encourage the decolonisation process.
The programme will also feature Eithne Verling, director of Galway City Museum, as she engages with schoolchildren from Gaelscoil na Forbarcha, looking at the role of a museum and how museums can encourage reflection generally.
On Inishbofin, the programme will look at the work of the islanders, and Marie Coyne in particular, with the help of Dr Ciarán Walsh, to put pressure on TCD to return the skulls, which were originally taken from the island by anthropologist Alfred Haddon and his assistant Andrew Dixon in 1890.
The skulls were finally returned to the island for burial in July last year, a poignant ceremony which also features in the film.
The film will also take a closer look at decolonisation efforts in TCD, with Ciarán Walsh and Ciarán O’Neill explaining how and why skulls were stolen from Inishbofin and taken to TCD in 1890.
Trinity has also established the Colonial Legacies Project, led by Ciaran O’Neill, to deal with similar issues. Students explain why they want the university’s Berkeley library renamed (George Berkeley, the philosopher and librarian for whom the library was named, was also a slave owner ).
Ciarán Walsh and Ciarán O’Neill explain how and why skulls were stolen from Inishbofin and taken to TCD in 1890.
The documentary will explore similar issues in museums in Dublin, Belfast, Oxford in the UK, and Benin city in Nigeria.
Iarsmaí is directed by Damian McCann, and produced by Dearcán Media and Tua Films for TG4 and BBC with support from Coimisiún na Meán and Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund.
