Liam Neeson has opened up about his involvement in a new RTE series looking at the 1916 Easter Rising.
The Hollywood actor, who narrated the documentary, revealed he didn’t fully understand the events leading up and after the Rising until he educated himself in his teens.
“We did not learn about our Irish history and it was only when I was at Queen’s University at 19, and the old internment was introduced and the horrors that were happening then were coming to a head, that I started to educate myself about the history of my country,” he said.
Education: Liam revealed he didn’t fully understand the events of the rising until he was 19 | VIPIRELAND.COM
Speaking with Marian Finucane on RTE Radio 1, the 65-year-old actor said the docu-series places the Easter Rising in an international context in a way viewers have never seen before.
“What Briona and her team have done is scoured the world, they found images, still photographs, that no one, none of us in Ireland have ever seen before,” he explained.
“They have found footage that’s quite phenomenal and information that’s quite phenomenal. There’s images there that really took my breath away because I had never seen them.”
Opening up about an important part of the new show, Liam admitted the introduction of the Proclamation of Independence is extremely poignant.
Rising: Liam revealed he was taken with Pearse’s proclamation in the new docu-series | VIPIRELAND.COM
“[The series] highlights the ramifications of Pearse’s [proclamation],” he said.
“It shows just how beautiful that was and how far reaching it was… how it included women, and the vote… everyone would be equal, every religion would be respected.”
Although admitting Ireland has a long way to go to match Pearse’s proclamation, the Taken star hopes that the documentary will give viewers food for thought.
“It’s quite something. And the series highlights that in a most delicate and human and powerful and profound way,” he added.
