New Documentary Gives A Truthful Perspective of Ireland’s Complex Dynamics.

Monaghan Productions has completed filming in Ireland for the upcoming feature-length documentary.  My Ireland takes a hard look at emigration, mass evictions, and the rise of homelessness. The crew traveled across the nation and interviewed Irish people from all walks of life and social classes, from a homeless Dubliner to John McGuinness, TD. Director and producer, Anthony Monaghan are striving to make a film that is truly unbiased; his only agenda is to give the Irish people a voice amidst the social injustices that are perpetrated by corruption. Production will resume this fall in the United States. With the help of co-producer and fellow Irish native, Anthony Murphy, Monaghan now wants to tell the other side of the emigration story from the other side of the pond. After overseeing post-production, they intend to finish the film by the new year.

Murphy believed that a film about Ireland from an Irish point of view was the only fair way to captures all of Ireland’s dynamics.  “I wanted to back this project because Ireland is dear to me and I want the best from this great country.  There are so many stories to be told… so many people to inspire and empower.  This is going to be a great documentary for everybody,” shared Murphy.

Critically acclaimed Director, Anthony Monaghan is originally from Blacksod Bay, County Mayo in the beautiful West of Ireland. At the age of fifteen, he had no choice but to leave home in search of work abroad. His first job was picking potatoes in England, a place where the Irish were not particularly popular at the time. Since then, he has traveled the world and lived in many different places. Eventually, he settled in St. Louis, Missouri where he founded a successful masonry company called Irish Construction and raised three daughters. A few years ago, he founded Monaghan Productions, LLC and independently directed and produced the internationally acclaimed documentary, Rednecks + Culchies, which examines the substance abuse problems of the American working class from the perspective of European tradesmen.

Monaghan’s new documentary focuses on his homeland. My Ireland reveals the corruption that perpetuates emigration from Ireland and the forces responsible for the wrongful eviction of thousands upon thousands of Irish homeowners. Monaghan says that “it’s all about Irish displacement – the lost homes in Ireland and how the community has been damaged. Just look at the suicide rate!” It will tell the shared story of countless Irish men and women who, like the director, had no choice but to leave their country to make a living. Since emigrating, he has witnessed Ireland evolve from being a very poor country to a very wealthy one. In spite of the growing GDP, the Irish continue to pour out of Ireland in droves in search of employment just as they did generations ago. However, it is not just the people leaving Ireland who are losing their homes. Homelessness is on the rise as crooked banks and predatory vulture funds kick people out of their houses. In fact, Monaghan’s own house in Ireland was misappropriated, a family home for fifteen years where he regularly took his daughters on holiday. According to Monaghan and many of his interviewees, the government and many of the politicians, too corrupt, indifferent or powerless to step in, have done nothing as lives were, and continue to be, destroyed. The press and the media are reluctant to discuss these tragedies, treating them like a taboo subject.

“I want to understand why these injustices continue and, moreover, why they are tolerated by a people who, for hundreds of years, resisted English colonization. Now we are being sold out by our own. By shedding light on these problems, I hope to inspire people to take action and make some real and positive change. My Ireland will be a film for the Irish, by the Irish. And it’s coming very soon,” said Monaghan.