This Lumière Brothers' 1897 footage of O'Connell Street in Dublin, featured in "Ireland: Birth of a Nation", is believed to be the oldest known footage of Ireland

Footage included in Gerard McCarthy’s “Ireland: Birth of a Nation” is believed to be the oldest known video of Ireland.

Shot by the Lumière Brothers, French men credited with being the world’s first filmmakers, the 1897 footage shows Dublin’s O’Connell Street, at the turn of the century.

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The documentary on the 1916 Easter Rising includes rare footage of Pearse’s famous oration at the graveside of Irish republican Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, used at the time as a propaganda tool for Irish republicans, who were struggling to win support in advance of the Rising.

The 30-minute movie includes the famous conclusion to the oration when Pearse called the Irish nation to arms just eight months before the Easter Rising.

Watch: Oldest surviving footage of Dublin's O'Connell Street:

* Originally published in October 2014. Updated in 2023.