The good folks at The Liberty, a free online newspaper run by the students at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), have produced this short film which captures some of the differences that have come about due to development around The Liberties.
The video features excerpts from a 30-year-old RTE programme, presented by Eamonn Mac Thomais, interspersed with contemporary footage which was shot by the DIT students.
The students in question, Aida Skrimantaite and Victoria Tiernan, used the footage spanning the two time periods to… “capture the changing face of the Liberties”, and it is a fascinating watch!
In the archive footage, Mac Thomais explains to viewers that one of the things he loves about a spot at the top of Thomas Street, in Dublin 8, is that he can see seven of the famous ‘Liberties’.
In this film we are treated to modern-day and historical footage of the views, whilst looking towards the seven Liberties. In the archive footage the seven are clearly viewable, but as is revealed in the video by the DIT students, nowadays, with the changing face of the Dublin skyline, not all of those Liberties remain viewable from the same spot. A couple of them are now out of sight.
The film also visits The Iveagh Market and The Tivoli, two very famous local landmarks on Francis Street.