Director pays tribute to the National Library

THE award-winning Irish screenwriter, director and producer, Neil Jordan, said the National Library of Ireland played an essential role in protecting our country’s visual culture and heritage.

Speaking as he donated film and TV scripts, production files, storyboards, plays, notebooks and personal correspondence with artistic collaborators and political figures, Mr Jordan said he was happy to entrust his archive to the library.

“I have often used its magnificent reading room for research and written drafts of short-stories, novels and screenplays there,” he revealed.

Born in Sligo in 1950, Neil Jordan has achieved international critical acclaim for his writing and directing.

His films include ‘Michael Collins’ (1996), ‘The Butcher Boy’ (1997), and ‘Breakfast on Pluto’ (2005). In 1992, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for ‘The Crying Game’, which he wrote and directed.

In 2003, he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Film and Television Academy.

Jordan’s extensive archive reveals a creative career that has spanned disciplines and decades. Highlights include behind the scenes photography of the Oscar-nominated ‘Michael Collins’ while filming on location in Dublin.

There are also research notes for the Oscar-nominated ‘Interview with the Vampire’ and hand-written letters from collaborators and colleagues, such as one from Sinéad O’Connor regarding a song she wrote for ‘The Butcher Boy’.

The donation, made under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, was marked at a special event in the NLI that was attended by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and  the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan.

It followed a previous donation made to the NLI by Mr Jordan in 1993.

Commenting on the donation, Minister Madigan said: “This donation is unique and represents a significant item of Irish cultural heritage.

“It provides a fuller understanding of each of Neil’s films and is an important insight into his creative process and practice in both film and literature.

“The National Library is a treasure trove for Irish film history, and this generous donation ensures the safeguarding of the material for generations to come.” 

Jordan said that Ireland would always be home.

“It gave me my start in writing and filmmaking and has served as the inspiration and backdrop for so much of my work,” he added.