In 1841, eight million people lived in Ireland. Over the next seventy years, four million of them were gone. This animated documentary tells the whole history of Ireland as one story, from the first hunters ten thousand years ago to the Great Famine, the Easter Rising, the Troubles and the Celtic Tiger.

0:00 Trailer
1:00 An Island at the Ice's Edge
6:09 Saints, Scribes and a Plague
9:34 Raiders on the Liffey
13:09 The Knights Who Never Left
17:04 To Hell or to Connacht
22:20 Eight Million on One Island
26:06 The Hunger
33:20 The Emptying
37:43 Six Days in Dublin
43:03 Two Irelands
47:29 The Return

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1841_census_of_Ireland
https://www.rte.ie/history/post-famine/2020/0915/1165372-greatest-ravages-the-1851-census-and-famine-mortality
https://www.britannica.com/summary/Great-Famine-Irish-history
https://www.historyireland.com/volume-23/the-1841-census-do-the-numbers-add-up/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Norman_invasion_of_Ireland
https://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2020/0629/1150367-the-great-irish-famine
https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1123/1180004-a-policy-to-disaster-british-famine-relief-measures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Ireland
https://www.ucd.ie/economics/t4media/WP2018_20.pdf
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/last-one-to-leave-ireland-please-switch-off-the-lights-1.4886993
https://www.ucc.ie/en/emigre/history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_census_of_Ireland
https://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/documents/table_1.pdf
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-pme/populationandmigrationestimatesapril2026/keyfindings/
https://datavis.nisra.gov.uk/population/2025-mid-year-estimates-for-northern-ireland.html
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/treaty-timeline-from-beginnings-to-a-republic-1.4743764
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1162/the-vikings-in-ireland/
https://source.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Irish-Antiquities-Division-Collections/Collections-List-(1)/Viking/The-Viking-Age-in-Ireland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutes_of_Kilkenny
https://www.historyireland.com/unheard-of-mortality-the-black-death-in-ireland/
https://theirishstory.com/?p=17023
https://irishcatholic.com/the-dark-shadow-of-the-medieval-black-death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwellian_conquest_of_Ireland
https://downsurvey.tchpc.tcd.ie/history.html
https://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2020/0715/1153525-why-was-the-potato-so-important
https://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/introduction.htm
https://historyireland.com/?p=687
https://crokepark.ie/bloodysunday/bloody-sunday-1920
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Tiger
https://pastplace.org/unit/10061337/cube/TOT_POP
https://www.britannica.com/facts/Great-Famine-Irish-history
https://www.rte.ie/history/post-famine/2020/0903/1163045-the-panicked-flood-emigration-and-the-great-famine
https://mythicalireland.com/ancient-sites/101-facts-about-newgrange/
https://newgrange.com/winter_solstice.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Scandinavian_Dublin
https://www.military-history.org/articles/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-norman-conquest-of-ireland.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Irish_Treaty
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0114/1273519-henry-ii-ireland-1171-strongbow-dublin-charter
https://www.britannica.com/event/Easter-Rising
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/easter-rising-day-6-and-then-it-was-all-over-1.2582998
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/witnessing-the-birth-of-the-troubles-1.200219
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Ireland
... and 513 more sources (the full list on request).

Footage and images:
"A Early Medieval silver Hiberno-Norse penny of Sigtrygg (Sihtric) I..." by The Portable Antiquities Scheme, Stuart Wyatt, 2020-02-24 12:48:47, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=96074061
"Doolough Famine Tragedy memorial, Co. Mayo 1994" by sludgegulper, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/28179929@N08/3627797460
"File:Lunula d'oro, da lissanover, contea di cavan, 2000 ac ca.jpg" by Sailko, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunula_d%27oro,_da_lissanover,_contea_di_cavan,_2000_ac_ca.jpg
"Kilmainham Gaol - Dublin, Ireland - Travel photography" by Giuseppe Milo (www.pixael.com), CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/87690240@N03/35205173374
"Proclamation of the Irish Republic." by kentmcconnell, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/151050450@N02/36232422195
"St Patrick's Day Parade Dublin 2012" by MangakaMaiden Photography, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/24960504@N06/6990255449
Other footage and images: Pixabay Content License, Public domain.

Music: original score made for this video (moods: epic, wonder, mystery, tension, somber, urgent, hopeful). Narration: AI voice.

#history #documentary