Discover the MythCloud

Seven Ages: The Story of the Irish Stateis a landmark documentary series produced in 2000 by Araby Productions for RTÉ and BBC Northern Ireland. Directed by Seán Ó Mórdha, this influential seven-part series chronicles Ireland's evolution since its founding in 1921 through key political, social, and cultural moments in history.

The series offers a comprehensive exploration of how Ireland, as a new nation-state, evolved a collective identity over its first seven decades. The shared national narrative, initially framed by founding leaders, evolved through a dynamic interplay of internal and external socio-economic-cultural forces. It reveals the complex process through which societies construct and sustain their sense of collective self

Episode 7 analyses how economic hardship and political turmoil in 1980s Ireland catalysed a profound reassessment of national identity. The evolution toward a more nuanced understanding of Irishness demonstrates the adaptive capacity of collective mythology, revealing how societies reformulate their self-conceptions in response to crisis without abandoning core narrative continuity.

Seán Ó Mórdha's documentary series presents this period as a crucial moment of national introspection, illustrating how challenging times often prompt societies to revise overly simplistic narratives of national character. The series shows that effective national mythologies are not rigid constructs but flexible frameworks that can accommodate complexity and contradiction.

Each episode examines critical junctures in Ireland's evolution, revealing how national stories serve both to reflect and to shape collective responses to adversity. The documentary features insights from key political figures and cultural commentators who participated in this national reassessment, offering valuable perspective on how societies consciously and unconsciously revise their foundational narratives.

By analysing how Ireland maintained narrative coherence while acknowledging greater complexity in its self-understanding, the series provides a sophisticated framework for understanding the essential role of storytelling in social resilience. First broadcast in 2000, Seven Ages remains a valuable resource for examining how national mythologies evolve to incorporate even the most challenging circumstances, demonstrating that the most enduring collective narratives are those capable of accommodating growth and change.