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Ciara Hyland is a highly experienced producer, writer and director focusing on cutting edge history that reveals something about who we still are today. She is passionate about the visual, cinematic telling of emotionally impactful stories that resonate widely – often focussing on women and their experiences. She is currently producing and directing 'Widows of the Revolution' for RTÉ on the wives and children of the men who were executed in 1916 and what their subsequent lives say about the status of women around the birth of the new Free State. "Widows of the Revolution" will air on RTÉ One in Spring 2022. She is also currently in production on 'Eipidéim/ Epidemic' a two part series for TG4 funded by the BAI on the great epidemics of the past such as smallpox, typhus, cholera, tuberculosis and polio and how they were defeated by science and innovative social measures. A hopeful series, it shows how the efforts to bring Covid 19 under control were built on the lesson and innovations of these previous epidemics and ultimately shows how all epidemics eventually end. In 2020 she wrote and directed ‘Cogadh ar Mhná / A War on Women?’ for TG4 and RTÉ. It broached a taboo topic for the first time – the issue of sexual abuse during the Irish Revolution. Using the witness testimony that women who experienced it left behind, it showed that this was perpetrated by all sides in the conflict. |
Cogadh ar Mhná was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award 2021 and a Celtic Media Award 2021.
Also in 2020 Ciara wrote and directed ‘74 days: Inside Terence MacSwiney’s Hunger Strike’ for RTÉ. This documentary was a unique blend of history and science and looked at the impact that MacSwiney's hunger strike had worldwide- influencing people such as Ho Chi Minh, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
In 2019 Ciara wrote and directed the highly acclaimed 2-part series for TG4 ‘De Valera i Méiriceá/ De Valera in America’ which dealt with eighteen formative months in the life of Éamon de Valera, the great survivor of Irish politics.
Before moving into documentary making, Ciara trained as a Script Supervisor working on feature films, commercials, TV series, documentaries and short films funded by, among others, Disney, BBC, RTE and the Irish Film Board. Her credits include Mystic Knights, The Ambassador, Ballykissangel, Sweeney Todd, Disco Pigs and Oliver Twist.
She was proud to be Kerry Filmmaker in Residence for 2016/17 - an artist's bursary award for new documentary work that was funded by Kerry County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.
She was accepted onto the Screen Skills Ireland mentoring programme 2020/21 with a special focus on developing projects for international co-production.
She currently has several international documentary projects in development and is also writing her first 6 part TV drama series.
Tá neart Gaeilge ag Ciara agus is breá lei an deis an teanga a usáid. Tá fíor fáilte romhat dul i dteanghmail lei as Gaeilge más mian leat.
Also in 2020 Ciara wrote and directed ‘74 days: Inside Terence MacSwiney’s Hunger Strike’ for RTÉ. This documentary was a unique blend of history and science and looked at the impact that MacSwiney's hunger strike had worldwide- influencing people such as Ho Chi Minh, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
In 2019 Ciara wrote and directed the highly acclaimed 2-part series for TG4 ‘De Valera i Méiriceá/ De Valera in America’ which dealt with eighteen formative months in the life of Éamon de Valera, the great survivor of Irish politics.
Before moving into documentary making, Ciara trained as a Script Supervisor working on feature films, commercials, TV series, documentaries and short films funded by, among others, Disney, BBC, RTE and the Irish Film Board. Her credits include Mystic Knights, The Ambassador, Ballykissangel, Sweeney Todd, Disco Pigs and Oliver Twist.
She was proud to be Kerry Filmmaker in Residence for 2016/17 - an artist's bursary award for new documentary work that was funded by Kerry County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.
She was accepted onto the Screen Skills Ireland mentoring programme 2020/21 with a special focus on developing projects for international co-production.
She currently has several international documentary projects in development and is also writing her first 6 part TV drama series.
Tá neart Gaeilge ag Ciara agus is breá lei an deis an teanga a usáid. Tá fíor fáilte romhat dul i dteanghmail lei as Gaeilge más mian leat.
