Tonight on TG4: Violet Gibson, the Irish woman who shot Mussolini

A documentary looks at the life of a woman whose deed was immortalised in literature and song - her intentions, and subsequent life in asylum, remain points of intrigue

Olwen Fouéré as Violet Gibson in "An tÉireannach Mná a Lámhach Mussolini".

In 1926, Anglo-Irish former socialite Violet Gibson pushed her way through a mob of supporters and heavies at a gathering in Rome, with the specific intention of assassinating Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. She shot him in the nose at point-blank range. 

The so-called "Duce" would receive facial injuries - but Gibson herself would be subject to a lifetime of imprisonment and a pauper's passing, written off as a "mad Irishwoman".

Tonight at 9.30, TG4 will screen the Irish-language version of Violet Gibson - An tÉireannach Mná a Lámhach Mussolini (The Irish Woman who Shot Mussolini), a docudrama starring veteran Irish actor and singer Olwen Fouéré in the role of a compelling character in Irish history. It will be the first time the film is screened on television.

The screening follows awards at Kerry International Film Festival in 2020, nominations at Richard Harris International Film Festival, and screenings at Chicago Irish Film Festival.

Following 18 months of imprisonment and interrogation in Italy, and investigations into an international conspiracy, a deal was brokered by Mussolini and the British Foreign Office to have Gibson declared insane, and locked up in a British lunatic asylum until her passing.

For thirty years, Gibson campaigned for freedom, writing letters to the authorities, politicians, friends, to Churchill after Italy declared war on Britain, to Princess Elizabeth. Her letters were never posted by her carers. In 1956, she died alone in the asylum, with no friends or family attending her funeral.

Prison documents portraying Violet Gibson in the Italian system

The docufilm brings further light to the story of the daughter of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland - a committed anti-fascist and social justice campaigner who was finally remembered decades after her passing: in a 2010 book, The Woman Who Shot Mussolini; by singer-songwriter Lisa O'Neill, whose song about Gibson's life has become one of modern Irish music's standout compositions; and with a plaque in Dublin, erected by the city council this year.

• Violet Gibson - An tÉireannach Mná a Lámhach Mussolini (The Irish Woman who Shot Mussolini), tonight at 9.30, on TG4