Online film archive yields up forgotten film of Cork’s Lusitania aftermath

An online archive of documentary film spanning more than a century is yielding up new glimpses into Irish history – including the rediscovery of film shot in Cobh, Co Cork of the aftermath of the 1915 Lusitania disaster.

Last week, British Pathé, which licences clips from its newsreel archive to film and television producers – made almost 82,000 pieces of film freely available on YouTube. Pathé News, an offshooot of the pioneering French film company founded in 1896, was in the business of making cinema newsreels. Shot in every corner of the globe, the content was akin to that of a modern TV news bulletein – local and international news, sport, and quirky or odd ‘and finally’ stories.

While the archive was already on the firm’s website, the speed and accessibilty of YouTube has attracted much interest from amateur historians. The announcement lit up social media, becoming a Twitter trending topic in Ireland on Thursday as users engaged in a DIY version of Reeling In The Years, sharing clips which ranged from the merely quaint to historically significant. The clips of particular Irish interest include