The Desmond Forristal Archive

Context

Creator(s): Forristal, Desmond, 1930-2012

• Administrative History ↴

  Desmond Forristal was known for his work as a scholar, author, playwright, and TV producer. Forristal was born in Dublin on the 25th of September, 1930. He was educated at Belvedere College, and went on to study Philosophy at University College Dublin (1948–1951) and then Theology at Holy Cross College, where he was ordained into the priesthood in 1955. Forristal was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from U.C.D. in 1956. He served in several Dublin-based parishes, including Palmerstown, Halston Street, Bray, Iona Road, and Dalkey. In 1969, Forristal was elected to the Dublin Diocesan Council of Priests. Forristal studied film and television in New York in 1959, and on his return to Ireland he assisted Fr. Joseph Dunn in establishing the Radharc Film Unit. Working as a director and scriptwriter, Forristal’s work on Radharc productions brought him to Europe, America, Africa and the Far East. Radharc, consisted of a series of films about Ireland written and presented from a religious perspective. It was an active collaboration between Catholic priests and lay staff, addressing issues such as peace and justice at home and abroad. Forristal’s first play, The True Story of the Horrid Popish Plot, was performed at the Gate Theatre as part of the 1972 Dublin Theatre Festival. A Hilton Edwards production, the historical drama addresses the lives of Oliver Plunkett and seventeenth century perjurer Titus Oates who fabricated a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. His second play entitled Black Man’s Country was performed in the same theatre in 1974, and was based on the author’s visit to Biafra in Southern Nigeria in 1968 whilst making a documentary about the Civil War. The Seventh Sin, another play, was first performed at the Gate in 1976 and focuses on the election of hermit Peter of Murrone as pope (Celestine V) in the thirteenth century, and his subsequent abdication and death. Forristal’s next production was for television, a play entitled Enquiry at Knock (1979). This play was based on the testimony of witnesses for the evidence of the miraculous appearance of Mary at Knock. Returning to the stage that same year, Forristal’s next dramatic effort was the play Captive Audience, which concerns the relationship between a young girl who is in the Charismatic Movement and her de-programmer. The Crozier and the Crown, a religious drama based on the life of St. Laurence O’Toole, was performed in 1988. Forristal is also known for his literary work. He wrote several books on historical and religious subjects, including Oliver Plunkett (1975), Maximilian of Auschwitz (1982), The Bridge at Lo Wu (1987), The Man in the Middle (1988), The Second Burial of Bishop Shanahan (1990), and Edel Quinn 1907–1944 (1994). In addition, he contributed articles to a number of journals, and was drama critic for ‘The Furrow’, a diocesan magazine, for many years. Forristal retired from the church in 2001 and died in September 2012.

• Archival History ↴

  The Forristal Archive was donated to the Library, National University of Ireland Maynooth, in 2001 by his brother, the Reverend Ciarán Forristal

• Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

  Donation