The Stones in the Movies

Further details about the role that every monument has played in this movie are given at the links below.


Evelyn
First Look Media / Cinerenta / Irish Dreamtime (2002) - Directed by Bruce Beresford

Cast:	Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Vavasseur, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn, Julianna Margulies, Alan Bates, Frank Kelly
Synopsis:	Based on a true story and set in Dublin between 1953 and 1954. Desmond Doyle is married with Charlotte and has three children, Evelyn, Maurice and Dermot. Desmond is unemployed and spends his nights at the pub. Charlotte can't stand this situation anymore and abandons her family on the morning of December 26th running away with an Englishman she had known at the pub. Desmond is left with his three children and no means to raise them properly. His mother-in-law reports the situation to the authorities. According to the Irish Law a single and unemployed man can't bring up a family, so the NSPCC intervenes and the children are taken to two different orphanages. Evelyn is sent to a nun-run orphanage in Dublin, her grandfather takes her there and, before leaving, he tells her that the sun rays filtering through the clouds are Angel Rays, which means that a guardian angel is watching over her, so she shouldn't be afraid anymore. Desmond is broken and keeps drinking and knows Bernadette, the bartender. She introduces Dermot to his brother Michael, a solicitor, who advises him to find a good job and change his life style if he wants to have a chance to have his children back. Desmond finds a job as a decorator and sings in the pub along with his father for tips. On a day in March 1954 Evelyn helps a schoolmate of hers from being beaten by Sister Bridget, but she is punished and gets beaten as well. Evelyn writes a letter to her father who rushes to the orphanage and threatens Sister Bridget of death if she ever touches his daughter again. During a singing night at the pub Desmond's father dies from a heart attack. Later on Barron, a barrister, offers to help him for free along with the legal advice of Connolly, a retired lawyer. They get a hearing at the court, but their plea is rejected on the basis that the opinion of both parents is necessary. Unfortunately Charlotte's whereabouts are unknown. Desmond and his lawyers are let down and while in the pub, O'Leary, a bookmaker shows up and gives Desmond £600 to help him cover his expenses and suggests him to bet the money on the following dog race that O'Leary himself fixes to make Desmond win. Desmond lawyers and Connolly prepares a new petition to the Supreme Court on the basis that separating a parent from their children is against the Irish constitution. In December 1954 the Supreme Court gathers to hear Desmond. Sister Bridget stands and tells the court how violent Desmond had been to her at the orphanage. Evelyn is also brought to the court to stand and she tells the whole story of Sister Bridget and her beating with the innocence and candor of her 10 years. She also finds the courage to face the court from the sun rays, the Angel Rays, coming from a window above her. Her statement moves the entire audience and the court which, eventually, rules in favour of Desmond. He can get his children back home, where he lives along with Bernadette who falls in love with him. The sentence of the Supreme Court lays the bases for an amendment of the Irish Children Act of 1941 and thousands of children will be later reunited to their families.
Monuments:	Daniel O'Connell Memorial Tower