THE 1960S – An Important Decade in Irish History What Important Changes Occurred in
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Entertainment in the 1960s in Ireland? Cinema and television Cinema continued to be popular up to the 1960s, when television led to its decline. This was one of the consequences of the setting up of RTÉ. Sports programmes and soap operas attracted audiences, as did programmes such as The Late Late Show, on which controversial topics were discussed. It was easier and cheaper to stay at home watching television rather than going to the cinema.
Traditional music There was a boom in Irish traditional music in the 1960s, which became popular with a new generation. Seán Ó Riada and his Ceoltóirí Cualainn modernised the sound of Irish traditional music. Ó Riada wrote the score for Mise Éire (1959), a documentary on the 1916 Rising and its aftermath, which was played by an orchestra. As part of the revival of Irish music, there was also a ballad boom. Here groups such as The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem brought Irish folk songs to a wider audience. The continuing popularity of Irish traditional music owes much to changes made in the 1960s.
Seán O’Riada contributed to a revival of Irish traditional music
The Dubliners popularised many Irish folk songs
The 1960s was also the showband era, where Irish showbands played to huge audiences in dance halls across the country
