Filmmaker George Morrison has died age 102

Irish filmmaker George Morrison, best known for the landmark documentary Mise Éire, has died at the age of 102.

Morrison was born in Tramore, Co. Waterford, to an actress mother and a neurological anaesthetist father.

He initially studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin but left to pursue a career in the arts.

Mise Éire, released in 1959, was the first full-length feature film in the Irish language.

The documentary used archival footage, a now common technique which was groundbreaking at the time, to tell the story of the 1916 Rising.

Morrison was reportedly paid £375 for the project and received no royalties.

His follow-up documentary, Saoirse? was released in 1961 and followed the lead-up to the 1916 Easter Rising and the War of Independence.

Morrison continued working in film and released Dublin Day, a documentary on James Joyce’s Ulysses, in 2007.

His career was the focus of the 2008 documentary Waiting for the Light.

In 2009, Morrison received the Industry Lifetime Contribution Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

He was elected a Saoi of Aosdána in 2017 and received the gold torc from President Michael D. Higgins.

In a statement released this morning, President Higgins described Morrison as "a filmmaker of immense craft and skill".

"He will rightly be remembered in particular as a great innovator in the techniques of film, using new and pioneering camera work while realising how film and music could be brought together in a way that is distinctive," the President said.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of esteemed filmmaker George Morrison. In June 2023, we had the honour of welcoming George for a special screening of Saoirse? with live accompaniment by the NSOI. His extraordinary legacy lives on. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. pic.twitter.com/bYNGngfja0

— National Concert Hall (@NCH_Music) August 5, 2025

Last year, he was honoured at an event in Waterford organised by Sinn Féin TD Conor D. McGuinness, who today described Morrison as a “groundbreaking figure”.

“It’s for Mise Éire and Saoirse he will mostly be remembered, but he produced many great works during his lifetime,” McGuinness said.

"I was happy to nominate him last year for a civil honour from Waterford County and City Council."

"Go dtuga Dia sólas dá mhuintir agus go raibh leaba i measc na naomh aige."