LAST UPDATE | 5 Aug 2025

PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS has paid tribute to respected Irish filmmaker George Morrison after news of his death.

Morrison, best known for his documentary Mise Éire, died yesterday at the age of 102.

It was the first full length feature film ever produced in the Irish language. The film was created following a “painstaking process” through which Morrison tracked down long lost or forgotten newsreels from the independence period in archives across Europe.

Higgins said that this work led to the preservation of 300,000 feet of early 20th century newsreel footage which may have been lost forever without his work.

Morrison was born in Tramore, Co Waterford in 1922 to his mother, an actress at the Gate Theatre, and his father, an anaesthetist.

He initially studied medicine at Trinity College, before leaving to pursue a career in the arts. 

His first documentary of note Mise Éire was released in 1959. It blended footage of events surrounding the 1916 Rising from archives across Europe and was met with rave reviews.

A follow-up documentary titled Saoirse? was not so well received, as its analysis of the still-divisive Civil War was controversial.

Morrison later told the Irish Independent that he was paid £375 for his work on Mise Éire and received no further royalties.

In 2007, Morrison released Dublin Day, a documentary on James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Morrison was the subject of a 2008 documentary called Waiting for the Light, which centred his career. He went on to receive the Industry Lifetime Contribution Award at the annual Irish Film and Television Awards in 2009.

President Higgins bestowed the highest honour in the Irish arts world, the title of Saoi of Aosdána, on Morrison.

In a statement today, Higgins extended his deepest condolences to Morrison’s family, friends, and those inspired by his work.

Higgins commended Morrison’s work in the arts, saying he “is and will remain an iconic and foundational figure in Irish filmography”. The President mentioned Morrison’s innovation in techniques in film, including his camera work.

“His seminal works, including Mise Éire and Saoirse as well as his many other films including his early partnership with the Gate Theatre, comprise an outstanding body of work that has made a deep and lasting impact on Irish culture and Irish cultural memory,” Higgins said.

“I had the honour of bestowing the honour of Saoi of Aosdána on George Morrisson in 2017 and have also had the pleasure of meeting with him on many other occasions over the years, including when we marked his 100th birthday in Áras an Uachtaráin in 2023.”

Morrison was honoured again at an event last year organised by Sinn Féin TD in Waterford Conor D McGuinness.

On learning of his death today, McGuinness described Morrision 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,” he 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.”