Specially commissioned drama by Irish state broadcaster RTE to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916.
A restored version of the series was finally screened by RTÉ in March 2016 over 8 nights leading up to the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
The 2016 RTE One (Ireland) television broadcast, over the 8 nights between St Patrick's Day and Good Friday, of the 50th anniversary re-broadcast, using the 2007 restoration, of the telerecording of the original 1966 2-inch video tapes, was presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio as originally first broadcast. No cropping for widescreen television was done, but confusingly, the version available on the online RTE Player stretched to fill the widescreen default playback.
It's highly plausible that RTE had to reject requests to re-broadcast this over the previous 50 years, prior to the 2007 restoration, as the original materials would have deteriorated to an extent to be unsuitable for broadcast, prior to digital restoration techniques, due to the inherent degrading of the various analogue media the series was mastered, and later saved on.
The series takes place from April 23 to May 12, 1916.