Narrated by Liam Neeson, this landmark documentary examines the Easter Rising and the subsequent events that led to the creation of an independent Irish state and, indirectly, to the start of the breakup of the British Empire. Looking at the Rising from an international perspective, 1916 will broaden public understanding of the historical interconnections between Britain, Ireland and the United States, connections that continued to have significance up to and including the recent Irish peace process. The documentary combines rarely seen archive with contemporary filming all over the world, together with revealing interviews by the world's leading experts and historians. An initiative of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, this landmark three part documentary series tells the story of the 1916 Easter Rising in a comprehensive way and, for the first time, places these events in their proper historical, political and cultural context as the precursor to an independent Irish state and the disintegration of colonial empires.