Vaughan Lawlor to play Padraig Pearse
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is about to be seen playing the part of Padraig Pearse, leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, in TV3’s new three-part drama, Trial of the Century, which will air this spring.
Filming took place in Green Street Courthouse in Smithfield. The court was the venue of several noted trials such as those of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet in 1803, John Mitchel in 1848 and other Fenian leaders. It was extensively used during the troubles from 1970 to 1990s as the home of the Special Criminal Court.
Produced by Loosehorse Television and Treasure Entertainment for TV3, Trial of the Century is a provocative and entertaining take on historical storytelling, as Padraig Pearse - the leader of the 1916 rebellion - is put in the dock. In a trial that he was never afforded in real life, Pearse (played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) must defend the actions that changed the course of Irish history.
In the first episode, the British prosecution presents its case against the Rising’s leader. At a time when home rule was imminent and World War I was raging, was it justifiable to stand over so many deaths as the capital city burnt to the ground?
In the second installment, Pearse mounts a robust defence of the Rising, reaching into a long history of British oppression in an attempt to prove that it is legitimate to overthrow a tyrannical regime with force.
In the third and final programme, the viewers will eavesdrop on the real time deliberations of an assembled contemporary jury who have the responsibility to convict or acquit Ireland’s iconic patriot.
The jury will be made up of both well-known public figures and ‘ordinary’ Irish citizens, representing all shades and flavours of Irish life, the names of which have yet to be revealed.
Other well-known names that feature in the three-part special include Mark Huberman as George Gavan Duffy, Andrew Bennett as lead prosecutor Sebastian Banks, Aoibhinn McGinnity as mum Catherine Foster, Denis Conway as Pearse’s senior counsel and Anthony Brophy as Eoin MacNeill.
‘Trial of the Century’will air on TV3 this April/May.