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Dr. Thomas Finan’s 2016 excavation on the shores of Lough Key in County Roscommon, Ireland, is the subject of the documentary True Gaelic: The Search for Ireland’s Lost History. In the film, Dr. Finan and his team unlock the mystery of how Gaelic Kings lived and ruled over independent regions of Ireland long after Anglo-Norman conquests. 

Dr. Finan’s international team of archaeologists and students excavated several sites around Lough Key in County Roscommon, rewriting how medieval Irish history is taught and discussed. An HEC Media camera crew filmed every step of the four-week excavation.

“Dr. Finan and his colleagues are opening up a whole new area that we didn’t know about,” said Kevin O’Malley, former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

Interviewees include Professor Dr. Kieran O’Conor of the National University of Ireland-Galway; Dr. Michelle Comber, Excavation Director at the Caherconnell Archaeological Project in the Burren in County Clare; Alan Hayden of Archaeological Projects Ltd.; Dr. Terry Berry of Trinity College in Dublin; and Kevin O’Malley, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

The 40-minute documentary screened at the Archaeology Film Festival in 2019 and was nominated for a Midwest Emmy award for best historical documentary.