1916: The Lego Movie brought to life by Cork pupils

Third-class students produced stop-frame animation of the Rising in three weeks

Pupils from 3rd class in Sunday’s Well Boys School in Cork and their teacher Michael O’Connor have made a stop frame animation movie of the events of 1916 using Lego.

A group of primary school pupils in Cork city have produced 1916: The Lego Movie.

The 21 boys in third-class at Sundays Well Boys National School put together the stop-frame animation film in three weeks.

The film is historically accurate and covers the main events of the Rising.

Stop-frame animation involves footage that is captured one frame at a time, with physical objects that are moved between frames.

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1916: The Lego Movie has more than a thousand frames.

The Lego GPO took two days to build, before it was dismantled and used as the execution yard at Kilmainham.

The buildings that help depict the rebels’ escape to Moore Street took a weekend to construct.

Comic book

The pupils based their story on a comic book in the local library, which tells the story of the Easter Rising.

The film was the initiative of the boys’ teacher, Michael O’Connor, who regularly uses Lego as a teaching aide.

The Lego came from a box that Mr O’Connor had as a child.

Mr O’Connor said: “It’s engaging, [the pupils] are learning and they are asking more questions. It is getting them to learn a subject without having to teach it.

“It open doors you wouldn’t even think of.”

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times