CRAICEAN GEAL, CROÍ MARBH (WHITE MAN, DEAD HEART)

4x25 Min Series / Format: HD
Funders: BCI, TG4

The Story of Robert O'Hara Burke, the first white man to cross Australia

He died on his return journey in remarkable and tragic circumstances. His story is one of the truly outstanding dramas from the Great Age of Exploration and exemplifies in so many ways the extraordinary experiences of 19th Century Irish emigrants.This is not a travel series. It is living history - a journey on the trail of an Irish man whose life reveals much of the Irish experience in Australia, their and our attitudes to opportunity, adventure and race issues. Racism is central to Burke's story and ultimately he died because he could not come to terms with the aborigines and their survival skills, regarding these remarkable people with scorn and contempt.