In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Sinéad O'Shea about her documentary Pray for Our Sinners.
Pray for Our Sinners documents Sinéad’s return to her hometown in Navan in search of those who fought against the Catholic Church and discovers the ways in which local people found a way to resist. It is a film of unexpected twists as it chooses to shine a light on those who attempted to stand up to the church in a quiet but deeply moving resistance.
Pray for Our Sinners is not a straightforward narrative of sinners and victims. The story which emerges is a nuanced account of Catholicism and its role in Irish life. It focuses on the tradition of silence in Ireland and how difficult it has been for the people from Sinéad’s hometown to articulate the suffering they endured.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.
It is only through old friendships and neighbourly connections that we hear previously untold testimonies from mother and baby homes, and stories from within school classrooms about corporal punishment. By taking such a personal approach, Sinéad has crafted a fresh account of how Catholicism wielded such power in Ireland since it gained independence.
Through the voices of its gently heroic characters, Pray for Our Sinners depicts a society full of love, hope and understanding.
As the film says, “There is always a way to resist.”
Sinéad O’Shea is a filmmaker and writer. Her latest feature documentary All About The Money premiered in the World Documentary Competition in Sundance 2026 and will make its theatrical release later this year. It recently won Best Documentary at the San Francisco Documentary Festival and has been nominated for awards at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Docville FF, Movies That Matter FF, CPH:DOX and Millennium Docs Against Gravity FF.
Sinéad’s previous documentary Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story is the most successful Irish documentary to have been released at the UK/Irish box office. It premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2024 and won awards at Cork FF and Palm Springs FF. She also made Pray For Our Sinners which premiered at Toronto in 2022 and was nominated for awards at Chicago FF, Globe Docs FF and Hamptons FF where it won Best Documentary.
Her first feature documentary A Mother Brings her Son to be Shot premiered at CPH:DOX 2018 where it was nominated for a FACT Award. She has also directed a short drama, Humblebrag, which screened at BFI London FF in 2019 and is developing her first feature drama, Girl 16 Navan. Prior to this, Sinéad reported for Al Jazeera English, The Guardian and The New York Times.
Film Ireland Editor
Film Ireland Editor
