Pray for our Sinners documents Sinéad O Shea’s (A Mother Brings her Son to be Shot)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.

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 to articulate the suffering they endured. 

Through the voices of its gently heroic characters, Pray for Our Sinners depicts a society full of love, hope and understanding.  

‘’O’Shea is a sympathetic, sensitive interviewer, and her quiet persistence is rewarded. Pray For Our Sinners is a backward glance from a more enlightened, progressive time, and O’Shea finds hope in how much Ireland has changed in recent years. Yet her film powerfully documents what happened within living memory, the trauma still experienced by those who survived it and the inspiration from an often invisible resistance who helped to bring about change‘’ - Allan Hunter, Screen International

‘’she dismantles the mythologization and fetishization of Irish society by outsiders, and still manages to show immense love for the people she came from.’’ - Paul Whitington, The Irish Independent

Director: Sinéad O’Shea
81 minutes | Ireland | 2022 | 12A