BEACON OF LIGHT

In 2023, Marie Coyne, a local historian and genealogist from a remote island off Ireland’s west coast, achieved what no one before her had managed to do: after a ten-year struggle, she finally brought home the stolen skulls of her ancestors. It was the first repatriation of its kind in Ireland and drew international attention. She also helped a woman from the US discover her birth mother’s story and find out her baby sister’s remains are in a mass grave at a mother-and-baby home in Tuam — a discovery made possible only through Marie’s genealogical work.

But this is just one part of her fight. For more than thirty years, Marie has been collecting over 3,000 photographs, documents and objects in an effort to safeguard the cultural memory of her island. Over a decade ago, a massive storm destroyed her small museum. Undeterred, she began to lay the foundations for a new one.

Now, with planning permission about to expire, no funding in sight, and while caring for her mother as she slips into Alzheimer’s, Marie finds herself in a desperate race against time. Yet Beacon of Light is not just a story of struggle. Alongside Marie stands her brother Pat, whose humour and warmth bring balance to the weight of it all.

Together they embody the resilience it takes to keep memory alive against the erosion of time. Marie does not act for herself — she cares for her mother, for her island and for those who came before her. She knows that if the stories and artefacts of our ancestors vanish, we all lose part of who we are.

Best Pitch, London Director Awards, 2025