Irish American News Online

Writer: Monica Dougherty, Laughing Angel Productions

Logline
A story of loss and redemption told through the passing down of a family ring. It is in going back that we often find the way to go forward.
Synopsis
Who went before us? What do we leave for those who come after? An original screenplay based on true events, Rose’s Ring tells the story of Rose Donovan, an Irish-American TV reporter whose journey into the past frees her to create her future. Rose inherits a family ring which carries the story of Rose Ryan and James Kilroy, torn apart by events surrounding the Famine in Ireland in the 1840s and reunited in America. Interwoven in their story is the plight of a group of Native Oneida people escorted under military guard to treatied lands in Wisconsin; and of Joshua Glover, a runaway slave. His decision to stop running sets in motion tragic events, culminating in the loss of over 400 lives one stormy night with the sinking of the steamship, the Lady Elgin.

What you don’t know can hurt you. During the Irish Famine many saw and did shameful things to survive. They put the painful past behind them, but unresolved feelings from trauma or loss impact future generations, the inheritors of the sorrow and silence.

A story with a complexity of human connections, it has rich visual potential in the rugged western coast of Ireland. Music will be a unifying element in the film, including traditional Irish pub and parade music; Native Oneida songs; Civil War era pieces, including African-American spirituals and early Irish-American tunes. The haunting musical connection, echoed in the reeds, flute and drums, unites the stories of the Irish, Native American and African American people.

Monica Dougherty is an artist/art therapist and author. She participated in a number of book and film projects produced by the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Children’s Memorial Hospital, including the films The Growing Place and Mostly I Can Do More Than I Can’t. Her children’s book, You’re A Miracle…Pass It On! was published in 2007 by Trafford Publishing. For more information on Rose’s Ring, please contact Monica Dougherty at (773) 794-0750 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .