Song for a Raggy Boy

Song for a Raggy Boy is a 2003 Irish historical drama film directed by Aisling Walsh who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Byron Murphy and based on the 1991 autobiographical book of the same name by Patrick Galvin and heavily inspired by true events. The film stars Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen, Chris Newman, Marc Warren and John Travers.

Set in 1939 Ireland, on the brink of World War II, the film takes place in St. Jude’s Reformatory School, a harsh Catholic institution for troubled and orphaned boys run by the Irish Christian Brothers. The story follows William Franklin (Quinn), the school’s only lay (non-religious) teacher and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War who is haunted by his past, who arrives with progressive teaching ideas and a belief in treating the boys with kindness and respect. After being appalled by the brutal, authoritarian regime of the school, particularly with the cruel Brother John (Glen), who believes in discipline through physical punishment, and the more complex, conflicted Brother Mac (Warren), he must fights to liberate the boys from their oppressors.

Plot

In 1939, on the brink of World War II, the St. Judes Reformatory is a ruthless Irish school for boys. Grey, gloomy and ruled by the sadistic Brother John (Iain Glen), the school prefers punishment to rehabilitation. But new lay teacher William Franklin (Aidan Quinn), fresh from the frontline of the Spanish Civil War, fights to liberate the boys from their oppressors.