AMC

MAD MEN IS back on screens tonight, kicking off season 6 on Sky Atlantic.

We’ve already got a glimpse of what’s in store  for Don, Betty, Roger and co with some photos from the set, and some reports from the series premiere in the US at the weekend (warning: that link contains spoilers).

Season 6 of Mad Men is set in 1968, a year which saw the death of Martin Luther King and a peak in American involvement in Vietnam. Those events are likely to form part of the backdrop of this series of Mad Men, but what was going on in Ireland in 1968?

We’ve put together a series of images and videos to give an idea of what Ireland of the late sixties looked like…

Charlestown, Co. Mayo in 1968

YouTube/Ciaran Murray

“Margaret, Timmy and John” (1968)

Claudius9uk/Flickr/Creative Commons

Derry civil rights demonstration 1968

PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Eurovision 1968

Pat McGeegan represented Ireland at the 1968 Eurovision song contest in 1968, placing 4th with Chance of a Lifetime

YouTube/EscBelgium3

Irish rugby in 1968

S&G/S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport

Christmas 1968

Here’s an old 8mm film showing festive fun in the late sixties in Ireland

YouTube/MikeMurphy

Belfast 1968

AP Photo/Rider

“Eleanor, Susan, John and Margaret” (Ireland, 1968)

Claudius9UK/Flickr/Creative Commons

Irish penny from 1968

Etsy.com

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