Filmed in Ireland – Ireland in movies
John Logie Baird – What. A. Guy. Here’s the man who tinkered, fiddled and stayed up seriously late nights making a box with moving pictures. All that work means that we can watch whatever we want, whenever we want. Cheers John!
And yes, we’ve moved on to 3-D, DVD players, digital TV and even iPhones but the fact is that whatever way you watch it, your favourite movies just can’t be beaten. Especially those that (thanks to the Irish Film Board) happen to be set in your favourite place of all – Ireland. Check out the Irish Film Board movie map if you don’t believe us.
Into the West
I watched this for the first time when I was 7 years old and to this day it remains one of the most enduringly pretty and honest images of Ireland I can remember. Into the West is a story about two young boys, Ossie and Tito, sons to an increasingly loveless father (smashingly acted by an unfairly handsome Gabriel Byrne) who end up riding off to the West of Ireland on their bright white steed, Tir na nÓg (Land of the young). I like to think that movies like this are the proof that all you need for a good story is to set it in Ireland. Landscape like this is just made for adventure. Warning – you’ll need a bumper box in tissues for the final scene. The soundtrack alone has me in floods.
A rainbow rests itself on the town of Roundstone in County Galway. Could the producers of 'The Matchmaker' have chosen a better place to film?
Who doesn’t love a holiday romance, eh? Right, well, aside from Jeanene Garofallo’s character in The Matchmaker. Arriving in the fictional village of Ballinagra (which in Irish means ‘town of love’ and is in Connemara) slap bang in the middle of matchmaking season, Marcy (Jeanene Garoffalo) is certainly not in a passionate mood. Problem being that the whole village is an amorous pressure cooker and whether she likes it or not the local matchmaker (a brilliant Milo O’ Shea) is intent on setting her up. Cue lots of ruggedly charming Irish men, romance, broken hearts, heart-breakingly beautiful views of Connemara, chuckles galore AND the smallest hotel room in the world. This is an absolute cracker.
Meryl Streep and Kathy Burke in a brief dance break in the movie 'Dancing at Lughnasa'
It’s not easy to adapt a play to screen, especially when the play by Brian Friel is one of Irish theatre’s most loved pieces. One sure-fire way to make it a success is to cast Meryl Streep in the lead role alongside Wicklow’s timelessly beautiful and ever-changing mountain scenery (The Sally Gap, Lough Dan, and Lough Tay all star). Tracing the memories of Michael Evan’s summers in his aunt’s house in Glenties, the film is one of those ‘all in’ affairs that’ll have you in heaps of laughter, a mess of tears and possibly dancing, as the title suggests.
Is this what a 'Circle of friends looks like?'
Benny Hogan is an independent young lady with a delicate heart (‘I know I look like a rhinoceras but I’ve got quite a thin skin. So be careful with me. Or I’ll flatten ya!’) and that heart is all a flutter thanks to a certain handsome young rugby player called Jack (Chris O’Donnell). Adapted from Maeve Binchy’s rollicking coming-of-age novel by the same name, Circle of Friends makes coming of age look like the funniest and most dramatic thing on earth. Throw in cheating friends, a very handsome looking Trinity College and some quaint prettiness provided by Inistioge, County Kilkenny and you’ve got one brilliant reason to eat a bucket of buttered popcorn and a tub of choc-chip ice-cream. Nomnomnomnomnomnom…
Widow’s Peak
Ok, this might not sound all that cheery but Widows’ Peak is essentially a film about a group of widows who enjoy a quiet, happy, uninterrupted life thanks to, well, all being widows. Enter a blonde bombshell in the shape of a Natasha Richardson who is intent on strutting herself all about the town (the town being an amalgamation of and surrounding verdant hills as well as the very pretty village of Inistoige in County Kilkenny). As the tagline for the film goes – ‘It’s not a whodunnit – it’s a who did it, with whom!’. Ahem, yes, well…moving on.
The Beautiful Inistioge in County Kilkenny, star of such films as 'Circle of Friends' and 'Widows' Peak'
Finally we have an admission to make – this isn’t our first Movies in Ireland post. We’ve done this before – and we loved it. Take a read to see where gems like Braveheart, P.S I Love you and the Quiet Man took over Ireland’s countryside.
The Shore
Honest performances. Swathes of County Down coast. A story of homecoming and friends reunited. There’s a lot in the oscar-nomintated movie The Shore, and just as it will have you dripping tears like a mini Niagra Falls, it will have you giggling, sighing with emotion and basically reawakening that love you had in film-making. Supreme perfomances from Ciaran Hinds and Maggie Cronin mean that this little gem could well bag an Oscar. And if it does, they’ll hear us cheering in L.A all the way from the Coast Road.
The End.
Fancy visting the locations of movies made in Ireland? You can follow the Atlantic Film Trail, visiting the settings of films like Dancing at Lughnasa, Into the West, Far and Away and cult favourite TV series Father Ted, by getting the brochure from DiscoverIreland’s film page.The Irish Film Board has helpfully created a magical movie map so you can track down your favourite films.
Hey what about Waking Ned Devine? And Agnes Brown?? LOVE, LOVE , LOVE Those movies!!! Shlawna Acurraugh!
Don’t forget Eat The Peach. One of my all time favorite Irish films.
Darby O’Gill and The Little People is one of my favorites. My father brought me to the movies to see it when I was a little girl . I think that was when I fell in love with Sean Connery
Man of Aran with John Wayne…was it released in Ireland too?
You listed my two favorites The Quiet Man and PS I love you, but after watching Leap Year, definitly awesome scenery.
Want to go back so bad………………..
What about Braveheart,The Princess Bride, Micael Collins and The Secret of Roan Inis?
The opening scenes of Ryan’s Daughter made my mom and me turn to each other and say “We’re going there on vacation!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjUFtalOWes
mY FAV..
Neil Jordan’s Ondine, filmed in the rugged Beara Peninsula – should also get a mention – stunning scenery…
Two of my avorites are The Secret of Roan Inish and A shine of Rainbows. Loved the movies and the beautiful Irish senery. Also liked The Wind that Shakes the Barley and Michael Collins and My Left Foot. I watch every movie that is filmed in Ireland..
What about The Leprechauns with Whoopie Goldberg and Dennis Quaid, too! Have and love that move too!
Quiet man definitely, P.S. I love you, Leap Year, Far and Away…
Love the West coast of Ireland…so beautiful. Can’t wait to go back.
Ryan’s daughter for best scenery! Clare was so lovely!
Waking Ed Devine was fillmed on the Isle of Man!
Waking Ned Devine, PS I Love You, Leap Year
WOW…the number of excellent films NOT listed is incredible. In addition to those already listed, “The Commitments” and “Once” come to mind immediately. Please…if you are going to write articles boasting of films made in Ireland, include ALL of them, not just some of them…people looking for knowledge don’t want to learn a little bit of it…they want all of it!
There are so many great movies. Too many to list. If it was filmed in ireland, it was a very good movie.
I’ve only seen ‘The Matchmaker’. But tell me….where is ‘The Quiet Man’?…..my favorite.
My first Irish movie was Darby O’Gill, then The Quiet Man when I was a bit older. Loved Circle of Friends, Waking Ned Divine, Agnes Brown, Leap Year, The Eclipse, wow, so many….!
Looking for a new oneThe Sea in 2012! Ciaran Hinds fan , here!
Looking for an “Eat the Peach” or “The Disappearance of Finbarr” DVD….any ideas?
all of the above ,quiet Man being my favorite, just got home from vk in Ireland and can’t wait to go back
After I left Kerry at age 7, I kept a memory of standing on a hill and looking over a patchwork of fields — a memory I loved which comforted me with its shapes and colours. When I went back to Ireland as a grown woman I was surprised and delighted at how true the visual memory had stayed.
Deirdre
Waking Ned Devine was filmed on the Isle of Man, so it doesn’t count. My favourite, apart from Into the West, is the Secret of Roan Inish, also set on the West Coast
Hey there
Great comments all! And to those of you who said we missed out a few, well we missed out LOADS! Too many to squish into this little space here, that’s for sure…keep watching, though, and we’ll do more on the movies soon!
Great post. I think it requires a part 2 and a 3 and a 4 as there are some many great films shot in Ireland! And the trend seems set to continue with Bollywood directors now being attracted to our shores. I just did a short post on films shot at Powerscourt which you may like to read too http://blog.powerscourt.ie/blog
@Tis Eyerish – Hi there! If you scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link that says ‘We’ve done this before’ it will lead you to the previous blog we wrote on movies in Ireland which, as far as I can see, includes the particular films you have mentioned and more besides. Apologies if this wasn’t made clear enough in the text body of the post.
Cheer for the comment,
David,
The Field, My Left Foot and The Commitments to name but a few….so much quality, too little space!!
For a bit of fun with some great traditional music look out for “The Boys and Girls from County Clare”. Wont win many awards but a bit of fun anyway.
Has anyone mentioned “Cal” with a great musical score by Mark Knopfler?
Jean (and others), thank you for reminding me of others that I’ve seen….was having a senior moment I guess. I guess I’d like to see all of them.
The wind that shakes the barley, Michael Collins, Bloody Sunday, The Informant.
The Wind that shakes the Barley!!! A tribute to Cork, to its beauty, to its children, to the cause of the Irish, the struggle. All together what Terrible Beauty. What a fantastic historical movie!
My favorite film made in Ireland is Ryan’s Daughter..amazing film , amazing nature.
The secret of Roan Inish??? I don’t know if it really was in Ireland, if so, I like this movie the best. Good second is Tara Road. I’ve seen a lot of movies (partly) recorded in Ireland, but do not always remember the titles… I do remember all the very nice scenery and music… Makes me wanna go on holiday again, it’s been too long ago!!!
Love the country and its people my heart will always be there, but can’t afford to live there. Adore the Irish movies though.
I love Into the West. I used to show it to my fifth graders each year, and they always loved it too, especially the can of beans and movie theater scenes!
Re: Eat the Peach—I doubt it’s on DVD. I rented it many years ago from a videostore. You might try ebay or Netflix.
what about “lock up your daughters ??
You had me at “Nomnomnomnomnom”…
A new film about Ireland is being made, The Spirit of Ireland. It’s a documentary by Alan Cooke, the Emmy-winning filmmaker who wrote and narrated HOME, about an Irishman in New York. HOME features Liam Neeson, Frank McCourt, and other stars and people on the street. The new movie will similarly include interviews with celebrities and others talking about Ireland.
Here’s a link to a trailer for The Spirit of Ireland: http://www.thespiritofirelandfilm.com. A
nd one to HOME
http://homethemovie.com/
Brilliant! A good reminder of all the reasons why we should be proud of Ireland and its people. A reason to believe again.
Watched Ryan’s Daughter today. Pure excellence. First class movie, excellent location filming on the south coast of Ireland. More movies should be made in Ireland with its breathtaking scenery.