Here are the 12 best movies set in Ireland, as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
The Quiet Man (1952)
When it comes to films set in Ireland, even all these decades later, The Quiet Man is still the most notable of the bunch. Also, arguably, the most successful. Director John Ford won Best Director for the 1952 film. It was his fourth win, which is the record (and nobody alive has more than two). The Quiet Man was nominated for Best Picture as well, but did not win.
John Wayne plays Sean Thornton, a retired boxer who returned from America to Ireland, where he was born. His time in the United States helps the plausibility in terms of why John Wayne sounds like, you know, John Wayne. Sean falls for a redheaded lass named Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara). However, it’s Victor McLaglen, who plays Mary Kate’s overbearing brother, who got an Oscar nomination.
The village of Cong, one of the locations, still has a statue of John Wayne in character.
The Commitments (1991)
Set among working-class folks in Dublin, the movie is about a young music lover who gets some locals together to form a soul group, the titular Commitments.
There’s a feel-good, underdog story here, but The Commitments‘ biggest impact in the United States was when it came to the music. The film’s soundtrack hit number eight on the Billboard charts and went triple platinum.
The film features Irish people singing the songs of Black artists, which may feel to some like cultural appropriation. But the film makes a case for music being a unifying force for all underdogs.
The Secret of Kells (2009)
Even animated films can be set in Ireland! The fantasy film is about the real Book of Kells, though the story itself is fictional. Fantasy movies rarely are factually accurate.
The Secret of Kells is a period piece as well. It’s set in ninth-century Ireland and features a lot of Viking elements as well. The animation is lush and distinct, vital for crafted a well-received animated fantasy film.
Indeed, The Secret of Kells was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, but lost to Up.
Hunger (2008)
You might think Hunger – the debut feature film of British director Steve McQueen, set in Northern Ireland — maybe shouldn’t count as one of the best movies set in Ireland, since Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.
Well: Hunger‘s heart is very much with Ireland. It’s the true story of Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands (Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender) who led a hunger strike to protest the British government’s refusal to recognize he fellow IRA inmates as political prisoners.
The Criterion Collection notes that the film is at times “purely experiential, even abstract, a succession of images full of both beauty and horror.” It is ultimately about not just Ireland, but people held captive everywhere, and the ways they assert their humanity.
McQueen went on to win the Best Picture Oscar for Twelve Years a Slave.
Barry Lyndon (1975)
When a director is iconic, in time basically all the “other” films in their filmography start to become considered “underappreciated” and secret classics. Stanley Kubrick is no different. After film fans have said all there is to say about The Shining or Full Metal Jacket, what do you do? You start to turn to the other movies.
Nowadays, both Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon are lauded to no end by movie buffs. The former was the last of his career, but Barry Lyndon arrived when his potential seemed limitless.
Ryan O’Neal plays the titular Irish ne’er-do-well, and even back in the day, Barry Lyndon was considered magnificently well-crafted. It won Oscars for score, art direction, costume design, and cinematography.
The film is not fast-paced, but sneaks up on you, with a darkly sardonic message about class. Its dry wit and melancholy are typical of the best Irish storytelling tradition.
My Left Foot (1989)
The now-retired Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards six times, and won three times. His first win came for My Left Foot, a biopic focused on Christy Brown, a real Irish artist with cerebral palsy who created art with his foot, which he had the motor skills to control.
Obviously, there is an intense “business” to the performance, but Day-Lewis excels. Knowing what we know about his dedication to his craft, one can only imagine how he was on set. Also, let’s not overlook the rest of the cast. Brenda Fricker also won Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot.
Jim Sheridan, the film’s Irish director, also made many other excellent films, including In the Name of the Father and In America.
Once (2007)
Glen Hansard was part of the ensemble of The Commitments. The musician by trade — he leads the band The Frames — he was a natural choice to star in Once — especially given that former Frames bassist John Carney wrote and directed the film.
Once is about an Irish busker (Hansard) and g Czech flower seller (Markéta Irglová) who meet and fall in love over music. It is best known for “Falling Slowly,” the lilting, then driving power ballad that went on to win Best Original Song at the Oscars.
If you like a small-scale, personal story, and like watching charming musicians being charming, Once is the movie for you.
Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
Few made old-school epics as successfully as David Lean. He directed two Best Picture winners, Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, as well as Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India.
With Ryan’s Daughter, he took his mastery to the Emerald Isle.
Set during World War I, the film stars Sarah Miles as a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British soldier. This is a problem, not just because she’s married, but because her village is mostly populated by Irish nationalists. While Robert Mitchum’s casting as an Irishman was perhaps not ideal, Miles was nominated for Best Actress, and John Mills won Best Supporting Actor.
Brooklyn (2015)
Sure, the film is called Brooklyn, so you may be skeptical about it being an “Irish” movie. However, the action begins in Enniscorthy, Ireland. Saoirse Ronan – who screams “Ireland” – plays a young woman who decides to emigrate from her small Irish town to the titular New York borough.
Her experience as an Irish immigrant in America is key to the film, but the crux of Ronan’s character’s conflict is whether or not to stay in Brooklyn or return to her Irish hometown. Indeed, Ireland looms over all of the film.
Also, Ronan is a great actress. She earned her second of four Oscar nominations for Brooklyn. She’s just entering her thirties. What a star.
Waking Ned Devine (1998)
Overseas, it was released as Waking Ned, but in North America, the title was Waking Ned Devine. You may remember seeing ads for it, or hearing buzz about the quirky, low-budget Irish comedy film. Indeed, it became an unexpected hit in the United States, owing to its breezy charm.
It’s high concept, to be sure, the kind of movie that probably would be treated with skepticism now. Somebody in a tiny Irish village has won the National Lottery. It turns out to be local recluse Ned Devine, who also died upon finding out he won. Thus begins a ploy by a few of the townsfolk to try and claim Ned’s prize for themselves.
But, you know, in a charming way.
Sing Street (2016)
For even more charm, we recommend the thrilling Sing Street, a story of an Irish schoolboy Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who dreams of starting a rock band an impressing the glamorous Raphina (Lucy Boynton). Luckily for us, it’s set in the 1980s, so all of the songs are inspired by the likes of Duran Duran and Hall & Oates.
The songs get better and better as Conor and his bandmates figure out their sound, culminating in the pop perfection of “Drive It Like You Stole It,” one of the bounciest, catchiest songs in any movie ever.
This is the second film on our list by the great John Carney, and we could have added more — including the recent Flora and Son, starring Eve Hewson as a single mom who bonds with her teenager through music. (Here’s our interview with Carney and his songwriting partner Gary Clark.)
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
“Breezy” is a word you would never use to describe The Banshees of Inisherin, or any of Martin McDonagh’s work. The playwright turned writer-director of film is about as misanthropic and cynical as they come. And yet, people love his work.
The Banshees of Inisherin is a movie that involves self-mutilation that still managed to make more than double its budget at the box office and earned eight Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture.
It won zero of them, but maybe it was too dark for the 2022 Oscars, when people coming out of a pandemic were just looking for things to celebrate? McDonagh’s bitter story of a friendship falling part is excellent, but in no way nice or fun.
Liked This List of the 12 Best Movies Set in Ireland?
You may also like this ridiculously good song from Sing Street.
Main image: Sing Street. Miramax.