Irish Movies for St. Patrick’s Day

Every St. Patrick’s Day, we eat copious amounts of colcannon and beef stew, throw back Guinness and Smithwicks like there’s no tomorrow and dance a jig at the drop of a green hat.

You might also want to watch an Irish film as well.

In terms of film, Ireland has offered plenty of cinema that appeals to the rebel, the prophet and the lucky. Here are some of the best movies about Ireland to watch every March 17th.

*A note: I am focusing specifically on films directed by Irish filmmakers that focus on Ireland which is why you won’t see films such as The Quiet Man, The Wind That Shakes the Barley or Waking Ned Devine on this list, all directed by non-Irish.

In the Name of the Father (1993)

Director: Jim Sheridan (born in Dublin)

Jim Sheridan became not only one of the most accomplished film directors of Ireland but of the world in the late 1980s. After directing the critically acclaimed My Left Foot (winning Daniel Day-Lewis his first Best Actor Oscar) as well as The Field (starring Limerick-born Richard Harris), Jim Sheridan reunited with Day-Lewis in crafting this retelling of the Guildford Four, a group falsely convicted of the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. Written by fellow Irishman Terry George and featuring a scene-stealing performance by Pete Postlethwaite as Giuseppe, Day-Lewis’ father, In the Name of the Father is an epic story of crime and imprisonment that speaks to the Irish spirit of resilience and justice.

Michael Collins (1996)

Director: Neil Jordan (born in Sligo)

Along with Sheridan, Neil Jordan also achieved stardom in the 1980s and 90s with his unconventional filmography punctuated with films such as Interview with the Vampire, Mona Lisa and The Crying Game. Jordan’s Michael Collins, starring the soon-to-be-superstar Liam Neeson (a native of Ballymena, Northern Ireland), features the titular revolutionary character leading the early-20th-century Irish struggle for independence against Britain. Unabashed in its admiration for Irish independence while not shying away from the horror of terrorism, Michael Collins is a historical watershed that illuminates the complex history of two adjacent, competing nations.

Once (2007)

Director: John Carney (born in Dublin)

Carney was bassist for the Irish rock band The Frames before transitioning to film, using his music accolades to craft low-budget drama-comedies with a musical slant. He achieved great acclaim for Once, teaming up with The Frames frontman, Glen Hansard, to craft a story of love and discovery.

A couple of struggling musicians (Hansard and Markéta Irglová) meet on the streets of Dublin; this chance encounter encourages each to find meaning in their music while navigating complex interpersonal relationships that they keep hidden from the other. Using Ireland as a backdrop to the story brings the country to life as a living, breathing place, the streets of people full of ideals, wishes and yearnings in a rapidly changing world.

The Secret of Kells (2009)

Director: Tomm Moore (born in Newry), Nora Twomey (born in Cork City)

Celtic lore is vast and varied, spanning thousands of years. The field of animation can bring such stories to vibrant life.

Created by the Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, directors Moore and Twomey use the story of the origin of the Book of Kells to tell the story of Brendan (Evan McGuire), a young boy living in the Abbey of Kells under the care of his stern uncle, Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson). Becoming apprentice to Brother Aidan (Mick Lally), the illuminator of a strange book that turns darkness to light, Brendan confronts Vikings, Crom Cruach and others in a wild tale of Irish lore.

Brooklyn (2015)

Director: John Crowley (born in Cork)

No Irish list could be complete without a Saoirse Ronan film. Brooklyn, based off the book by Irish author Colm Tóibín, is a romantic period drama that follows Eilis (Ronan), a young woman struggling to make ends meet in 1950s Enniscorthy. She travels to New York to find new opportunities, where she meets Tony (Emory Cohen), a plumber. Eilis desire for her home conflicts with the promise of a potential new existence in America, forcing her to choose which path in life she wants to pursue.

Typifying the question of immigration, something so integral to the Irish experience from the Crusades to the potato famine, makes Brooklyn a sweet, humble story about maturation and love of country.

Belfast (2021)

Director: Kenneth Branagh (born in Belfast)

Kenneth Branagh is perhaps Ireland’s most famous contemporary filmmaker, directing and starring in several Shakespearean film productions as well as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) and Murder on the Orient Express (2017), not to mention being Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

His film, Belfast, though, is his most personal work, a film of subtlety about growing up in 1960s Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Buddy (Jude Hill) and his family eek out a living in Belfast as violence escalates. His father (Jamie Dornan) is approached to join the cause, but he refuses, causing consternation that escalates throughout the family. With Ma (Caitríona Balfe) squeamish about the thought of leaving, and Buddy growing in friendship to Catholic Catherine (Olive Tennant), the situation proves untenable.

Much like Tom Sawyer or Jay Gatsby, Buddy’s journey illustrates a time and place through the lens of a particular eye, making the large seem close and bringing a story of Irish oppression into greater focus.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Director: Martin McDonagh (born in London to Irish parents)

The latest classic film from playwright/filmmaker Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin dwells on multiple Irish themes, including the looming figure of death, weather as a harbinger of fate and the supernatural forces lurking outside and within ourselves.

Pádraic (Colin Farrell) leads a simple life on the tiny island of Inisherin; he lives with his sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon), cares for his livestock, including his prized donkey, Jenny, and goes to the pub with his best friend, Colm (Brendan Gleeson); that is, until Colm abruptly decides to stop being Pádraic’s friend. The confused and heartbroken Pádraic tries every avenue to reignite his friendship with Colm, who says that he wants to focus on his music instead of drunken escapades with his old chum. With drama escalating on the island between young drunkard Dominic (Barry Keoghan) and his abusive policeman father, Peadar (Gary Lydon), and the looming specter of town elder and possible psychic Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), the situation takes several drastic turns.

Sláinte!