Films that make you want to move to the Irish countryside
I've taken liberties with the theme
I was filling out my Will recently (for the first time, I am 36) and the question arose: What kind of funeral would you like?
I wrote:
Bury me in a willow basket in West Cork or Kerry in Ireland, near a forest with moss.
I include some other instructions around music, tea, and kittens.
I saw Mari Andrew request ‘movies that take place in rural Ireland’ here.
I was born to write this list.
I’ve been on an Irish film bender for years.
Criteria: scene/s of coastal or rural Ireland and/or set in the Irish countryside.
The second closest thing to being in Ireland (and perhaps wrapped around an Irish lover) is watching a film set in Ireland. Or reading an Irish book.
My Friday night ritual is to get fish and chips, set up a mini cinema on my lounge room floor and watch an Irish film with my cat CousCous.
Once is the reason I fell for Ireland, hard. Glen Hansard continues to soundtrack my life.
Ireland is nuanced beauty. The endless green fields are real. And the Irish accent is the best accent in the world. I’ve debated this out with a lot of people and I will die on that (Cork or Kerry) hill — happily.
Here is a list of films that make you want to move to the Irish countryside:
That They May Face the Rising Sun
A simple feast of Irish farm life and a relationship grounded in sturdiness and grace, set in 1980s Ireland featuring tender scenes that will make you ache.
I will also die on this hill — this is a FANTASTIC FILM. It’s a heart hug and easy to watch, filled with so many Irishisms (that I would not have understood had I not lived in Ireland), which is why maybe non-Irish critics don’t get it. Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan are a riot, I smiled the whole time.
Set on a fictional island off the coast of Ireland (but filmed on Inis Mór and Achill Island), this film showcases Ireland’s scenery magnificently. About a man who wants silence and another man who wants his best friend back. It’s quintessential Irish — absurd, poignant, dark, and wheezingly hilarious with a fair few pints in a pub you’ll want to teleport to.
This is your heartbreak / first day of bleed / forget about the world film. Amy Adams is an uptight American trying to get her boyfriend to propose to her (so she decides to do it instead), and a delicious Matthew Goode as a surly Irishman is a godsend. You’ll see a lot of the peak green Irish countryside along the way from Dingle to Dublin.
Is Gerard Butler delicious? Yes. Does the world need more handsome, cheeky, pub-singing, strip-teasing Irish-accented men? Yes. You get it in this film. Hilary Swank makes her way backwards from New York to the stunning Wicklow Mountains in Ireland (not to give too much away), and the glory of Irish green fields, lively pubs and another charming Irish-accented man. Very satisfying viewing with some tears.
Phenomenal story of a woman played by Saoirse Ronan who immigrates to Brooklyn from Ireland in the early 1950s, has an intoxicating romance and then bless her (bleeding) heart, has to choose between two loves across two continents. Set in Enniscorthy and Curracloe Beach in County Wexford for her homecoming scenes, you’ll see Irish coastal scenes and a classic Irish church, grocery store and houses of that era.
Look, there are many problems with this film — mainly that Saint Brigid (Goddess and feminine archetype of Ireland) is depicted in AN INDIAN SARI. If you can get over that, there is fantastic scenery, two nice to look at men, and two horribly cast best friend side kicks — with footage of some of my favourite places including Westport, Cliffs of Moher, and Bray — and Lindsay.
This film is SO MUCH FUN. Based on a book by Roddy Doyle, this chaotic musical melange is set in Dublin had me enraptured from the opening frame. There are big band soul numbers, insights into the Irish working class, and a baby-faced Glen Hansard. A beloved Irish film to many Irish people and me.
I have a problem, and that is I have a huge crush on Michael Collins — the Irish National Army war leader and rebel. This film charts the life and death (NOOOOO!) of this divisive yet cherished man (played by Liam Neeson) during the creation of the Irish Free State. It features the hills of West Cork and the countryside near Clonakilty where he was ambushed and killed.
Laws of Attraction
If you’re looking for a Hollywood-meets-Ireland rom com, this is it. Julianne Moore wears cargo pants with knee pockets, but I digress. Scenes of Ireland come halfway through the film when the two divorce lawyers head to County Clare to settle a castle that the couple they’re both representing own. Cute Irishisms ensue like “Is that themselves?” and shots of poitín in a cozy pub.
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Essential viewing. This film broke me in the first three minutes. Your man Cillian Murphy is spectacular — I get him now. A heartbreaking and moving tale (with a dash of romance) set in the 1920s of two brothers during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War (because the Irish could NOT GET A BREAK). I sobbed for the brutality and inhumanity of the British forces, and cried at the beauty of the expansive Cork hills and countryside.
This film is a tour of West Cork — in full sun (which it rarely is in Ireland). Two friends on stolen bikes are pursued by police the length of the county to find missing cocaine worth €7 million. Peak Irish humour. It’s genuine craic.
If you want to go to bed with a smile on your face: this film is it. A pure treat for sitting back and getting engrossed (and bopping) in the story of a boy chasing a girl, so he forms a band to get her attention (“Do you want to be in a video?”). Joyful, hilarious and heartening. AND THE LAST SCENE. Shot in Dublin and features an iconic train ride down the coast, and this wee island.
An Cailín Ciúin / The Quiet Girl is audibly wow to watch. An Irish language film that was nominated for an Oscar. Gentle viewing with moving acting centering around nine-year-old Cáit, who is sent to live with relatives in rural Ireland around County Waterford where she blossoms by being cared for.
Not a film, a TV series — but Paul Mescal — so allowed. Set in Sligo and Dublin — I’ve previously written about how Normal People is about that person who you first loved or made you feel most alive, and this show is a mirror to that person you cannot forget. Clear your schedule for addictive viewing. Also, I am never not convinced that Paul and Daisy will end up together in real life. Please refer to this essay when I am right.
Selkies! A warm embrace for your soul. This film is about Celtic island lore and mythology that includes gorgeous coastal scenery surrounding a small fishing village. Partly a children’s film but because the Irish are so lyrical, any “adult” can and will love it.
A memorable laugh-out-loud film that follows two gay teens who pretend to be a heterosexual couple to escape bullying and familial pressures. Set in 1990s Kildare, it’s queer cinema with the added realness that homosexuality has only been legal in Ireland since 1993.
The one that started it all. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová chart the most refreshing (the ending is not what you think) example of male and female friendship you’ll see on screen, PLUS a solid soundtrack that I still listen to regularly and won them an Oscar. Mostly set on the streets and in a record studio in Dublin, the story of this film is life-giving. And it still counts as there is a coastal scene where they go to Killiney Hill to stare at the sea.
Other stellar Irish films set in other places:
Belfast — The beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland (or “North of Ireland”) in 1969 told through the eyes of a working class Belfast boy.
Kneecap — A provocative and mouth-agape true story about a hip hop trio rapping in Irish to save their native language and set in Belfast.
Flora and Son — John Carney (of Once and Sing Street) is the king of music films (that aren’t musicals), and this one is set in Dublin.
As Luck Would Have It — A fun and charming Hallmark film about a matchmaking festival with beautiful cinematography set in Glendalough and the countryside outside Dublin. The lead guy is a hottie.
The film I am building up to seeing is Song of Granite.
I was told by a man in a pub on Inis Mór in the Aran Islands over a pint of Guinness that this film is the most Irish film there is.
He recounted a pivotal scene to me to do with Joe Heaney, the famous Irish sean-nós (unaccompanied, old style singer) from County Galway who emigrated to America. There is a scene where Joe (working as a hotel doorman) touches the stone facade of a building in New York, homesick for the stone walls of Ireland that he longs to see again. As he tells me that last detail: his voice quivers, and he starts crying.
This is why I love Ireland.
That is the magic of what happens.
So that is what I will be watching this Friday night.
Send this on to an Éire loving friend, add your name to get future letters, and tell me an Irish film you adore in the comments. Grá mór.
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Omgggg exactly what I needed this afternoon. Nothing quite like a film set on the Emerald Isle to soothe the soul. I’ve seen a few of these but many to add to the list. Thank you!! 🍀
One of my favorites is “Finding you”