My Favorite Irish Movies

With St. Patrick’s Day here and as a sequel to my last year’s “Irish books that Everybody should read,” I have compiled a list of my favorite Irish movies. There are many Irish movies, good and bad, depicting, not only the troubled history of Ireland but sharing the Irish humor, culture and language.

I have compiled a list of my favorite Irish movies and why I feel they represent the Irish culture and heritage. As the Irish humor is integrated into even the most miserable moments of Irish life, even a serious movie can be fun to watch and will help us all to feel a little more Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

Brooklyn

Starring Saoirse Ronan, this movie tells us the familiar story of how one girl leaves behind her home in Ireland to build a new life in the USA in the 1950s. The movie illustrates Eilis’s journey to the USA and the struggles that come with that, including homesickness. Her experience illustrates how immigration completely changes a person, in that they are never fully Irish or fully American. In both countries, she feels alien and at home. As an Irish immigrant myself, I feel that this movie was made for me. I cannot help but relate to her homesickness and culture shock. The biggest difference between Eilis and me is that I live in a modern world where communication is instant, and homesickness, although present, can be cured with FaceTime. This movie is a must for me on St. Patrick’s Day as a lovely tribute to the Irish who came to this country before me.

Once

Not only is this one of my all-time favorite movies, but it is also the backdrop to one of my favorite songs, ‘Falling Slowly.’ This is such a simple movie set in the early 2000s in Dublin. The movie begins with a young Glen Hansard, a vacuum repairman, searching for his big break into the music industry as a performer and songwriter. He meets a beautiful Czech immigrant who also loves to sing and write music, and a love story is born. 

Belfast

This one is very close to home for me as I was born and raised in North Belfast, where the movie is set. The movie was written by Sir Kenneth Branagh, who was born and partly raised in Belfast, immigrating to England at the beginning of ‘The Troubles’, the 30-year civil conflict in Northern Ireland. The cast is just as impressive as the movie, starring Dame Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan (aka Mr. Christian Grey), Ciarán Hinds, and Caitriona Balfe (Outlander). The story follows a nine-year-old boy as his world changes due to the civil disturbance and his journey to a new and better life in a foreign land.

P.S. I Love You

I’m not sure how ‘Irish’ we can claim the movie is (the entire book is set in Ireland), but it was written by an Irish woman, Cecilia Ahern, and is partly set in the beautiful Connemara. The movie follows Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) as she navigates losing her young husband to cancer. Her husband, Gerry (Gerard Butler), puts a plan in place before his death to deliver a note to her every month for one year. The movie is an emotional rollercoaster and will have you laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time. It has the right amount of romance and Irish humor. My only criticism of this movie is Gerard Butler’s ‘Irish’ accent, but it’s ha never stopped me from watching it!

Darby O’Gill and the Little People

I included this as a ‘family’ movie, however, a word of warning, there is quite a scary scene at the end of the movie, which frightened the b’jesus out of me as a child. Set in rural Ireland in the 1950s, starring a very young and handsome Sean Connery, Darby O’Gill is the story of an elderly Irish man who falls through a portal to the land of the little people. He meets the King of the Leprechauns and brings him home with him. Darby O’Gill demands three wishes from the King, which leads to bittersweet and unexpected results. 

An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl)

I could not compile a list of my favorite Irish movies without a movie in the Irish native tongue, Gaelic (An Ghaelige). This movie is widely available with subtitles so there’s absolutely no need to learn the language in order to watch it! The movie is set in 1981, rural Ireland. Cáit, a young girl who has been neglected, is placed with a foster family. As Cáit begins to blossom with her new family, the story twists due to secrets that have been kept hidden. It is a movie with serious moments and is played beautifully against the gorgeous Irish landscape. As an Irish speaker (Gaeilgeoir) myself, it’s very exciting to see entire movies in the Irish language.

There are many, many more of my favorite Irish movies that I could not fit onto this list, including The Wind that Shakes the Barley and The Commitments, but I will leave them for another time.

What Irish movies make you want to visit Ireland or call to your Irish ancestry?