Table of Content
1: Dancing At Lughnasa
The lives of five close-knit unmarried sisters in rural Ireland in the 1930s are investigated in this 1998 movies starring Meryl Streep and Michael Gambon.
2: Wild Mountain Thyme
Rosemary, played by Emily Blunt, pines for Anthony, a farmer managing his family’s land in the Irish countryside, in this romantic comedy.
3: The O’Briens
An Irish father summons his adult children, causing them to fear the worst, only to discover that he wants to introduce them to his new fiancee.
4: Waking Ned Devine
The antics of two longstanding friends and the modest Irish hamlet they call home are retold in this feel-good comedy, which is revolutionized by a winning lottery ticket.
5: Leap Year
Another year has gone by, and Anna (Amy Adams) is still without a ring. So, what precisely does she do? She pursues her boyfriend across Ireland in order to propose to him. But she wasn’t expecting to meet a handsome stranger on the side of the road…
6: The Secret of Kells
This lovely children’s film is also terrific enough to keep adults entertained.
7: Finian’s Rainbow
In this amazing Fred Astaire film from the 1960s, leprechauns, pots of gold, and rainbows are all there.
8: The Luck of the Irish
This Disney Channel Original Movie is available to view on Disney Plus, or you may buy it directly from the studio. In any case, having access to the family comedy about a teenager who is half-leprechaun will not disappoint.
9: The Guard
In this amusing thriller, an Irish cop and his straight-laced coworker find corruption in the police department while investigating a narcotics network.
10: Leprechaun
Although this isn’t exactly a warm and cuddly St. Patrick’s Day movie, it does reflect the subject. If horror isn’t your thing, Jennifer Aniston’s ’90s look might be.
11: Once
This Irish romantic comedy depicts two young artists who decide to cooperate and fall in love in the process.
12: Michael Collins
Liam Neeson portrays the titular soldier, who commands the Irish Republican Army in a war for Ireland’s freedom against Britain.
13: The Commitments
A man decides to form an R&B group in Dublin, but fame and money prove to be more difficult to achieve than the group anticipated.
14: The Quiet Man
When Sean, a boxer from Ireland, returns home, he falls in love with the sister of the man who has long wanted Sean’s property.
15: Far And Away
This period movie is about two characters who move from Ireland to America, Nicole Kidman, and Tom Cruise star. They have issues with money as well as their affection for one other when they work together.
16: P.S. I Love You (2007)
Make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand for this one. After a lady loses her husband, he supports her in making her next steps.
17: Pot O’ Gold
In this 1940s picture, a man finds his uncle’s fiercest enemies—an Irish family who loves music—and tries to encourage them in their career.
18: Brooklyn
In 1950s Brooklyn, a young Irish immigrant adjusts to her new life, but she must finally choose between two continents—and love interests.
19: Philomena
After her son was placed for adoption, an Irish mother spent years looking for him. When a reporter learns of her misery, he offers to assist her in finishing the walk.
20: My Left Foot
This fascinating narrative follows a young youngster who was born with cerebral palsy and the miraculous ways in which he overcomes his issues.
21: The Snapper
An Irish woman realizes she’s pregnant after a wild night out. Her little hamlet also wastes no time in trying to find the father.
22: The Wind That Shakes the Barley
The epic story of two brothers torn apart by the Irish anti-British revolt in Ireland in 1920.
23: In America
The movie follows an Irish immigrant family as they come to New York City to pursue their father’s aim of becoming an actor.
24: Angela’s Ashes
This film, which is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography, depicts the experiences of a little boy as his family relocates from New York City to Limerick, Ireland.
25: Boondock Saints
With their own vigilante tactics, the two brothers aim to clean up the streets of Boston. Despite the fact that they become heroes in their own right, one FBI agent still wants them to be deported.
26: Intermission
Pay whatever it takes to witness Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell, Kelly Macdonald, and Colm Meaney in their superb parts. Intermission delivers everything a crowd-pleaser should have: romance, thrills, comedy, and, of course, some good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat. Intermission, a drama of interconnected tales and youthful energy ignited by one couple’s breakup—and soon to be added to your top five—stars the quartet.
27: Song of the Sea
This fascinating story follows an Irish child and his silent sister on a quest to save the spirit realm, which is based on Irish myth and folklore and contains selkies, fairies, and witches. Tomm Moore’s Song of the Sea, a hand-drawn masterpiece from the director of The Secret of Kells, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2015, and it’s difficult to understand why it didn’t win after seeing the film, which is rich in Celtic culture from its imagery to its soundtrack.
28: ’71
Yann Demange’s military drama centers on the perilous, chaotic streets of Belfast in 1971, as a British soldier (Jack O’Connell), tries through the night to stay alive after his unit is unintentionally abandoned following a riot. It’s three acts of tense suspense and 99 minutes of pure admiration for O’Connell.
29: Circle of Friends
In Pat O’Conner’s Dublin-set thriller, Minnie Driver features as Benny, an Irish Catholic coed who sets her sights on the university’s best-looking true-gent rugby player, Chris O’Donnell. Impure thoughts, intricate webs, and betrayal by a BFF follow.
30: Hunger
Before divulging everything in Shame, Michael Fassbender was starving himself in Hunger, another horrible Steve McQueen classic. Fassbender plays imprisoned IRA officer Bobby Sands in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison, and he leads McQueen’s film from the initiation of his hunger strike to the final excruciating breath.
31: The Van
How about a triple feature to wrap out the Doyle’s Barrytown adaptations? Meaney reprises his role as one of two mates who manage a fish & chip food truck in this 1996 flick. However, as the corporation grows, their friendship deteriorates. Although some may argue that the other two films are superior, it is still worth seeing to complete the trilogy.
32: Black 47
Despite the fact that the Great Famine was a major aspect of Irish history—and Irish American history, as it was the cause of many Irish people moving to America—it hasn’t gained much attention in movies. This 2018 film seeks to change that, deriving its title from the year of the famine’s deadliest year, 1847. In the film, an Irishman (James Frecheville, who is actually Australian) swears vengeance on those he believes are to blame for his family’s suffering during the famine, while a former army officer (Hugo Weaving) pursues him.
33: The Secret of Roan Inish
This 1994 family-friendly movie is based on a 1957 novel about “selkies,” a Celtic folklore legend about people who transform into seals. It follows a tiny Irish girl who journeys to Roan Inish, or “Island of Seals,” where her young brother was supposed to have been stolen away to see in his cradle. When she discovers that her family may be descended from selkies, she persuades her grandparents to move her back to the island in the hopes that the seals will reunite her brother with his human family.
34: Ondine
Selkies come once more in this disturbing 2009 love drama, but this time in a much more mature plot that evokes an Irish Splash. Colin Farrell, an Irish actor, plays a fisherman named Circus who catches a woman named Ondine (Alicja Bachleda) in his net, but she could be one of the supernatural creatures. Circus bonds with his daughter via tales of the selkies while he guards the mother. Is Ondine, however, who she claims to be?
35: Sing Street
This music-filled coming-of-age film from 2016 is sure to get your family moving for a joyful St. Patrick’s Day at-home party. Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), a fresh student at his Dublin Catholic school, plans to create a band with his varied network of friends and a love interest. Conor then begins writing his own songs, with the backing of his older brother and fantasizes about leaving his current situation behind when the band becomes recognized. The touching picture is guaranteed to thrill both children and adults.
36: The Magdalene Sisters
Many films set in Ireland deal with the Catholic Church’s often dictatorial presence. Based on a genuine incident, this film follows four “fallen” women in the 1960s who are sent to a Magdalene facility, which were real-life facilities run by the church where women were obliged to work as launderers and lived in usually cruel, abusive conditions. Despite the fact that the film concludes on a pleasant note for some of the women, it does deal with some tragic subject matter.
37: Bloody Sunday
The Irish band U2’s song of the same name, which plays over the end credits in this 2002 film directed by Paul Greengrass, may have made Americans aware of the Bloody Sunday atrocity. The documentary-style video depicts the events leading up to and during January 30, 1972, rally in Northern Ireland, when British forces opened fire on the crowd, killing 14 people.
38: High Spirits
Try this so-silly-it’s-good 1988 film if you love farcical humor above serious drama. The proprietor (Peter O’Toole) of an Irish castle-hotel is desperate for business, so he tells his staff to pretend that the establishment is haunted—but the joke’s on them because it turns out that it is. Exteriors were captured at Dromore Castle in Ireland, which is now in ruins. Neil Jordan, the Irish writer/director of The Crying Game, also helmed High Spirits, however, he believes the latter film was edited in a way that was substantially different from what he had planned.
39: Tara Road
This 2005 film, based on another Maeve Binchy novel, features themes of The Holiday and follows two ladies going through life crises as they exchange houses in America and Dublin, Ireland. It’s a touch old-fashioned, but it has the wonderful feel of a charming Hallmark-style melodrama. The house swappers are Olivia Williams and Andie MacDowell, with Stephen Rea and Scottish actor Iain Glen (Game of Thrones’ Ser Jorah) as co-stars.
40: The Hole in the Ground
Set aside an evening with this terrifying 2019 thriller if you want a little fear with your corned beef and cabbage. A single mother (Seána Kerslake) and her kid travel to the beautiful Irish countryside, but their new home is placed among scary trees that conceal a massive sinkhole. Is it a portal to another world? When her son begins to act strangely, she fears he is a changeling, a creature from folklore who replaces someone who has been abducted by fairies.