Irish Movies
For Children:
Darby O’Gill and the Little People Early movie for Sean Connery and made by Walt Disney. Small children sometimes worry about the Banshee.
The Secrete of Roan Inish
Into the West A bit more mature but still for kids
The Troubles:
The Informer A John Ford movie made in 1935. It has many of the John Ford (Feeny) cast members except for John Wayne.
Odd Man Out Made in 1947 with James Mason in the IRA
Shake Hands with the Devil James Cagney linked to the IRA in 1920. Most Cagney movies have some Irish link, particularly if he is with Pat O’Brien.
Michael Collins A relatively accurate portrayal of Collins and DeValera but the romance is cumbersome.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley A grim portrayal of the War of Independence (1918-22) outside of Dublin.
Bloody Sunday A fairly accurate portrayal of Derry (Londonderry) in 1971.
Hidden Agenda Speculation of Margaret Thatcher’s shoot to kill policy.
Some Mother’s Son Helen Mirren in a portrayal of the “hunger strikes.”
In the Name of the Father Daniel Day-Lewis does a remarkable performance of Gerry Conlon who spent 16 years in prison. The prison that is filmed is Kilmainham, built in 1796 and virtually every Irish patriot from 1798 to 1922 spent time there. It is now a museum.
Omagh About a bombing in Northern Ireland at the same time as the peace talks were developing.
Comedy:
The Quiet Man Popular everywhere.
I See a Dark Stranger 1948 Somewhere between comedy and drama with Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard during WW II
The Boys and the Girl from County Clare
The Matchmaker
The Commitments A Roddy Doyle novel
The Snapper Another Roddy Doyle novel
Waking Ned Devine
Leap Year
In America
The Most Fertile Man in Ireland I believe this can be watched for free on YouTube. It could never have been made before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement since it makes fun of both the Unionist Paramilitaries and the IRA.
Drama:
The Nephew I still think of it as comedy
Evelyn
The Field Richard Harris was worth an Oscar for this this movie
Brendan Gleeson Movies: Brendan Gleeson has 89 movie roles. Hardly an Irish movie made without him but I am only recommending what are called dark comedies.
In Bruge
Calvery
The Guard
The General
Wild about Harry