Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! In honor of the most green-beeriest of holidays, I present to you my Top Ten Irish Movies. Many of these take place in Ireland, but a few just feature Irish people. They’re everywhere.
Fun fact: I went to Ireland last summer, and it was so ridiculously good-looking there that it looked fake. Also, the Guinness Storehouse tour is nothing short of spellbinding.
10) The Butcher Boy
Man, this is one weird movie. The fact that Sinead O’Connor is in it makes it super Irish.
9) The Commitments
A great little movie about a group of out-of-work Dubliners who form a soul band. This is one of three movies based on Roddy Doyle books. Also: Colm Meany!
8) The Boxer
Daniel Day-Lewis is an amazing actor. In The Boxer, he plays a former IRA member who gets released from jail and returns to his old Belfast neighborhood to start a boxing gym. This movie would be higher on the list, but I saw in the synopsis that Dublin stood in for Belfast during the filming, and now I feel lied to.
7) In the Name of the Father
Another Daniel Day-Lewis movie about the IRA, and it was also directed by Jim Sheridan. It’s based on the true story of a man wrongly convicted of a bombing. Kind of a rough movie to watch, but a really good one.
6) The Van
This is another of the Roddy Doyle movies, and it, too, features the hilarious Colm Meany. The other movie in the trilogy is The Snapper, which is also good, but I wanted to mix up the list a bit.
5) Intermission
I feel like a lot of people missed Intermission, which is a shame, because it’s brilliant (like in the Irish slang way). Colin Farrell is extremely funny in this, which really surprised me. Also: EVEN MORE COLM MEANY!
4) Waking Ned Devine
A truly charming movie that was beautifully shot. It paints a great picture of quirky, small-town Irish life.
3) Miller’s Crossing
Okay, it’s not set in Ireland, but it is about Irish gangsters. It’s also one of my favorite Coen brothers movies.
2) Once
Love the movie, love the soundtrack, love the real-life band (The Swell Season) that resulted from it, and love that the two main characters/band members are really dating.
1) The Boondock Saints
Again, not set in Ireland, but about two Irish brothers from Boston. Willem Dafoe steals the show. I have yet to see the sequel, but it’s in my Queue.
