The Best Movies Set in Ireland

The third and final collaboration between Daniel Day-Lewis and Irish director Jim Sheridan tells the story of boxer Danny Flynn (Day-Lewis). After serving a 14-year prison stint for his involvement with the Provisional IRA, Flynn re-enters society and attempts to put his life back together. Primarily a character-driven drama, the film also delivers plenty of political context.

Two young boys set out to rescue their stolen horse in this magical realist adventure. It takes inspiration from the stories of Irish Travellers – aka “the walking people” – an ethno-cultural group that still lives in Ireland to this day.

This harrowing drama takes place during the real-life hunger strike led by IRA prisoner Bobby Sands in 1981. Outside the prison walls, two of the strikers’ mothers (Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan) fight to save their sons’ lives.

Irish director Neil Jordan was in the midst of an impressive career run when he helmed this pitch-black comedy. Against the backdrop of 1962 Ireland, an antisocial boy (Eamonn Owens) retreats from his bleak reality into a fantasy world of his own creation. When the line between these two worlds diminishes, it results in a shocking act of violence.

Liam Neeson plays historical figure Michael Collins in this Oscar-nominated biopic of the same name. In his fierce struggle for Ireland’s independence, Collins must negotiate with the enemy and betray former allies. Variety critic Todd McCarthy called it “intelligent, enormously accomplished and seriously problematic.”