30 Best Irish Movies That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Best Irish Movies

1. Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)

Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)

This film, directed and written by Doubt writer/director John Patrick Shanley, is based on his play Outside Mullingar. It depicts the lives of two Irish families who live on adjacent farms. During their parents’ later years, childhood friends Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt must decide what to do with their land and their conflicted love for one another.

2. Wolfwalkers (2020)

On a trip to Ireland with her father, the young woman is a trainee hunter who follows in her father’s footsteps and accompanies him in the pursuit of a band of wild boar. She hears stories of people who live in the woods and can shift into wolves at night while she’s there. A 99 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, but it’s only available on Apple TV+, means this film is not widely available.

3. Sea Fever (2020)

Sea Fever, a science fiction film set on a fishing trawler, follows a scientist who joins the crew to learn more about the underwater species they encounter. They are gradually uncovering signs of a previously unknown life species.

4. The Hole in the Ground (2019)

The Hole in the Ground (2019)

It was a horror film by Irish writer and filmmaker Lee Cronin that was the top-grossing Irish film of 2019. The plot is around a mom who believes her kid has been replaced by an imposter, so if you miss it on St. Patrick’s Day, it may double as a Mother’s Day movie, if you so choose.

5. Black ’47 (2018)

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The Irish Famine serves as a setting for a savage revenge thriller. Many critics have compared it to an American Western, despite the fact that it takes set in Ireland.

6. Sing Street (2016)

There are so many things to like about this movie, and it’s going to be a Broadway production soon. An underdog tale, an adolescent coming-of-age tale, and an opera all in one. This story takes place during the 1980s in Ireland, where a socially awkward young man tries to form a band in order to meet new people and, of course, get the attention of a pretty girl.

7. A Date for Mad Mary (2016)

A Date for Mad Mary (2016)

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Mary was recently released from prison, just in time for her best friend’s wedding, where she will serve as maid of honor for her. If Mary is unable to locate a date in time for the wedding, she sees it as a challenge and embarks on a haphazard search for romance. Irish Film and Television Awards recognized it as the year’s best Irish film.

8. Brooklyn (2015)

New York City in the 1950s, and Saoirse Ronan plays an Irish immigrant who has to decide whether to stay in Brooklyn or return to Ireland. If you’re feeling homesick, this will make you want to phone your loved ones. For Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay, the film was nominated.

9. Calvary (2014)

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Brendan Gleeson plays an Irish priest who receives a death threat and has one week to determine if it is true or not. In order to get his affairs in order, he spends the next seven days meeting with parishioners who resemble the Seven Deadly Sins.

10. The Secret of Kells (2010)

The Secret of Kells (2010)

When it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film with Disney’s The Princess and the Frog and Pixar’s Up, this film made a huge impression. To understand why, watch: In medieval Ireland, young Brendan encounters a fairy and sets off on a fantastic journey to battle evil.

11. Leap Year (2010)

We’ll take any opportunity to see Amy Adams on the big screen, even if this movie isn’t even really Irish. She flies to Ireland to pop the question to her lover on Leap Day since, according to Irish tradition, a woman must be accepted if she proposes on February 29.

12. Ondine (2010)

While fishing, Colin Farrell comes across a woman in his nets. They believe she is a mythological sea creature known as a “selkie.” Is it possible that she’s correct?

13. Hunger (2008)

Hunger (2008)

A 1981 hunger strike in a Northern Ireland prison is the subject of a new film from Widows filmmaker Steve McQueen, who also directed this year’s Small Axe anthology. Actor Michael Fassbender, who played the lead part, appears to have lost 40 pounds for the job.

14. Once (2007)

A Dublin busker and a Czech immigrant decide to create an album together after meeting. In addition, the movie’s iconic tune, “Falling Slowly,” earned the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Every creative person should see this film, whether they’ve had a positive or negative experience with it.

15. The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2007)

Filmmaker Ken Loach has a film that takes place throughout the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War if you want to understand more about Ireland’s 20th century history. Throughout the story, we follow the story of two brothers who are ripped apart by war.

16. Rory O’Shea Was Here (2005)

Rory O'Shea Was Here (2005)

Early in his career, McAvoy co-stars as a wheelchair user who moves in with a man with cerebral palsy in a facility for the crippled and develops an odd bond. Antics are bound to ensue.

17. Intermission (2003)

In terms of a date movie, this one has something for everyone. Part crime thriller, part love story, with a dash of comedy thrown in for good measure. Petty thugs Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy, along with John (Cillian Murphy), who is seeking to win back his ex-girlfriend, Deirdre, form a gang and plan an elaborate theft (Kelly Macdonald). You may hear Farrell sing “I Fought the Law” in the end credits.

18. In America (2002)

“My Left Foot” and “In the Name of the Father” filmmaker Jim Sheridan is behind this semi-autobiographical tale. In the film, a family relocates from Ireland to New York City so that the father can pursue his goal of becoming an actor in the city.

19. The Magdalene Sisters (2002)

The Magdalene Sisters (2002)

In the 1960s, the Magdalene Asylums were a place where women were forced to live in squalid conditions and were subjected to physical and sexual abuse. The subject matter is difficult, but the movie rewards those who persevere: Rotten Tomatoes gives it a fresh score of 90%.

20. Bloody Sunday (2002)

As a director of news-based dramas like United 93 and Captain Phillips, director Paul Greengrass dramatizes the 1972 “Bloody Sunday” shootings in the city of Derry, Ireland.

21. Angela’s Ashes (2000)

Taking inspiration from Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer-winning memoirs, Angela’s Ashes depicts the life of an Irish child transplanted to Limerick from New York City. Also, McCourt wrote two animated Christmas movies, titled Angela’s Christmas and Angela’s Christmas Wish, which are available on Netflix.

22. Waking Ned Devine (1998)

Waking Ned Devine (1998)

Thankfully, Ned Devine won the Irish National Lottery, only to pass away from shock after learning of his good fortune. (We’re going to keep this lighthearted.) His small community band together to attempt to claim and divide his earnings as he had no family to leave it to, therefore the movie follows the rest of them.

23. Michael Collins (1996)

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An Irish revolutionary leader who battled against British control in the early 20th century is played by Liam Neeson. This was the highest-grossing film in Ireland at the time of its release (until it was unseated by Titanic).

24. In the Name of the Father (1993)

The story of Gerry Conlon, a man wrongly accused of carrying out an IRA bombing, is also based on a true story. During his 15 years in prison, Conlon attempted to clear his name, and the film, which received eight Academy Award nominations, recounts the various proceedings that seek to do so.

25. The Snapper (1993)

The Snapper (1993)

It’s a lighthearted comedy about a 20-year-old Irish woman who gets pregnant, and the town begins whispering about who the father of “the snapper” may be. Is this the movie you show to your best friend who can’t keep her mouth shut? Based on a book by The Commitments’ author Roddy Doyle, and directed by The Queen’s Stephen Frears.

26. The Crying Game (1992)

This twisting, surprising sleeper blockbuster starring Stephen Rea and Miranda Richardson as Irish terrorists was nominated for seven Academy Awards after it was released in theaters in 2013. Ondine and Michael Collins filmmaker Neil Jordan is responsible for this picture. If you wish to make a double (or triple) feature out of it, you can do so.

27. The Commitments (1991)

Following an Irishman’s attempt to get into soul music, The Commitments is yet another film about an impromptu band. One of the most beloved films of all time, this one was featured on a postage stamp in Ireland, and cast members went on to create bands like The Corrs and the Frames after its debut.

28. My Left Foot (1989)

My Left Foot (1989)

Watch this Oscar-winning performance by Daniel Day-Lewis if you want to learn acting from a master. Lewis plays Christy Brown, an Irishman with cerebral palsy who learned to paint and write with his toes in the incredible true story.

29. Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)

Darby (Albert Sharpe, who is actually from Belfast) charms leprechauns into granted him three wishes in this Walt Disney family classic, which takes place in a little town in Ireland. As far as I know, wishes do not come true.

30. The Quiet Man (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

An American boxer returns to his native Ireland in order to win the hand of a local woman in yet another Irish film created by Americans, including Western legend John Wayne and director John Ford.