45 of the Best Irish Movies, From Classics to New Faves
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the a cinematic trip to the Emerald Isle.
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If there's one persistent cliché about the Irish, it's that they're great storytellers. When you sit down and experience the cinema of Ireland, though, it seems to be true. So next time you're settling in to decide a great movie to watch, it might be worthwhile to check out a film from across the pond.
But with so many to choose from, where to start? We've rounded up the best Irish movies of all-time, and there's something for every occasion and mood. Some are heavy histories, looking in to the country's past conflicts and national heroes. Others are great romance movies, where new loves blossom against a backdrop of sea and green meadows. There are comedies, horror films, dramas, musicals and even the occasional sci-fi flick. Many are award winners, tallying up several Oscar and Golden Globe nominations apiece. Plus, there are plenty of opportunities to see acting greats like Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Fassbender, Liam Neeson and Daniel Day Lewis, all of whom appear on this list multiple times.
Throw one on, and see if it brings you the luck of the Irish.
Kneecap (2024)
In an era of musical biopics, Kneecap stands apart for avoiding the typical rise-and-fall-of-an-artist clichés. The members of the rap group play themselves, telling the story of how the band formed when a schoolteacher teamed up with two guys who are "self-confessed low-life scum." The unlikely trio went on to make music in the Irish language — which wasn't even recognized as an official language of Ireland at the time — turning them into extremely unlikely civil rights leaders.
Small Things Like These
After Oppenheimer and his subsequent Oscar win, Cillian Murphy could have had his pick of projects, and he chose this: a small, heartbreaking movie from playwright Enda Walsh. It follows a man who realizes he can no longer turn a blind eye when he becomes aware of certain activities of the local convent.
Flora and Son (2023)
Fans of Sing Street and Once — which are both on this list — can enjoy an Apple TV+ original from the same director. In it, a single mother (played by Bad Sisters' Eve Hewson, daughter of Irish mega-star Bono) gets her son a guitar, hoping a productive hobby will get him to avoid delinquency. Instead, she starts to take lessons from a guitar teacher in Los Angeles, they all learn how music can be a way to bond.
Nocebo (2022)
In medicine, a nocebo is sort of like the evil twin of a placebo: It's a harmless substance that still causes ill effects because a patient believes it will. In this horror film, a fashion designer (Eva Green) seeks treatment after being bitten by a tick. After hitting a dead end with doctors, she turns to her new nanny, who offers to use folk healing methods that appear to work. Is the nanny helping, or is there something more insidious going on?
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
What does it take to keep a long-lasting friendship going — and what happens when it's over? In this film, Colin Farrell plays a man whose world is rocked when his best friend, played by Brendan Gleeson, suddenly turns a cold shoulder to him. It comes from director Martin McDonagh, who made other sharply insightful films like Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and when it was released it received eight Oscar nominations (thought it won none of them — there goes that dream, as the characters say).
Belfast (2021)
Many movies have tackled the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, but this movie takes it down to kid-level, showing the events from the point of view of a 9-year-old boy just trying to live amongst his family and neighbors. It comes from director Kenneth Branagh, who based the black-and-white movie on his own experiences growing up.
Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)
This Irish film is also an offbeat romance, so it's good to watch on either Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day. In it, Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt star as neighbors from two warring families. As their parents age, they have to decide if they want to abide by their relatives and adhere to the established rules for their adjacent properties, or honor their feelings for each other. The film is based on the play Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley, writer of Moonstruck (truly one of the best romances of all time). Shanley also directed this one.
Wolfwalkers (2020)
With The Wolf Man having come out this year, and Nosferatu's Robert Eggers announcing he's directing a werewolf movie next — to say nothing of Taylor Lautner's announced meta-werewolf project — are werewolves the next big trend? If so, this Apple TV+ movie is worth a re-watch.
It follows an English hunter and is rebellious daughter, Robyn, who are sent to a village in 1650s Ireland to clear the woods of a wolf pack that has been terrorizing the locals. Robyn is eager to join on the hunt, until she meets a friend who may or may not belong to the pack, which possibly assumes human form by day and wolf form at night. The movie was made by the acclaimed Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, which often interprets Irish folklore in movies like this one, Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells (both on this list).
Sea Fever (2020)
What is it about vast and mysterious spaces, be they on the ocean or in outer space, that make them so ripe for horror? This movie follows a scientist who embeds herself on a fishing trawler to study marine biology. (Seems simple enough.) When the crew starts to get mysteriously ill, she finds evidence they've come in contact with a life form that no one has seen or experienced before.
The Hole in the Ground (2019)
This movie has earned itself a place in the pantheon of creepy-kid movies, so if you can't get to this one in time for St. Patrick's Day, you can always make it your Mother's Day movie. It's about a mom who suspects her son's been replaced with an imposter. When it opened in 2019, this was the highest-grossing Irish movie.
Ordinary Love (2019)
Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville play a married couple whose relationship is rocked with a diagnosis of breast cancer. What follows is a story of enduring love in the face of adversity.
Black '47 (2018)
This is a dark revenge drama that plays out against the backdrop of the Irish Famine. And, though it takes place in Ireland, many critics say the gritty pulpiness makes it feel more like an American Western.
Bad Day for the Cut (2017)
This is another one for people who like gritty revenge thrillers: It follows a farmer who sets off on a mission to avenge the murder of his elderly mother. But, as we have to wonder with all revenge movies, is all that violence justified?
Cardboard Gangsters (2017)
In this crime-centered underdog story, a group of amateur gangsters try to take over their town's drug trade. When it came out, it was a box-office phenomenon in Ireland, making it the highest grossing Irish film of the year.
Sing Street (2016)
Adapted into a Broadway show, this movie is so many crowd-pleasing things at once: It's an underdog story, a coming-of-age-tale and a musical all rolled into one. It takes place in 1980s Ireland, where a young, socially outcast boy decides he wants to start a band to help make friends and — what else? — impress a girl.
A Date for Mad Mary (2016)
Mary is recently released from prison — just in time to be the maid of honor at her best friend's wedding. When the bride says Mary wouldn't be able to find a date in time, Mary takes it as a challenge and starts a hapless search for love. The movie won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Irish Film of 2016.
Brooklyn (2015)
Saoirse Ronan stars as an Irish immigrant in 1950s New York City, and she has to decide between a life in Brooklyn or her old one back home. (Warning to those feeling homesick: It will make you want to call your family.) The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Song of the Sea (2015)
This movie is another entry from the acclaimed Cartoon Saloon, and this one is equally magical. It follows a lighthouse keeper and his two kids who, isolated on the seashore, live a life full of adventures with mystical beings — some working for good, and some for evil.
Philomena (2014)
Based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, this movie tells the story of journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), who is approached to help a woman, Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), find the son she gave up for adoption in Ireland. In researching the story, Sixsmith uncovers a much larger story about women coerced into giving up their babies. When it came out, it was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress.
Calvary (2014)
In this pitch-dark comedy, an Irish priest played by Brendan Gleeson receives a death threat, and he has a week to figure out if it's for real. He spends the next seven days getting his affairs in order while visiting with parishioners who may be evocative of the seven deadly sins.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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