Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. What better way for a period drama lover to celebrate than with a historical or costume drama, that pays tribute to the beauty and strength of Ireland?
The list of period films below were either filmed in Ireland, are about the Irish or Ireland, or star Irish-born actors; you will be sure to find something that is perfect to watch this St. Patrick’s Day or anytime you want to connect with the Irish spirit. In case you are inspired to travel, we’ve included the filming locations in Ireland for many of the period dramas; those not noted were filmed outside of Ireland.
Click on the title of the movie or television mini-series to watch the period drama online or buy the DVD. A few of the titles aren’t available to stream and aren’t on DVD, but may be aired on television networks, so keep your eyes open for these.
Around 80 titles are below, but we want to highlight “Rebellion” (2016). We were going to write a full review of this series, but RTE (Ireland’s public broadcaster like PBS) explains it perfectly below.
We’ll just say that ordinarily we don’t gravitate to recommending anything with significant violence, but the compelling human narrative here, woven primarily through the lives of three women with different backgrounds who play an important role in Ireland’s struggle to free itself from British rule, overshadow the moments that are challenging to watch. (If you are sensitive you could skip the third episode which is the most intense, and still follow the story.) Throughout the period drama, these three main characters push back against the prejudice they experience as women living in the early 1900s, giving dimension to this moment in time.
Made to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, “Rebellion” was criticized for being too much of a melodrama, and for offering scenes that could be from “Downton Abbey if either of them dealt with the heartbreak of Irish history.” We think it’s a case of the audience being more okay with these things than the critics, and have the feeling that our readers in particular will respond positively to “Rebellion’s” strengths: the excellent acting, detailed sets, and carefully researched costumes by Allison Byrne, among them.
About the series: The five-part 1916 commemorative Netflix drama “Rebellion” begins with the outbreak of World War I. As expectations of a short and glorious campaign are dashed, social stability is eroded and Irish nationalism comes to the fore. The tumultuous events that follow are seen through the eyes of a group of friends from Dublin, Belfast and London as they play vital and conflicting roles in the narrative of Ireland’s independence. Some prioritize family loyalties; some are motivated by the noblest of ideals or opportunism, while others take up arms, prepared to sacrifice everything for the dream of a better society.
The story is told from the perspectives of men and women of their time. Husbands and wives. Sons and daughters. Brothers and sisters. Through these fictional characters, we dramatize the experience of living through a time of violent upheaval.
There are points in the history of all nations when lives are torn apart by tumultuous political events. Points when people have been forced to take sides. Points when societies unleash violent attack from fundamentalist extremists or political zealots. “Rebellion” is a drama that shows us what it feels like to be caught up in such events.
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We meet Elizabeth (Charlie Murphy), a young middle-class Irish woman, a student doctor. Idealistic and a campaigner for women’s rights she abandons her life of privilege, to devote herself to the revolutionary cause. Her dissolute libertine brother, Harry, (Michael Ford-Fitzgerald) watches from the side, enthralled by the action but interested only in spending his time more usefully pursuing life’s pleasures.
Arthur (Barry Ward) is an Irishman who enlisted as a soldier in the British Army to fight the Germans in order to support his family, but who finds himself fighting his own brother (Jimmy -Brian Gleeson, a socialist revolutionary) on the streets of Dublin. Frances O’Flaherty (Ruth Bradley), is the earnest and committed republican who is determined to fight for her country whatever the costs to herself and her countrymen. We meet Charles (Tom Turner), a British administrator, who finds he has more sympathy with his adopted nation than the Empire that employs him. May (Sarah Greene), is a civil servant working in Dublin Castle. Her romantic entanglement with Charles looks like betrayal to her Irish peers. George (Andrew Simpson), Belfast born, Protestant, is a barrister with republican leanings. These are just a few of the complex, diverse characters that feature in our multi-stranded drama.
The series covers the events of 1916, beginning with the Easter Rising in Dublin. The characters cross paths with well-known figures from history. Real-life characters from the time, such as Pearse, Connolly, DeValera, Countess Markievicz, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, are present in the drama and the context of the storytelling reflects the social, cultural and political events of the time. Rebellion is a drama, not a history lesson. It is about showing how people, in extraordinary times, are in Yeats’ words ‘changed utterly.’
Rebellion is AVAILABLE to STREAM
Rated TV-MA
Both Season 1 and 2 are currently on Netflix.
Period Dramas to Stream on St. Patrick’s Day
Starring Tara Breathnach, Muireann Bird, Gerard McCarthy.
Filming locations include Offaly, Ireland.
Starring Anjelica Huston, Marion O’Dwyer, Ray Winstone, Arno Chevrier, Gerard McSorley, Tom Jones.
Starring Glenn Close, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Mia Wasikowska, Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Set in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Dublin Castle, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Dún Laoghaire, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland, County Wicklow, Ireland, Marlay Park, and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Gabriel Byrne.
Filming locations include Donaghmore, County Laois, Ireland.
Starring Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge. Set in the 1930 an 1940s.
Filming locations include County Cork, Ireland, County Dublin, Ireland, County Limerick, Ireland, County Wicklow, Ireland, and Kilruddery House, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. The street with the railroad tracks is Rainsford Street, Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Siân Phillips, Alun Armstrong, Ben Daniels, Serena Gordon, Anne-Marie Duff, Toby Jones, Jodhi May, Geraldine Somerville. Set between 1740 and 1832 in the Georgian era.
Filmed entirely in Ireland, Aristocrats includes scenes shot at Carton House, Emily and Lord Kildare’s country estate near Dublin, with its strange seashell cottage. Filming locations include Dublin, Wicklow, Meath, and Louth. Ireland. In order to make it look like the south of England they took down the color to make it all less green outside the windows.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “Aristocrats” for free with ads HERE
Starring Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Steven Berkoff. Set in the Georgian era around the time of the Seven Years’ War which was fought between 1755 and 1764, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763.
Filming locations include Carton House, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland, Kells, County Meath, Ireland (English redcoat army scenes: regiment training), Cahir Castle, County Tipperary, Ireland (German military encampment), Huntington Castle, Clonegal, County Carlow, Ireland (John Quinn courting Nora Brady), and Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland (Redmond Barry enlists in the army).
Starring Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith, Guy Carleton, Philip Culhane, Joe Anderson (VI), Michael James Ford, Jessica Ashworth. Set in 1795 during the Georgian era.
Filming locations include City Hall, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Lady Gresham’s ballroom/soprano concert), Higginsbrook, Trim, County Meath, Ireland (Steventon rectory), Charleville Forest Castle, Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland (Lady Gresham’s house interiors), Donabate, County Dublin, Ireland (Edward Austen Knight’s seaside house), Kilruddery House, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland (Lady Gresham’s house exterior), and The Tailors’ Hall, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (interiors: ballroom).
Starring Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Morgan.
Filming locations include Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “Belfast” for free HERE
Starring Hugh O’Conor; Angeline Ball; Stephen Rea. Set in the Edwardian era.
“It’s a period piece that feels utterly contemporary, and not just because of its representations of anti-Semitism, its references to foot-and-mouth disease, and the fact that at the end, after the film has faded to black for the final credits, Bloom is seen stepping out of 1904 and into a crowded, present-day Dublin. The language remains vigorous, musical, modern.”
Filmed in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Shawn Hatosy, Danny Dyer, Eamon Glancy, Ian McElhinney, Patricia Leventon. Set during the Second World War.
Filmed in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Brian Cox, Mel Gibson, Brendan Gleeson, James Horner, Angus Macfadyen. Set in the Middle Ages.
Filming locations include King John’s Castle, Trim, County Meath, Ireland, Coronation Plantation, County Wicklow, Ireland, Dunsoghly Castle, County Dublin, Ireland (Edinburgh Castle), Trim Castle, Trim, County Meath, Ireland (York and London scenes), Bective Abbey, County Meath, Ireland (London scenes), Dunsany Castle, County Meath, Ireland, Luggala Estate, County Wicklow, Ireland, and Curragh Plains, County Kildare, Ireland (Battle of Stirling Bridge).
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters. Set in the post-war era.
Filming locations include Wexford, Dublin, Wicklow, Ireland.
The summer of 1936 is beautiful, but Europe is on the verge of terrible change. Through that glorious summer, at the very edge of Europe, in Ballybeg, Donegal, the Mundy family shelter in their small home – five sisters, on brother and Michael, the love child of Christina, the youngest sister. The film is seen through the eyes of the boy as he feels the joy and security of his close-knit clan, but its secrets and sorrows begin to break through. They will tear this world apart. The arrival of Gerry, Michael’s father, on his way to fight for Franco in Spain, unleashes repressed passion. The Eden of Ballybeg is changed forever. The memory of that summer haunts Michael forever, memories of love and loss, of women dancing, dancing as if their lives depended on it.
Starring Meryl Streep, Catherine McCormack, Sophie Thompson, Kathy Burke, Brid Brennan, Rhys Ifans, Michael Gambon, Darrell Johnston. Set in the Interwar era.
Filmed in Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring Michael Smiley, Kerr Logan, Eileen O’Higgins.
Filming locations include Dublin, Ireland.
Determined to improve her lot in life, Sarah is a proud servant girl who rebels against her strict upbringing by having love affairs with two brothers at the same time. When she becomes pregnant, Sarah will not (and some believe cannot) name the father of her child. She also refuses to marry either brother, choosing to live with both of them in defiance of her mother and their shocked rural community. As religious and social pressures mount and villagers react violently, Sarah and the brothers risk happiness, reputation and safety for their daring love.
Starring Saskia Reeves, Brenda Bruce, Cathleen Delaney, Ciarán Hinds, Patrick Malahide, Donal McCann. Set in Ireland in the years following World War I and based on the novel by Sam Hanna Bell, December Bride is the tale of a young woman who defies all and redefines love.
Filming locations include Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK.
Starring Patrick Bergin, Gearge Hearn, Matt Keeslar, Brenda Fricker, Nancy St. Alban. Set around the years of the Second World War.
Filmed in County Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring Geraldine James, Siobhan Garahy, Robert Hines, Barbara Brennan, Bernie Downes, Stephen Holland, John Kavanagh and Eric Erskine. Set in the Irish town of Castlebay between 1952 and 1962.
Filmed principally at Dunmore East in County Waterford, Ireland.
Starring Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon, Tamsin Greig, Rupert Evans. Set in the Georgian era.
Emma is here for a few reasons: Sir Michael Gambon who plays Mr. Woodhouse, was born in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland. There are Irish themes: Jane Fairfax is invited to visit Mr. & Mrs. Dixon at their home in Ireland, the melodies that come to her along with the pianoforte are Irish, and Miss Bates reports that “she heard everything he might be telling Miss Campbell about his own home in Ireland…Jane was quite longing to go to Ireland, from his account of things.”
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Julianna Margulies, Aidan Quinn, Sophie Vavasseur, Niall Beagan. Set in the post-war era.
Filmed in Ireland.
Starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbara Babcock. Set in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland (coastal scenes), Kilruddery House, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland (the estate), Temple Lane, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Molly Kay’s bordello lodgings and street) and County Galway, Ireland.
Starring Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Rene Asherton, Leo Genn. Set in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War in 1415.
Filmed in Ireland on Powerscourt estate near Enniskerry, County Wicklow.
Although the film is set in South Wales, it is considered the best of director John Ford;s “Irish films.” According to the Irish Film Institute, “Of his four Academy Awards for Best Director – still a record – two were for “The Informer” and “The Quiet Man,” the other two for films whose stories offered very clear Irish parallels: “The Grapes of Wrath” (dispossessed farmers) and “How Green Was My Valley.” Ireland was not a marginal self-indulgence in Ford’s career, but a central source of inspiration.”
Starring Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Sara Allgood, Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara.
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell. Set in the early decades of the nineteenth century.
In Jane Eyre (2011) Michael Fassbender, plays Mr. Rochester. Fassbender was raised in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry, in south-west Ireland, where his family moved to when he was two years old. Fiona Shaw, born in County Cork, Ireland, plays Mrs. Reed in Jane Eyre (1996) and in Jane Eyre (1997), Belfast. Ireland’s Ciaran Hinds plays Edward Rochester.
In 1921, Jimmy Gralton’s sin was to build a dance hall on a rural crossroads in Ireland on the brink of Civil War. Young people could come to the hall to learn, to argue, to dream… but above all to dance and have fun. As the hall grew in popularity, its socialist and free-spirited reputation brought it to the attention of the church and politicians, who forced Jimmy to flee and the hall to close. A decade later, as Jimmy reintegrates into the community and sees the poverty and growing cultural oppression, the leader and activist within him is stirred. He makes the decision to reopen the hall in the face of whatever trouble it may bring.
Starring Brian O’Byrne, Mikel Murfi, Barry Ward, Francis Magee, Aileen Henry, Simone Kirby, Stella McGirl, Sorcha Fox, Martin Lucey, Mikel Murfi, Shane O’Brien.
Starring Anthony Borrows, Ian Hart, Claire Hackett, David Hart, Megan Burns. Set in the Interwar era.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “Liam” for free with ads HERE
Starring Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon, Chloë Sevigny as Alicia, Stephen Fry as Mr. Johnson, Xavier Samuel as Reginald, Emma Greenwell as Catherine Vernon and Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin. Set in the 1790s during the Georgian era.
Filming took place in Dublin in the coastal town of Donabate, Ireland including on-location at the 18th-century Georgian estate and mansion, Newbridge House. Built by Archbishop Charles Cobbe in 1736 and set within 400 acres of partially wooded park, Newbridge House is one of the finest surviving examples of Georgian architecture.
Starring Greta Scacchi, Daniel Craig, Stephen Dillane, Valerie Edmond, Donal Donnelly. Set in the Victorian era.
Filmed on Achill Island, Co. Mayo, Ireland and the Isle Of Man.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “Love & Rage” for free with ads HERE
Starring Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn, Alan Rickman. Set in Ireland, 1916 during the First World War.
Locations include Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, County Cork, Ireland, South Pier, Dún Laoghaire, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland, and Carlisle Grounds, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring Colin Farrell, Jessica Chastain, Samantha Morton. Set in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Fermanagh, Ireland, Castle Coole, Northern Ireland (the Count’s house),
Starring Robin Wright, Morgan Freeman, Stockard Channing, John Lynch, Brenda Fricker. Set in the Stuart era.
Filmed in Ireland, including scenes at St. Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (church where Moll sees the bird), the cemetery at Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland, and Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland (the artist’s familly mansion).
At the time of this writing, you can watch “Moll Flanders” for free with ads HERE
Starring David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Kim Cattrall. Set during the First World War.
Filming locations include Stradbally Hall, Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland, Carton House, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland (Windsor Castle Drawing Room), Kilruddery House, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland (Windsor Castle exteriors, with CGI Round Tower added) and Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan. Set in the post-war era.
Filming locations include County Wicklow, Ireland and Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
With her English accent and her London ways, Rose Coyne is the only stranger in her rural Northern Ireland town, until 4,000 Americans arrive at the nearby WWII airbase. As Rose finds herself acting as peacekeeper between the disgruntled locals and the soldiers, she is also drawn to the engaging young Captain Dreyfuss. Will Rose risk her family for this forbidden love?
Starring Hattie Morahan, Owen McDonnell, Aaron Staton.
Filmed on the stunningly beautiful Ards Peninsula in Northern Ireland. Shown on PBS Masterpiece.
Starring Ewan McGregor, Susan Lynch, Andrew Scott, Vinnie McCabe, Veronica Duffy. Set in 1904 in Dublin, Ireland.
Filming locations include Dublin, Ireland.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “Nora” for free with ads HERE
Starring Daniela Denby-ashe, Richard Armitage, Sinead Cusack, Tim Pigott-smith. Set in the Victorian era.
Dalkey, Ireland born Sinead Cusack plays Mrs. Thornton in North & South. Brendan Coyle who plays Nicholas Higgins, was born in Corby, Northamptonshire to an Irish father and Scottish mother; his parents moved to Corby from County Tyrone, Ireland. Brendan holds Irish citizenship and has previously lived in Dublin. Also, Mr. Thornton hires Irish workers when his Milton employees go on strike and there are a fair amount of references in the period drama to the Irish – not all of which are positive.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “North & South” for free with ads HERE
Starring JJ Feild, Felicity Jones, Michael Judd, Julia Dearden, Gerry O’Brien, Liam McMahon, William Beck. Set in the Georgian era.
Filming locations include Ardbraccan House, County Meath, Ireland (Fullerton church and rectory), Lismore Castle, Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland (Northanger Abbey), King’s Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Bath), Dublin Castle, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Beechen Cliff scenic walk) and Higginsbrook, Trim, County Meath, Ireland (rectory at Fullerton). Irish-born Catherine Walker plays Eleanor Tilney, and Irish-born Hugh O’Conor plays Catherine’s brother James Morland. Dublin born Liam Cunningham plays General Tilney.
Starring Peter Coonan, Terry Byrne, Barry McGovern.
Starring Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green. Set in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include King’s Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Explorers’ Club), Cabinteely, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Wild West show), Bray Head, County Wicklow, Ireland (Cut Wife’s cottage exterior scenes), Stag’s Head – Dame Court, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Pub interior scenes), and Dame Lane, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (Street scenes).
Starring Ciaran Hinds, Corin Redgrave, Fiona Shaw, Susan Fleetwood, Amanda Root. Set in the Georgian era.
Irish-born Ciaran Hinds and Fiona Shaw star in this adaptation, as Captain Frederick Wentworth and Mrs. Croft, respectively. Miss Anne Elliot’s (Amanda Root) family is “among the nobility of England and Ireland.” Lady Dalrymple comments to Sir Walter at the concert that Captain Wentworth had “More air than one often sees in Bath. Irish, I dare say.”
Starring Aidan Turner, Heida Reed, Eleanor Tomlinson, Kyle Soller, Philip Davis, Ruby Bentall. Set in the late 1700s during the Georgian era.
Ross Poldark is played by Aidan Turner, who was born in Dublin, Ireland. If you can take your eyes off of Aidan in Poldark, try closing your eyes to see if you can detect his Irish accent.
Starring Sean Hughes, Elliott Gould, Richard Attenborough, Daragh O’Malley, John Lynch, Griff Rhys Jones. Set during the Interwar period.
Filmed in Belfast and Monaghan, Ireland.
Starring Laurence Olivier, Greer Garson, Mary Boland, Maureen O’Sullivan, Bruce Lester. The period of the film is later than that of Austen’s novel—a change driven by the studio’s desire to use more elaborate and flamboyant costumes than those from Austen’s time period. The period drama’s costumes were based on the styles of the late 1820s and the styles of the 1830s which were different from the Regency styles appropriate to the novel’s setting.
The Irish Maureen O’Sullivan plays Jane Bennet, the eldest Bennet sister who is twenty-two years old at the start of the novel. Maureen Paula O’Sullivan was born on May 17, 1911 in County Roscommon, Ireland. O’Sullivan also played Dora in David Copperfield (1935), and Kitty in Anna Karenina (1935). Maureen O’Sullivan was Mia Farrow’s mother.
Rebellion is a five-part serial drama about the birth of modern Ireland. The story is told from the perspectives of a group of fictional characters who live through the political events of the 1916 Easter Rising. As expectations of a short and glorious campaign are dashed, social stability is eroded and Irish nationalism comes to the fore. The tumultuous events that follow are seen through the eyes of a group of friends from Dublin, Belfast and London as they play vital and conflicting roles in the narrative of Ireland’s independence.
Starring Ruth Bradley, Paul Reid, Brian McCardie. Set during the First World War.
Filmed in Dublin.
Both Season 1 and 2 are currently on Netflix. You may also want to watch the documentary “Easter 1916.”
Starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg. Set in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Clancy Barracks and Trinity College, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. Mark Geraghty, the Irish set-designer behind the impressive Ripper Street set, said choosing the real-life former army barracks for Irish soldiers location was a “no brainer”. Geraghty designed his own set buildings and streets around the already existing buildings, which are made of brick from the outside with wooden front doors. The location looks like a building site at the best of times, with many of the surrounding areas derelict remains of former Barracks facilities.
This epic romance was filmed on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, with the opening scene on Inch Strand. A must-watch for lovers of period dramas, from David Lean (Dr. Zhivago).
Starring Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, Christopher Jones, John Mills, Leo McKern, Sarah Miles, Barry Foster, Marie Kean, Arthur O’Sullivan, Evin Crowley.
Starring Joanne Whalley, Timothy Dalton, Annabeth Gish, Julie Harris, Ann-Margret. Set in 1873 in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Hollybrook House, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland (Ballyhara), Carton House, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland, Dublin Castle, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (presentation to Viceroy), Shelbourne Park Hotel, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (interior: Dublin hotel) and St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring James Cagney, Don Murray, Glynis Johns, Dana Wynter, Michael Redgrave.
Starring Naomie Harris, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ruth Wilson. Set in the post-war era.
Filming locations include Portaferry, Belfast, The Paint Hall Studio, Ireland.
Starring Martin Sheen, Stephen Rea, Marcella Plunkett, Trystan Gravelle, Amy Huberman, Tom Hickey and Joey O’Sullivan. Set in the post-war era.
Filmed in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Starring Alice Evans, Daniel Lapaine, Sophia Myles, Matthew Rhys, Patrick Malahide and Edward Woodward. Set in the 18th century in the Georgian era.
Filming locations include County Wicklow (Russborough House), Blessington; Powerscourt Estate, and West Wicklow. King’s Inns, Dublin.
Starring Matthew Modine, Diana Rigg, Aisling O’Sullivan, Brenda Fricker, T.P. Mckenna, Eva Birthistle. Set in the years after the Civil War.
Filmed entirely in Ireland – Dublin City (Bank of Ireland, College Green), Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.
Starring Colm Meaney, Charlotte Bradley, Bernard Hill, Shaun Evans.
Starring Brian MacGowan, Sidney Olcott, Agnes Mapes, Alice Hollister, J.P. McGowan, Gene Gauntier, Jack Clark.
Filmed in Ireland. This old-school silent film is available to watch online for free courtesy of the Irish Silent Films on the Internet: A film Restoration Project of Irish Film & TV Research Online, Trinity College Dublin.
Starring Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, Rachael Dowling, Cathleen Delaney, Helena Carrol, Ingrid Craigie, Dan O’Herlihy, Frank Patterson, Donal Donnelly, Marie Kean, Maria McDermottroe, Sean McClory. Set at the at turn of the 20th century in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Ha’penny Bridge, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Anglesea Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland and Usher’s Island, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Sean Connery, Lesley-Anne Down, Donald Sutherland. Set in Victorian England.
Filming locations include Trinity College, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (final scene – Pierce escapes from the court in carriage driven by Agar), Heuston Station, St John’s Road West, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Cork Kent station, Glanmire Road, Cork, County Cork, Ireland (Brighton station) and Heuston Station, St John’s Road West, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland (London Bridge station).
Starring Joe McGann, Mark McGann, Paul McGann, Stephen McGann, Michael Kitchen, Fiona Victory, Tina Kellegher, Peter Caffrey, Gerard McSorley and Alan Stanford.
Filmed in County Donegal, Ireland.
Starring Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Una O’Connor, J.M. Kerrigan, Joe Sawyer.
Major Sinclair Yeates, a retired British army officer is appointed a Resident Magistrate in the West of Ireland in the days before Irish independence. Living in a ramshackle country house surrounded by the community’s eccentric inhabitants, Major Yeates is confronted with the characteristic blend of curious affection and mutual misunderstanding that exists between the Irish and their English neighbours. Yeates must struggle to be accepted into his new community, while trying to come to terms with the demands and compromises of his new position. Based upon tales of two cousins from Anglo-Irish families in Galway.
Starring Peter Bowles, Bryan Murray, Niall Tobin, Doran Godwin, Anna Manahan, Lise-Ann McLaughlin, Faith Brook, Beryl Reid and Brendan Conroy. Set in 1895 in the Victorian era.
Filmed entirely on location in County Kildare, Ireland.
Starring Michael Gambon, Tom Hickey, Keeley Hawes, David Tennant, Richard Roxburgh.
Set in the Interwar era.
Filmed in Ireland.
Starring Anne-Marie Duff, Nora Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy, Geraldine McEwan, Eileen Walsh. Set in Ireland, beginning in 1964, in the post-war era.
Sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, 10-year-old Fiona (Jeni Courtney) is fascinated by the village’s rich folk culture – especially the local myths about a half-human, half-seal creature known as a selkie. Fiona becomes convinced that her supposedly deceased little brother is living with the selkies, and she travels to the beautiful, enchanted island of Roan Inish, where her grandparents once lived, to confirm her suspicions. Based upon a 1957 novel by Rosalie K. Fry.
Starring Jeni Courtney, Eileen Colgan, Mick Lally, John Lynch, Richard Sheridan, Susan Lynch, Cillian Byrne. Set in the post-war era.
Filmed in County Donegal.
Starring Rooney Mara, Eric Bana, Aidan Turner, Vanessa Redgrave, Jack Reynor, Theo James, Eric Bana.
Starring John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Ward Bond, Francis Ford, Mildred Natwick, Michaeleen Og Flynn, Eileen Crowe, Jack McGowran, Arthur Shields, Charles Fitzsimons, May Craig. Set in the 1920s in the fictitious community of Inisfree, in the Interwar era.
All of the outdoor scenes were shot on location in Ireland in County Mayo and County Galway, Ireland.
Starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Peter O’Toole, Maria Doyle Kennedy, James Frain, Henry Cavill, Natalie Dormer, Jeremy Northam, Nick Dunning. Set in the early 1500s.
Filming locations include Wicklow, Dublin, Ireland, Christchurch Cathedral, in the heart of Dublin’s city, and Drimnagh Castle, the only castle remaining in Ireland with a flooded moat surrounding it, located in the Dublin suburb Drimnagh.
Starring Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Kíla Lord Cassidy.
Filming locations include Dublin and County Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend. Set in the Victorian era.
This costume drama is included because of Sir John Conroy. The comptroller of the Duchess of Kent’s household, Sir John Conroy (1785-1854) exerted tremendous influence over Victoria’s mother and saw himself as the future power behind the throne. Victoria loathed him and would have nothing of it; she dismissed him from Court following a scandal in 1839. Captain Conroy was an Irishman, ambitious, handsome and unscrupulous, destined to be the evil genius of the Duchess of Kent.
At the time of this writing, you can watch “The Young Victoria” for free with ads HERE
Ireland 1919: Damian and Teddy are brothers fighting in a guerrilla war for Irish independence from the British, where the Irish workers unite to ambush the notorious Black and Tan squads. Through his military experience Damian, a trained doctor, becomes politicised. When a treaty giving an apparent level of victory to the fighters is signed between the British and Irish in 1921, the brothers find themselves pitted against each other. Civil War ensues and betrayals become inevitable…
Starring Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Orla Fitzgerald, Liam Cunningham. Set during the First World War era.
Filmed in County Cork, Ireland.
Starring Kevin Zegers, Derek Jacobi, Neve Campbell, Chris North, Liam Cunningham, Billy Carter, Alessandra Mastronardi. Set in the Edwardian era.
Filming locations include Counties Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, David O’Hara, Mark Strong. Set after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Filming locations include Glassillaun, Lettergesh, Renvyle, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland (fort scenes) and Ireland (Iceland).
Starring Travis Fimmel, Gabriel Byrne, Clive Standen, Katheryn Winnick, Jessalyn Gilsig, Gustaf Skarsgard, George Blagden, John Kavanagh. The series is set at the beginning of the Viking Age, marked by the Lindisfarne raid in 793.
The series is filmed in Wicklow, Lough Dan, Powerscourt Demesne, Ireland. “About 70% of season one was shot in the great outdoors, much on and around Lough Tay (sometimes called Guinness Lake, as it’s part of the Guinness estate) in Co. Wicklow. The steep slopes of Luggala Mountain look appropriately Scandinavian, and the lake itself provides the perfect location for filming scenes on board the Viking longships (although the finished scenes require a combination of green-screen shots from the soundstages of Wicklow’s Ashford Studios and footage captured on Lough Tay and off the Wicklow coast).” FYI Game of Thrones is filmed in Northern Ireland, including Castle Ward, Downpatrick, Co. Down, Moneyglass Estate, Toomebridge, Co. Antrim, and Downhill Strand/The Mussendun Temple, Castlerock, Co. Londonderry.
Starring Joan Plowright, Mia Farrow, Natasha Richardson, Adrian Dunbar, Jim Broadbent. Set in the 1920s, in the wake of World War I.
Filming locations include Ballyknockan, Valleymount, County Wicklow, Ireland, County Kilkenny, Ireland, Kilbride, County Wicklow, Ireland, and Kiliney, County Dublin, Ireland.
Starring Peter Caffrey, Brendan Conroy, Orla Brady, Liam Cunningham, Sarah Bolger. Set in the post-war era.
Filming locations include Ballycastle, County Mayo, Ireland, County Wicklow, Ireland and Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
WINNER – Best Television Drama – Irish Film and Television Academy Awards / WINNER – Best Leading Performance Tony Doyle – Irish Film and Television Academy Awards / WINNER – Best Mini-Series – Banff World Television Awards / NOMINEE – Best Drama Serial – BAFTA Awards
Starring Tony Doyle, Ger Ryan and Susan Lynch. Director: Tom Cairns. Based on the novel by John McGahern. Set in the post-war era.
Filming locations include County Mayo, Ireland.
Starring Bosco Hogan, T.P. McKenna, John Gielgud, Rosaleen Linehan, Maureen Potter. Set in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
“A delicate, brooding adaptation of Joyce’s slim novel. The well-chosen cast struggles and mostly succeeds with the dialogue, largely taken directly from Joyce’s words. In effect, this movie is the book come to life – as exactly as 90 minutes of film will allow.”
Starring Colin Lane, Niall O’Brien, Marian Quinn, Darren McHugh, Joy Florish, Joe Jeffers, Pete O’Reilly, Michael Crowley. Set in the Victorian, Edwardian, First World War, Interwar, Second World War and post-war eras.
Filming locations include West Cork also Counties Laois and Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring Bill Campbell, William McNamara, Jean Butler, Gabriel Byrne, and Angus MacFadyen. Set in Ireland during the Second World War.
Filmed on the Isle of Man.
Starring Rock Hudson, Jeff Morrow, Barbara Rush, Finlay Currie, Geoffrey Toone.
Starring Chris O’Donnell, Minnie Driver, Geraldine O’Rawe, Saffron Burrows, Alan Cumming. Set in the post-war era.
Filming locations include Thomastown, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny; Dublin City, Ireland.
Youthful dreams of happiness fade away as Elizabeth learns to cope with motherhood and a loveless marriage. Then, at a village dance, in the only escape she has from her harsh existence, a momentary flirtation with Danny ignites a chain of tragic events. Shown on BBC.
Starring Elisabeth Dermot Walsh, Dermot Crowley, Liam Cunningham and Colin Farrell. Set in the Interwar era.
Filmed in Beara, County Cork.
Starring Richard Harris, John Hurt, Sean Bean, Brenda Fricker, Frances Tomelty, Tom Berenger, John Crowley, Sean McGinley, Jenny Conroy, Eamon Keane, Brendan Gleeson. Set in the Interwar era in the 1930s.
Filming locations include Aasleigh Falls, Aasleigh, County Galway, Ireland (the fight), Gaynor’s Pub, Leenane, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland, Leenane, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland and Stone Cottage – Clifden Road, Leenane, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland (Bull McCabe’s house).
Set in London in 1899, at a time when taking one’s own life was considered beneath cowardice. Captain Henry Joyce, is a man who has lost his appetite for life since his true love died six months earlier. When an old friend convinces him to hit the town one night, they meet a man who’s gambled away not only his family’s fortune, but his family’s good name as well. This gambler recognizes Henry as a fellow “ruined man,” and invites him to join a suicide club where members buy into the opportunity to die without the social stigma of suicide. Mr. Bourne (Jonathan Pryce) runs the club, which randomly assigns victims and “anonymous” killers thanks to a random draw of cards. Bourne provides his clientèle with whatever last vices they desire but membership of the Suicide Club is an irrevocable contract with only one exit clause – death. However, when Henry falls for the only female member Sarah Wolverton, it complicates his commitment to the club and to dying.
Starring Jonathan Pryce, David Morrissey, Catherine Siggins and Paul Bettany. Set in the Victorian era.
Filmed in the West of Ireland – Galway, Mayo and Limerick.
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Christopher Fairbank and Sian Phillips. Set at the turn of the Edwardian era, at the start of the First World War.
Filmed on location at Ballinacor Estate, Co.Wicklow.
Starring Michael Craig, Simon Burke, Robyn Nevin, Lou Brown, Tui Bow. Set in the Interwar period.
Starring Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons, Annette Crosbie and Harold Pinter. Set in the Interwar era.
Filmed at Ferrybank, Waterford, County Waterford, Ireland.
Starring Derek Jacobi, Toby Jones, Sophie Vavasseur, Gina McKee, Adam Godley. Set in the Victorian era.
Filming locations include Drimnagh Castle, Drimnagh, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Henrietta Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, and Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland.
Starring Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn, Robin Wright, Milo O’Shea, Alan Devlin.
The vivacious teenager arrives in Ireland to live with her cousin, Charlotte. Sombre and middle-aged, Charlotte is the epitome of everything sensible. However, her plain exterior masks a sly woman hungry for money and prestige. To her, Francie is just the thing to tempt the wealthy gentlemen of the country and gain her a foothold in their privileged world. When Francie falls in love with the wrong man, a furious Charlotte unleashes a devious scheme of revenge. Based on the Victorian novel by Somerville and Ross, creators of The Irish R.M. Shown on PBS Masterpiece.
Starring Jeananne Crowley, Patrick Bergin, Joanna Roth, Robin Lermitte, Nicholas Hewetson. Set in the Victorian era.
Starring Roy Boyd, Keith Jayne, Bernard Kay and Jo Kendall. Set in the Georgian era.
In all, this sweeping period drama allows one to imagine what life was truly like during this turbulent time. It depicts Henry VII with an equal blend of villainy and heroism, giving him a well-rounded character thanks to James Maxwell’s excellent performance. There’s never a dull moment in the shadow of London Tower. —Trinie Dalton
Starring James Maxwell, Norma West, Hugh Sullivan, Marigold Sharman, Derek Anders. Set in the Tudor era.
Starring Frank Grimes, David Kelly, Angela Harding, Cyril Cusack, Peter O’Toole, Donal McCann, Bryan Murray, Denys Hawthorne, Vinnie McCabe. Set in the Edwardian era.
Henrietta Street in Dublin, Ireland served as one of the main locations, where people lived in squalid conditions in the tenements of the time.
Starring Aidan Quinn,Moya Farrelly, James Caan, Jacob Tierney, Colm Meaney, Moira Deady.
Starring Barbara Jefford, Milo O’Shea, T.P. McKenna, Martin Dempsey, Fionnula Flanagan, Maurice Roëves. The film was shot on location in Dublin on a modest budget. Although the novel is set in 1904, the film portrays the city as it was in the 1960s.
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde, and is regarded as one of the most influential and important authors of the twentieth century.
Starring Victoria Hamilton, Jonathan Firth, James Callis, Diana Rigg, Patrick Malahide, Set in 1837 and after, in the Victorian era.
This costume drama is included because of Sir John Conroy. The comptroller of the Duchess of Kent’s household, Sir John Conroy (1785-1854) exerted tremendous influence over Victoria’s mother and saw himself as the future power behind the throne. Victoria loathed him and would have nothing of it; she dismissed him from Court following a scandal in 1839. Captain Conroy was an Irishman, ambitious, handsome and unscrupulous, destined to be the evil genius of the Duchess of Kent.
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973): Story of a 1920s stunt flyer and the son he takes on the road with him.
Beloved Enemy (1936): In 1921, British Lord Athleigh arrives in Dublin with his daughter, Helen (Merle Oberon), to engage in peace talks. As wanted Irish rebel leader Dennis Riordan is not recognized in public, he is able to move about freely and saves the Athleighs from an assassination attempt by a radical faction. Dennis and Helen meet again and, unaware of his position, Helen falls in love with him.
The Boy From Mercury (1996): In 1960’s Dublin, eight-year-old James Cronin (James Hickey) spends every Saturday morning at the pictures, caught up in the adventures of Flash Gordon.
The Country Girls (1983): The friendship of two girls, childhood friends, is put on the test when they grow up and leave for the big city, each with different life goals in mind. A coming of age movie set in early 1950s Ireland. Two girls, Kate and Baba rebel against the stifling environment of a convent education, and are forced to make their way in the real world. Baba is the wilder of the two girls and just on the look-out for a good time, while Kate has fallen for married local solicitor Mr.Gentleman. Starring Sam Neill, Maeve Germaine, Jill Doyle, John Kavanagh, Niall Toibin, Sheila Flitton, Agnes Bernelle. Based on Edna O’Brien’s first novel by and set in the post-war era in her birthplace – Tuamgraney in County Clare.
Fools of Fortune (1990): A Protestant Irish family is caught up in a conflict between Irish Republicans and the British army. Set against the turbulent years of the Irish Rebellion, this is the story of a young Englishwoman’s love for her cousin. He leaves her seeking revenge against the British who killed his family. Years later he returns to find her faithful and waiting and to discover a daughter he has never known. Starring Iain Glen, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Sean T. McClory, Frankie McCafferty, Niamh Cusack, Ronnie Masterson, Tom Hickey, Julie Christie. Set in 1918 in rural Ireland during the First World War. Filming locations include Galway City, County Galway, Ireland, Wilson’s Hospital School, Multyfarnham, County Westmeath, Ireland, Wicklow Town, County Wicklow, Ireland and Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
Hungry Hill (1947): The epic storyline tells of how the beautiful Fanny Rose Flower marries into a feuding Irish family and gets caught up in a violent struggle for ownership of a copper mine. After her husband dies, her spoiled older son rejects her, she falls upon hard times, moves to London and turns to gambling and drug addiction. But a violent confrontation with the past lurks just around the corner. Based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier, which recounts the true events in the copper-mining area of Berehaven, Allihies, County Cork in the mid-19th century when a family of Cornish miners developed a mine. Daphne du Maurier helped write the script of this fine movie adaptation of her best-selling full-blooded historical romantic novel. Starring Margaret Lockwood, Cecil Parker, Jean Simmons, Barbara Waring, Dennis Price, Arthur Sinclair, F.J. McCormick, Eileen Crowe, Siobhan McKenna, Michael Denison. Set in 1840 in the Victorian era. Filming locations include Glengarriff, County Cork, Ireland.
James Joyce’s Women (1985): Nora Barnacle (Fionnula Flanagan), the widow of literary giant James Joyce (Chris O’Neill), recalls her late husband’s affiliations with a number of women who influenced the author, including herself; his patron, Harriet Shaw Weaver (also Flanagan); and the publisher of his epic literary masterpiece “Ulysses,” Sylvia Beach (also Flanagan). Joyce’s relations with these women take on an added significance through their connections to important female characters in the writer’s own works. Starring Fionnula Flanagan, Chris O’Neill, James E. O’Grady, Tony Lyons, Paddy Dawson. Set in the Edwardian era and after. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde, and is regarded as one of the most influential and important authors of the twentieth century.
Lock Up Your Daughters! (1969): Three sailors on shore leave engage in a series of sexual pursuits in the Georgian era. Jim Dale, Ian Bannen, and Tom Bell hit dry land with only one thing on their minds – something that lands everyone in jail in this comedic romp. Susannah York, Glynis Johns, and Elaine Taylor become the objects of the lovesick sailors’ alleged affections. The farcical proceedings are witnessed by Lord Foppington, an aristocratic dandy who shudders in horror over the trouble the three sailors cause in their efforts to spice up their love lives. Starring Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Glynis Johns, Ian Bannen, Tom Bell, Roy Kinnear, Elaine Taylor and Jim Dale. Set in 18th-century London, England. Filmed in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987): Judith Hearne (Maggie Smith) is a lonely Irish spinster who teaches piano in 1950s Dublin. Timid and self-deprecating, Judith permits herself to yearn over her new boarding-house neighbour, James Madden a former hotel doorman who reveals that he was in the hotel business. Madden thinks that Judith has enough money to bankroll his latest scheme, so he decides to return her affections. Judith, blind to Madden’s duplicity, convinces herself that she’s finally found true love. The shattering of her illusions drives Judith to drink and, unexpectedly, to a more fulfilling new life. Starring Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, Wendy Hiller, Marie Kean, Ian MacNeice, Alan Devlin, Rudi Davies, Prunella Scales. Set in the post-war era. Filming locations include Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend (2000): Malcolm MacDowell, Alan Bates, Susannah York and Patrick Bergin star in the first ever feature film depicting the life of this world-famous Irish hero filmed on location in Ireland.
The Serpent’s Kiss (1997): This one made the list for its filming location: Sixmilebridge, Co.Clare. A jealous, treacherous cousin attempts to bankrupt the wealthy industrialist husband of his heart’s desire by having him construct a fabulous, elaborate garden. To do the job, he hires a handsome Dutch gardening architect who bollixes up the cousin’s plans becoming involved with both the woman and her strange daughter.
Shadow of a Gunman (1995) BBC: The first part of O’Casey’s The Dublin Trilogy. As the War of Independence rages, “Shadow of a Gunman” is the story of two young men, Donald & Seamus who share a flat in Dublin. The BBC drama department’s fascination with all things Irish makes Sean O’Casey’s story a natural curtain-raiser for this new series of dramas. Kenneth Branagh, in his first TV role since Fortunes of War in 1987, stars as the dreaming poet Donal Davoren, attempting to write his masterpiece in a Dublin tenement in 1920. Stephen Rea is his room-mate, and Bronagh Gallagher the romantic Minnie Powell whose republican fantasies lead to tragedy. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Rea, Paul Ronan, Bronagh Gallagher. Notable for being one of the few occasions where Kenneth Branagh acted using his own Irish accent.
Words Upon the Window Pane (1994): This elegant period piece is based upon a one act W. B. Yeats play of the same title. It concerns Jonathan Swift, whose spirit and those of his two lovers: Stella and Vanessa, emerge at séances held in Dublin in 1928. Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Brid Brennan, Geraldine James, Hugh O’Conor, Brendan Conroy, Donal Donnelly, Mikel Murfi, Mal Whyte, Gerard McSorley. The film moves elegantly between the 18th and 20th centuries revealing that words have flesh and spirits have substance. Filmed in Dublin, and Wicklow, Ireland.
Young Cassidy (1965): Young John Cassidy is a driven man. By day; he works manual labor; secretly trains in the hills with a band of revolutionaries eager to take Ireland’s fate into their own hands; joins mates for a pint; or sometimes enjoys the company of a lovely Dublin lass. By night and into the wee hours; he puts pencil to paper and writes of working-class Irish life. He will – he must – be a writer. The coming of age of renowned Irish playwright Sean O’ Casey comes to the screen in a colorful and atmospheric biopic directed by legendary John Ford (who left the film due to illness) and Jack Cardiff. Rod Taylor plays the title character; bringing strength and earthiness to his “best role ever” (Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide). A talented cast – including Julie Christie and Maggie Smith – adds to the appeal of a film whose script was approved by O’ Casey and based on his autobiography.
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll want to wander over to the Period Films List– the best British costume dramas, period dramas, romances that take place in the past, and period inspired movies, sorted by era and theme. Be sure to see our post 5 Reasons to Watch The Hanging Gale.
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