The long read · Irish cinema
The Resilience of Irish Cinema and Its Global Stars
For a small country, Ireland has given the screen an astonishing number of great actors and storytellers, from Maureen O’Hara to Cillian Murphy, and its wild coasts have played everything from medieval Scotland to a galaxy far, far away. Here is the story, and where to watch in Dublin.
Updated October 2026
From Ardmore to the Oscars
Ireland’s film industry grew around Ardmore Studios at Bray, south of Dublin, opened in 1958. From the late 1980s a new generation of Irish film-makers won the world’s attention: Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot brought Oscars to Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker, and Neil Jordan won the Oscar for the screenplay of The Crying Game.
Since then Irish cinema has gone from strength to strength. Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin won best actor and best screenplay in Venice and nine Oscar nominations, Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl became the first Irish-language film nominated for the Oscar, and Cillian Murphy won best actor for Oppenheimer.
Must-watch films
To understand Irish cinema, start with these.
- My Left Foot (1989): Jim Sheridan’s portrait of the Dublin writer and painter Christy Brown, with Daniel Day-Lewis.
- The Commitments (1991): Alan Parker’s joyous story of a Dublin soul band.
- The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin, 2022): Colm Bairéad’s gentle, beautiful story of a girl’s summer with relatives.
- The Banshees of Inisherin (2022): Martin McDonagh’s darkly funny tale of a broken friendship on an island.
The stars
Few countries have given Hollywood so many stars.
- Maureen O’Hara (1920–2015): born in Dublin, the star of The Quiet Man.
- Richard Harris (1930–2002): born in Limerick, from This Sporting Life to Dumbledore.
- Cillian Murphy: born in Cork, Oscar winner for Oppenheimer.
- Saoirse Ronan: four times nominated for the Oscar, from Atonement to Brooklyn.
- Paul Mescal: the star of Normal People and Aftersun, for which he was nominated for the Oscar.
Hidden on the silver screen: international productions filmed in Ireland
Ireland’s coasts and villages have starred in some of the most famous films ever made.
- The Quiet Man (1952), Cong, County Mayo: John Ford’s romance with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.
- Saving Private Ryan (1998), Curracloe beach, County Wexford: Steven Spielberg filmed the D-Day landings here.
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), Skellig Michael: the island hermitage where Luke Skywalker hides.
- The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), Inishmore and Achill Island: Martin McDonagh’s island of Inisherin.
Where to watch in Dublin
In Dublin, the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar shows Irish and world cinema and keeps the national film archive, and the Light House Cinema in Smithfield is one of the city’s favourite independent screens.
Our advice: catch an Irish film at the IFI, then have dinner in Temple Bar.
Irish Film Institute Light House Cinema
Questions and answers
Which Irish actors have won the Oscar for best actor?
Cillian Murphy, born in Cork, won for Oppenheimer; Daniel Day-Lewis, who became an Irish citizen, won for My Left Foot among others.
Join the conversation
Which Irish film or star do you love most? Share your favourite scenes and the films we should add.
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Sources: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, La Biennale di Venezia, the Festival de Cannes, Screen Ireland and the Irish Film Institute, checked on 5 November 2026. No trailers are embedded on this page.