Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
about the life of the island's people in the early 20th century (see
here
for more details).
For hard-hitting drama, see
The Field
(1991, an Irish farmer fights to keep his land) or
An-
gela's Ashes
(1999, based on the Frank McCourt memoir). In
Evelyn
(2002), single-dad
Pierce Brosnan goes to court to keep his kids. Unwed mothers struggle to survive an ab-
usive 1960s nunnery in
The Magdalene Sisters
(2003).
For insight into the struggle for independence from Britain, see
Michael Collins
(1996,
Liam Neeson), a biopic about the Irish Free State revolutionary,and
The Wind That Shakes
the Barley
(2006), told through the story of two brothers.
Odd Man Out
(1947) is a film
noir about the early IRA, with a great scene filmed in Belfast's Crown Bar. The Troubles
haunt a widow and her lover in
Cal
(1984).
In the Name of the Father
(1993, Daniel Day-
Lewis) is a biopic of accused bomber Gerry Conlon. The families of IRA hunger strikers
are the focus of
Some Mother's Son
(1996), while the documentary-like
Omagh
(2004) re-
counts a deadly 1998 IRA bombing. In
Fifty Dead Men Walking
(2008), an IRA informer
navigates the brutal world of the Troubles.
Equally bleak but worthwhile films include
My Left Foot
(1989), which garnered
an Academy Award for Daniel Day-Lewis, and
Veronica Guerin
(2003), in which Cate
Blanchett exposes drug lords as a journalist.
For a fun, throwaway romance, try
Far and Away
(1992), with Tom Cruise and Nicole
Kidman as penniless Irish immigrants. For a comedic break, watch at least one of the films
adapted from books by Roddy Doyle:
The Commitments
(1991),
The Snapper
(1993), or
The Van
(1996). In
Waking Ned Devine
(1998), a deceased villager wins the lottery (it's
funnier than it sounds). Children bring Irish folk tales to life in
Into the West
(1993) and
The Secret of Roan Inish
(1995).
Leap Year
(2009), with Amy Adams, was filmed on In-
ishmore (which was confusingly called Dingle in the film).
This list includes selected festivals in major cities, plus national holidays observed
throughout Ireland in 2014. Many sights and banks close down on national holi-
days—keep this in mind when planning your itinerary. Before planning a trip around
a festival, verify its dates by checking the festival's website or TI site
(
www.discoverireland.com
). For sports events, see
www.sportsevents365.com
for sched-
ules and ticket information.
Jan 1
New Year's Day (banks closed)
Jan 22-26
Temple Bar Trad, Dublin (Irish music and culture festival,
http://templebartrad.com
)
March 14-17
St. Patrick's Day celebration throughout Ireland (parades, drunkenness, 4-day festival in
Dublin,
www.stpatricksday.ie
)
