The Best List of 100 Irish & Irish-American Movies
Let me start by being perfectly frank: I felt compelled to compile this list after reading “The 50 best Irish films ever made, in order.” Irish Times. May 2, 2020. I could not let a list that failed to mention either “The Field” or, “In the Name of the Father” go unchallenged. (Barry Lyndon did not make my list.)
The truth is, I have never read a “Best of” Irish Movie list that did not frustrate me. Every Irish movie list has felt incomplete, and biased. As a filmmaker and author myself I have very little patience for the critics who compile these lists. Critics are problematic for many reasons. Here are a few reasons I mistrust their opinions:
They usually have an agenda, and that agenda is usually related directly to the political agenda of the publication they work for.
Practically none of them have any hands on experience. They judge novels though they couldn’t write one themselves. They judge movies without ever having made one.
Many of them are terrible writers. They write in dry, academic, unpenetrable language, which usually sounds like it was intended to impress their colleagues, rather than the average Joe, who really just wants to know; “Is it any good?”.
The internet has leveleled the playing field a great deal when it comes to an unbiased view of art. There is no better judge than the common man. People either like a thing, or they don’t. What survives as great art, literature, songs, or movies, are what people liked the most, and, continue to like. It’s that simple.
With all that in mind, I have made an attempt to compile a list that more fairly represents the broader views of the common man. A list that did not exclude movies that were not funded by the Irish Film establishment, or supported by the Irish Press. I also wanted a list that included Irish American movies that spoke directly to the immigrant experience, so that in looking through all the movies on this list you might better understand Irish culture as a whole, not an Ireland limited by the borders around 26, or 32 counties, but an Ireland whose broader border wraps around the shoulders of it’s immigrants too.
In an attempt to escape bias as much as possible I began the process of compiling this list by asking people across my social media platforms to just list their favorite Irish, or Irish American movies. About 150 people took part. I catalogued every single mention I recieved. I listed the movies in order of their importance to that response. Then I went to all the lists I could find online, and added the movies on those lists to that same compiliation. I refered to The Irish Times list, Irish Central, Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix, and Irish America Magazine. When I tallied the numbers I then listed them in order of votes.
There are two movies on this list that I must draw attention to, lest I too appear biased. Number 1, is my own movie: “Emerald City”. It had an unfair advantage in this process. Of course people who were acquainted with me on social media were more likely to choose that movie. So to be fair, I want to acknowlege that it’s place in the list is a reflection of that bias. But in keeping with the rules I laid out, I am acknowledging it in it’s place as it was chosen. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie you can always look it up on You Tube and give it a watch yourself and decide for yourself.
The second movie I will mention, is: “2x4” by Jimmy Smallhorne. Though no one mentioned the movie I added it to the list with an Asterix * as my way of combating the fact that Emerald City* sat so high in placement. If you feel like tossing my movie off the list, then just replace it with 2x4. 2x4 is not available in any format that I could find. But it deserves mention because it should not be forgotten. It is in important movie in our Irish history cannon. Declan Quinn won best cinematography at Sundance in 1998 for 2x4, and the movie features an incredible performance by writer/director Jimmy Smallhorne. It also focuses on working class Irish in New York City and for that fact alone deserves preservation. The fact that Jimmy went out and made such a powerful feature movie with practically no experience was a huge influence on my own decision to become a film-maker.
So let’s not judge the movies in order of importance. Instead, if you are looking for something to watch that will expand your view of Irish culture, entertain you, make you laugh, and cry, and wonder, rest assured, it is here. Dip and and out. Start at the bottom and work backwards. Watch them all.
This is not a best of list, but I can gaurantee you, it is the best list of Irish movies that currently exists.
The Field
In The Name of the Father
My Left Foot
The Commitments
The Snapper
Michael Collins
The Crying Game
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Once
Emerald City*
Brooklyn
In America
The Van
The Secret of Roan Inish
The Magdelene Sisters
Philomena
Angela’s Ashes
Waking Ned Devine
Intermission
The General
I Went Down
The Guard
Da
The Quiet Man
Gangs of New York
Some Mother’s Son
Carboard Gangsters
In Bruges
Cal
The Butcher Boy
Boondock Saints
Darby O’Gill and the Little People
Eat the Peach
Breakfast on Pluto
State of Grace
Into the West
The Dead
Bloody Sunday
Lamb
War of the Buttons
Song of the Sea
Angels With Dirty Faces
Garage
Veronica Guerin
On the Waterfront
The Departed
Mystic River
Hunger
Five Minutes of Heaven
Hidden Agenda
The Informer
Clash of the Ash
Adam and Paul
Gone With the Wind
Calvary
The Run of The Country
The Boxer
The Devils Own
Evelyn
Fanatic Heart
Black 47
The Long Good Friday
The Colleen Bawn
The Farthest
Flight of the Doves
The Fighter
The Brothers McMullen
Doubt
Jimmy's Hall
Miller’s Crossing
Blackmass
Goodwill Hunting
The Public Enemy
Ryan’s Daughter
Ondine
The Playboys
Omagh
Dancing at Lughnasa
Circle of Friends
Shake Hands With the Devil
The Secret of Kells
This is my Father
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in The Bronx
Man about Dog
An Everlasting Piece
Disco Pigs
The Young Offenders
The Siege at Jadotville
Song Of Granite
If I Should Fall From Grace
Secret Scripture
The Runway
Hear My Song
A Prayer for the Dying
Sing Street
Borstal Boy
The Journey
A Bad Day For The Cut
Pilgrim Hill
The Boys From County Clare
*(Special Mention: 2x4 by Jimmy Smallhorne)
