Brace yourself for another list. With St Patrick’s Day on the horizon, what better time to assess and, indeed, celebrate the cultural landscape?
We’re not here to provide an undisputed collection of the greatest Irish albums ever made. This is by no means a definitive guide to acclaimed Irish filmmaking. Think of it more as a jam-packed St Patrick’s-themed goodie bag, rounding up some legends, game-changers and once-in-a-generation Irish pop culture marvels.
Take note: these are the books, films, TV shows and albums that continue to inspire, entertain and enrich Irish lives…
1 Normal People
We refer to both the beloved TV series and the Sally Rooney best-seller.
How extraordinary that in an age when most of us struggle to keep up with one another’s viewing habits, the people of Ireland consumed and connected with Normal People at exactly the same time. The pandemic played its part – what else would you be doing on a Tuesday night during lockdown?
But Rooney’s moody millennial love story had already found its audience. The novel was a smash – we might have tuned in for the series if only to see what Connell ( Paul Mescal) and Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) look and sound like on screen. Nobody could have anticipated the buzz that followed. One for the ages.
2 The Young Offenders
How many films have made a successful leap from big-screen box-office wonder to small-screen sitcom gem? How many more have worked quite as well as The Young Offenders?
It was recently announced that a fourth season has been commissioned – good news for fans of Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy) and Jock O’Keeffe (Chris Walley), the loveable, head-the-ball rogues at the centre of Peter Foott’s rowdy, Cork-based comedy. Silly stuff, but it’s supposed to be and Foott’s goofy, heartfelt offering is irresistible. Plus, the lads’ dance sequence – you know the one – is practically iconic.
3 U2’s Achtung Baby
What was it Bono told a hometown audience in 1989? Something about going away so he could “dream it all up again”.
It worked. Conceived in Berlin, U2’s seventh studio album arrived at a time when most of us thought we had the group all figured out. But no, Bono and the lads found a way to reinvent themselves.
It took them ages. They argued until they almost split. They kissed and made up after writing ‘One’.
Here we have the sound of a rejuvenated ensemble that risked it all by trading in a tried-and-tested, stadium rock formula for something a little weirder, a little artier and a whole lot more fulfilling. Achtung Baby made U2 the biggest band in the world. Again.
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4 Once
At first glance, John Carney’s scrappy, sideways tale of an unlikely romance in inner-city Dublin looks to be in a barely releasable state. Give it a minute and you’ll discover a sweet, life-affirming drama of rare quality and depth.
Carney’s low-budget contemporary fairy tale made a fortune at the box office, and won an Oscar for its stars, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. It also spawned a triumphant stage show, and its writer-director remains the go-to guy for tender musical dramas (see Begin Again, Sing Street and the forthcoming Flora and Son). A proper cinematic phenomenon.
5 Derry Girls
Up there with the best of them, Lisa McGee’s endearing sitcom tells of a group of boisterous secondary schoolers doing their best to be normal teenagers against a backdrop of uncertainty and anxiety in 1990s Northern Ireland. Not since the heyday of Sex and the City has a show inspired so many viewers to wonder which of its characters they take after.
McGee’s whip-smart dialogue has become part of our conversational fabric, and the toaster-in-the-cupboard bit still gives us the giggles. An absolute treasure.
Sinéad O'Connor caused a sensation in the US. Photo: Ron Galella
6 Sinéad O’Connor’s I Do Not Want What I haven’t Got
To this day, Irish pop continues to make waves in America – Hozier is a household name; Dermot Kennedy is en route to the big time; Niall Horan is on for a top-five hit this summer. If you’ll excuse the horrid pun, none of these guys can compare, compete or even stand next to O’Connor.
Released in 1990, this marked the arrival of a genuine game-changer. It was the sound of an artist with something to say, and by God, did we listen. There will never be another like her.
7 The Cranberries’ Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?
We might argue that Limerick’s finest were a better singles band, and that there is no such thing as the definitive Cranberries record. What we wouldn’t give, however, to hear the opening chords of ‘Dreams’ again for the first time.
Armed with catchy tunes and phenomenal urgency, Dolores O’Riordan and her boys took the world by storm. Their debut LP went number one in the UK and Ireland. They were huge in Australia. ‘Linger’ cracked the US top ten. What a band, and the world today is a poorer place without one of Ireland’s greatest vocalists.
This one probably stands out. No other Irish novel has been the subject of such intense scrutiny and adulation.
No other book has been the butt of so many bad jokes. But it’s a hell of a trip and you would wonder if the time is finally right for a worthy TV adaptation of Leopold Bloom’s eventful summer’s day in Dublin. Can someone make it happen, please and thank you?
9 Intermission
Fun fact: Colin Farrell and his Banshees of Inisherin co-star Kerry Condon first shared a scene together in the opening of John Crowley’s savage black comedy. Working with a vibrant screenplay by Mark O’Rowe, Crowley delivered a searing, Dublin-based epic that, by no means perfect, did what it was supposed to.
That cast sheet – Cillian Murphy, Kelly Macdonald, Colm Meaney, Shirley Henderson – is to die for. Somehow, Crowley’s funny, energetic feature turns 20 this year. That was quick.
10 The Commitments
A story so iconic that the fake band in the film version later reunited as a real band for a real concert. Thirty-two years on, Alan Parker’s note-perfect rendering of the Roddy Doyle paperback continues to amuse.
It is, by some distance, the best entry in the so-called Barrytown Trilogy. It’s also the best film about a band that goes out of its way to spoil their big break. Repeat viewings are mandatory.
11 Brooklyn
Another John Crowley effort, and a fabulous little picture that brilliantly captures the heartache and devastation of a homesick Irish emigrant, working hard to get along in 1950s New York.
This one marked the beginning of a new phase for the film’s Oscar-nominated leading woman Saoirse Ronan. It is, perhaps, her finest role.
12 An Cailín Ciúin
Far too often, Irish cinema talks itself into a corner. Not Colm Bairéad’s An Cailín Ciúin, a film that speaks only when it needs to, and is all the better for it. Replete with rich, fully formed characters, a thoughtful screenplay and a handful of career-best turns from its impeccable cast, An Cailín Ciúin ranks among the greatest Irish films ever made. Watch it with pride this St Patrick’s Day.
