The Top 10 Award Winning Irish Films

Irish films are more popular than ever — with great movies made by award-winning filmmakers including Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan and featuring popular stars Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy. Here is our list of the top 10 Irish films.

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Bloody Sunday

Paul Greengrass's harrowing film about the historical day looks as if it was an actual documentary, and the immediacy is overwhelming.

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In the Name of the Father

Based on Gerry Conlon's autobiography, Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father.

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The Commitments

Based on Roddy Doyle's buoyant debut novel, Alan Parker's exuberant The Commitments follows a cobbled-together band whose vision is to bring soul music to Dublin.

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The Crying Game

In Neil Jordan's psychological thriller, a reluctant agent of the Irish Republican Army discovers that some people just aren't who you expect them to be. Fergus (Stephen Rea) is an IRA "volunteer" who, despite personal misgivings, takes part in the kidnapping of a Black British soldier, Jody (Forest Whitaker), stationed in Northern Ireland. After befriending the soldier, Fergus promises to look after his girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson).

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The Magdalene Sisters

The Magdalene Sisters Orphans recreates a shameful period in history that has been hushed up for decades.

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Once

John Carney's lo-fi musical about a Dublin busker and an immigrant single mother who meet in the streets and record a demo tape together is a real charmer. The film received standing ovations and the Audience Award at Sundance, and won an Oscar for Best Original Song.

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The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Ken Loach’s , winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, is a searing story of two brothers whose loyalties are put to the ultimate test in the fight for Irish independence. The always wonderful Cillian Murphy stars.

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Intermission

Set in a small town in Ireland, John Crowley's ensemble drama is a rich, nuanced film — crowded with lovely moments and complicated stories. Rising stars Colin Farrell, Shirley Henderson, Kelly MacDonald, and Cillian Murphy lead the terrific cast.

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In America

Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine and Djimon Hounsou star in Jim Sheridan's drama about Irish immigrants who come to America in the 1980s.

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The Snapper

Based on the second of Irish writer Roddy Doyle's Barrytown The Snapper is a warmly comic look at a close-knit Irish family faced with a pregnant, unmarried daughter.