Best Irish history movies

The story of Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the 1981 hunger strike during The Troubles in which Irish Republican prisoners tried to win political status.

In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.

Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.

Inspired by true events that occurred during the fierce rivalry between Germany (Audi) and Italy (Lancia) at the 1983 Rally World Championships.

The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.

Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

Inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP Maze, which was to become the biggest prison escape in Europe since World War II.

When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown. But their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil to the monarchy.

Jimmy Gralton returns from New York and reopens his beloved community hall, only to meet opposition from the local parish.

A dramatization of the life story of C. Sankaran Nair, the lawyer who fought for the truth behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Based on actual events that took place on 26 April 1974, former debutante turned IRA member Rose Dugdale and three comrades carried out an armed raid on Russborough House, Wicklow, in which nineteen masterpieces were stolen in an effort to support the IRA’s armed struggle. The film plays out over the course of the days following the raid, when Rose is in hiding in a remote cottage.

A group of Irish noblemen kidnap girls in order to marry into their fortune and avoid becoming priests or soldiers.

Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia began a long battle against the ruthless Cosa Nostra when she first photographed the sinister scene of a brutal murder. Documenting the barbaric rule of the Italian Mafia, she was an unwavering witness to its crimes. Her art and courage helped end the horrific and bloody reign of the Corleonesi clan.

Set against a backdrop of a turbulent, war-torn Ireland in the early 1920s, this is a story of three people and the unfolding events from a crucial time in their extraordinary and tragic lives.

This remarkable new documentary explores the story behind one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century: the 1932 photograph of workmen taking their lunch while perched on a girder high above New York City.

Set in 1912, 'Uisce Beatha' (Gaelic for Whiskey or Water Of Life) is the true story of Tom, a young Irish man who leaves his home in rural Ireland to cross the ocean on the ill-fated 'Titanic'. But a night of celebration beforehand results in a twist that will affect Tom's fate drastically....

The first transatlantic communications cable, traversing the ocean floor from Valentia Island, County Kerry, to Newfoundland, Canada, 165 years ago was an 8 year endeavor that helped lay the foundation of the modern technology industry and explains the fragility of undersea cables today.

Ireland, June 1944. The crucial decision about the right time to start Operation Overlord on D-Day comes to depend on the readings taken by Maureen Flavin, a young girl who works at a post office, used as a weather station, in Blacksod, in County Mayo, the westernmost promontory of Europe, far from the many lands devastated by the iron storms of World War II.

The remarkable story of a pioneering aviator from Ulster during World War I.

A team of experts unravels the secrets concealed within this historical battleground, shedding light on a narrative that predates any battlefield discovery made to date. The revelations unearthed in this episode are set to reshape our understanding of ancient conflicts and the evolution of warfare.

The extraordinary story of the Irish War of Independence (1919-22): from the failed insurrection of 1916, the detailed account of how pro-independence Ireland rebuilt a movement whose efforts would eventually lead to the creation of a new nation. (Documentary film based on the miniseries of the same title.)

How the Anglo-Irish Treaty between the unrecognised Irish Republic, represented by Michael Collins, and the British government was concluded after high-stakes negotiations in 1921.

Ardal O’Hanlon explores a 1930s quest to find the first Irish men and women using archaeology, answering his deepest questions about what it means to be Irish.

A Terrible Beauty is the story of the men and women of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, Irish and British, caught up in a conflict many did not understand and of the innocent men and boys, executed because of what transpired in The Battle of Mount Street Bridge. The British soldiers were the last of the Great War volunteers, who joined up together to fight the Germans. They knew that there was a strong chance they would die in France, but to die in Dublin would never have crossed their minds. The Irish Volunteers were weekend warriors many of whom had no idea they were about to take part in large scale battles on the streets of Dublin.

Based on what happened to 15-year-old Ann Lovett in 1984. When she wakes up that morning, Ann feels that it is going to happen that day. She puts on her school uniform, but instead of going to school she is terrified of what is to come and quietly wanders the streets, hoping for human kindness and help, hoping for a miracle, while afraid to approach anyone. As a Catholic school student, she can in the end only count on the blessing of Virgin Mary and thus she gives birth to a baby boy beneath the statue of Our Lady in a grotto near the house of the congregation’s priest.

Citizen Lane is an innovative mix of documentary and drama that delivers a vivid and compelling portrait of Hugh Lane, one of the most fascinating and yet enigmatic figures in modern Irish history. A man of multiple contradictions, by turns infuriatingly parsimonious or extraordinarily generous, a professed nationalist and a knight of the realm; a monumental snob and a fearless campaigner for access to the arts.

In this historical miniseries created for BBC Northern Ireland, four brothers struggle to survive during the Irish potato famine of the 1840s while facing persecution from an agent (Michael Kitchen) of their indifferent English landlord. Looking on in horror as their primary food source dwindles, the Phelan brothers (portrayed by real-life siblings Joe, Mark, Paul and Stephen McGann) are torn between nonviolent protest and bloody revolt.

As rebels planned Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising, they were watched by two spies code-named Granite and Chalk. This documentary delves into British intelligence to tell their story, one century on. Funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, After ’16 is a creative response by Irish filmmakers to the events of Easter 1916. This collection of nine short films is a mixture of live-action, animation and documentary, telling stories from the eve of the Rising all the way to the Troubles in 1970s Northern Ireland and beyond.

This wonderfully entertaining dance documentary tells the extraordinary story of how Irish dance developed over centuries from a traditional peasant dance to a form that has taken the world by storm and is enjoyed by tens of millions. The film shows how Irish dance has both been influenced by and influenced the dance of many cultures and how it developed as an expression of resistance.

Unequivocal about the need for violence to force Britain out of Ireland, Father Eoin O’Donnell seals the fate of the young and impressionable Antaine by convincing him to fight in the 1916 Rising. Fifty years later, the reappearance of the now-experienced gunman Antaine in a divided Derry throws Father O’Donnell into turmoil. Once allies, the pair are now placed on opposite sides of the same agenda.

Ascendancy is a 1983 British film. It tells the story of a woman who is a member of the British landowning 'Ascendancy' in Ireland during World War I. Gradually, she learns about the Irish independence movement, and becomes involved with it.

An animated short film inspired by James Joyce's 'Ulysses.'

Based on true events. Unfortunate circumstances prompt a young woman to recount her story, from her birth at a mother and baby home to a life spent wondering about her lost family.

In 18th century Ireland, a wild band of natives struggle to keep their delicate settlement from dissolving into anarchy.

The Irish entry in the BFI's "Century of Cinema" documentary series examines Irish filmmaking in a decade when the country is going through a highly significant period of creativity and growth in cultural self-confidence. The film makes connections and contrasts, illuminates parallels and continuities, as it weaves through 100 years of cinema in Ireland.

The story of Anne Devlin, who was caught up in the revolt of the Irish under Robert Emmett in 1803, told exclusively from the woman's point of view.

Take a nostalgic trip along the beautiful Dublin coast, escaping the hustle and bustle of the city while enjoying the clatter and clang of the old Howth tram. This film records one of the last journeys of the Howth Tram, as it passes through the village, past the golf club, and along the coast – a most elegant form of transport from a bygone era.