What are the Best Movies to Watch on St. Patrick’s Day?
When I say “Best,” please know that my top 4 Irish movies to watch on St. Patrick’s Day (and what movies to watch on St. Patrick’s Day about being Irish) are subjective. Of course there are many, many films that I have not included here, but are still excellent. When I say best, I usually mean at minimum, the script is super tight, and the dialogue is well-crafted.
I also mean, here, that the film is historically situated to portray Irishness. In my experience as an American, St. Patrick’s Day is about celebrating Irish culture in America—but it equally celebrates drinking and fighting (even though that’s an unfair stereotype). Still, half this list consists of crime stories because that’s kind of my jam.
And because it’s my list, you know I also center lists and stories about history and horror. That said, here are my four favorite movies to watch on St. Patrick’s Day:
Image provided by Miramax
Gangs of New York (2003)
When I saw this film in theatres, I was like fourteen years old, just old enough to recognize that Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) was hot with long hair. Now that I’m an adult, I’ve put aside my childish ways, and I recognize that this film’s cast holds every white man I’ve ever loved—besides my actual husband. I’m not just talking Leo: I’m talking Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, and Brendan Gleeson. Even Henry Thomas is in there!
It’s also a gangster film adapted to screenplay by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan; and directed by Martin Scorsese; costumes by Sandy Powell; so St. Patrick’s Day aside, you know it’s going to be a great film with all these greats doing the things they’re the greatest at doing… despite being nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2003, it won none and is regarded as the biggest snub in industry history (and not just by me)!
Image provided by Miramax
In case that hasn’t sold you on a (re)watch, here’s a quick plot synopsis: it’s 1846 in Five Points New York City, and there are two feuding factions facing off in their final battle: one led by Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), the Anglo-Protestant Confederation of American Natives. (I’m sure I don’t need to point out the irony of that title to you, but just in case you didn’t notice the paradox, read that gang’s name again.) And two, the immigrant Irish Catholic Dead Rabbits, led by “Priest” Vallon (Liam Neeson). The Butcher kills the Priest, thereby orphaning the adolescent boy Amsterdam (Leo DiCaprio), and he declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed. Amsterdam is taken to an orphanage on Blackwell’s Island until he ages out, when he emerges with a vendetta for the Butcher, who’s now basically running Tammany Hall. It’s fucking awesome, and if you haven’t seen it before, this is your sign. If you have seen it, but you can’t quote it from memory, this is your sign, too, for a rewatch.
Image provided by Franchise Pictures
Boondock Saints (1999)
Yes, another crime movie! It’s a cult classic. This one follows Irish Catholic twin brothers Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus) and their vigilante justice in cleaning up the streets of Boston. The film actually starts with the characters celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day when Russian mobsters show up and try to shut down the whole pub—to demolish it, not to just end the party.
Naturally, a brawl ensues, the brothers win, and the next morning when the Russians seek vengeance, the MacManuses beat them to death. This leads to their killing one gangster after another, and the police and press regard the twins as folk heroes… but Special Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is hellbent on bringing down all criminals. It’s a cat-and-mouse chase of a gangster movie, and super fun ride, especially if you want drinking-and-fighting vibes.
Image provided by Searchlight Pictures
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Starring the second-hottest Irishman in the world, Colin Farrell, written by the first hottest Irishman in the world, Martin McDonagh. And both of them won Golden Globe Awards for this film (Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, respectively). It also won Best Motion Picture –Musical or Comedy, which is weird because it’s one of the saddest films I saw that year.
The black tragicomedy tone that Martin McDonagh wields so well is the only way to tell a story like this one. In 1923 towards the end of the Irish Civil War, on a fictional island off the west coast, fiddler Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) abruptly ends his lifelong friendship with Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell). He says it’s because he wants to spend his life composing music for which he will be remembered, and when Pádraic tries to make amends, he threatens to cut off one of his own fingers every time he speaks.
It's grim, but it’s awesome. The cinematography is something to behold as well, with gorgeous vistas providing the backdrop to feuds and music and fires. Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan in their supporting roles are also impeccable.
Image provided by San Sebastian Film Festival
The Wonder (2022)
Just after the Ireland’s potato famine, in 1862, English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is sent to the rural Irish midlands. She’s there to observe what seems to be a miracle, in which eleven-year-old Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy) has survived four months without food. Nurse Lib is assisted by the Catholic nun, Sister Michael (Josie Walker), who looks to authenticate the miracle.
William Byrne (Tom Burke) is also especially interested in the story. He’s a local man who was away at boarding school when his whole family died in the Great Famine. He reports on the story for the Daily Telegraph, and he believes it to be a hoax. He’s also of course offended at the nature of this particular hoax, a girl who is faking starving when so many of the population did actually in fact starve to death. Every character is there to reveal the truth… but what they learn is much more severe than they anticipated.
The film was marketed as a psychological drama, but we all know that’s code for horror in your mind, and this film really delivers on every level.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. I hope you enjoy these Irish movies half as much as I do. Slainte.
If this story stuck with you, then you might like…
—How Jenny Geddes Sparked a Rebellion in 17th-Century Scotland
—7 Otherworldy Horror Books Inspired by Gaelic Folklore
—The "Real" Witches of Macbeth
—This Is What Happened at a Typical Scottish Witch Trial
