In the mid 1970s a group of young men leave the Connemara Gaeltacht, bound for London and filled with ambition for a better life. After thirty years, they meet again at the funeral of their youngest friend, Jackie. The film intersperses flashbacks of a lost youth in Ireland with the harsh realities of modern life. For some the thirty years has been hard, working in building sites across Britain. Slowly the truth about Jackie's death become clear and the friends discover they need each other more than ever.
Acting
Colm Meaney's weathered face tells thirty years in one glance.
Writing
Dialogue that actually sounds like Irish men talking, not performing.
Director
Tommy Collins
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in both Irish and English, it captures the Gaeltacht-to-London pipeline rarely seen on screen—the real-life exodus that hollowed out western Ireland.
The Connemara funeral scenes used actual local extras who'd lived this exact emigrant story, lending the wake an uncomfortable documentary authenticity.
IE
