The Boys from County Clare

The Boys from County Clare
Directed by	John Irvin
Produced by	Wolfgang Esenwein Evzen Kolar Ellen Dinerman Little Bill Kenwright
Written by	Nicholas Adams
Starring	Bernard Hill Charlotte Bradley Andrea Corr Colm Meaney Stephan Brennan Eamonn Owens Shaun Evans Ian Shaw Brendan O'Hare
Music by	Fiachra Trench
Cinematography	Thomas Burstyn
Edited by	Ian Crafford
Distributed by	Samuel Goldwyn Films Studio Hamburg WorldWide Pictures
Release dates	September 12, 2003 (2003-09-12) (Canada)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Ireland United Kingdom Germany
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$132,000 (U.S. theatrical release)

The Boys from County Clare is a 2003 Irish comedy/drama film about a céilí band from Liverpool that travels to Ireland to compete in a céilí competition in County Clare. Directed by John Irvin, the film was released in Canada on September 12, 2003 and in the U.S., on a limited release, on March 13, 2005.

The film was entitled The Boys and Girl From County Clare for the U.S. release and The Great Ceili War for the U.K. release.

Plot

Set in 1965 Jimmy McMahon (Colm Meaney) is an Irishman living in Liverpool who directs a céilidh band of young men who go to a competition of traditional Celtic music in Ireland in County Clare. A native Irish band directed by John Joe McMahon (Bernard Hill) is also present to compete as well, with animosity between Jimmy and John as they are brothers. The two brothers could not be more different, as they have taken different paths. There are multiple surprises for them as the competition takes place, with a familial twist at the very end.

Cast

• Bernard Hill as John Joe McMahon
• Andrea Corr as Anne
• Charlotte Bradley as Maisie
• Stephan Brennan as Miko
• Colm Meaney as Jimmy McMahon
• Eamonn Owens as Pat
• Shaun Evans as Teddy
• Ian Shaw as Johnny
• Brendan O'Hare as Brendan
• Malachy Bourke as Ben
• Leslie Bingham as Leslie
• Phillip Barantini as Alex
• Frank Twomey as Roger
• Emmet Kirwan as Clive

Awards

• Winner - Best Supporting Actress, Charlotte Bradley - Irish Film and Television Awards
• Nominated - Best Music, Fiachra Trench - Irish Film and Television Awards
• Winner - Best Actress, Andrea Corr - U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 46% based on reviews from 28 critics.

External links

• The Boys From County Clare at IMDb