The isle of Inisherin which Martin McDonagh's new film takes its name from is not a real place. Instead, the playwright dreamt up the verdant green isle off the west coast of Ireland, borrowing from the beauty of the shooting locations of Inishmore and Achill Island, two places that are as real and breathtaking as they appear on the screen.
McDonagh has written several plays set in Ireland that interrogate the history and culture of the land, but his latest, the Oscars frontrunner The Banshees of Inisherin, is his first film to be shot there.
Inishmore – which also lends its name to the title of McDonagh’s play The Lieutenant of Inishmore – is the largest of the Aran Islands (Inis Mór literally translates to The Big Island), located in Galway Bay, and provided the setting for the majority of The Banshees of Inisherin, as the cast and crew made it their home for three weeks of shooting during 2021.
A rugged, hilly environment with sharp cliffs and an inclement climate, Inishmore has less than a thousand inhabitants but attracts tourists by the boatload in the summer. Many come to discover the Aran Islands’ distinctive charms, or to pick up one of the cosy knitted jumpers that are knitted locally.
But in 1923 Inisherin, during the dying days of the Irish Civil War, there are considerably fewer tourists in knitted jumpers. Instead Colin Farrell’s happy-go-lucky farmer Pádraic Súilleabháin tends to his small collection of farm animals (a miniature donkey, a small pony, two cows and a calf) residing in a cottage he shares with his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon).
This quaint structure was actually built for the film, utilising local stonemasons who constructed the building’s exterior walls, in the area of Gort Na gCapall. It’s a simple but cosy home, with a fireplace and flagstone floor, which Pádraic’s donkey Jenny is regularly trotting across, naturally.
The film’s second shooting location was Achill Island, 140km north of Inishmore in County Mayo, where the film’s key pub scenes were shot. Achill Island’s imposing mountains lend a sense of drama to the film, creating a looming backdrop against which Colm (Brendan Gleeson) and Pádraic’s relationship disintegrates. An old fisherman’s cottage was converted into Colm’s home, which contrasts from Pádraic’s with its use of colour and collection of artefacts, including marionettes and an old gramophone.
“When you get into Colm’s house, the inside is almost like a Van Gogh painting,” says the film’s production designer Mark Tildesley. “It’s yellow, bright. It has a red floor, which is an old oilskin from sailcloth, and a black ceiling, [which] are strong colours for a period film.”
The pub belonging to affable Jonjo (Pat Shortt) proves a battlefield for Pádraic and Colm, although it was once their regular hangout spot. The heart of the community, it’s a space for singing, chatting and drinking – a necessity for any rural environment. You can also find the church where Colm has a confrontation in a confession booth, and the local shop where Pádraic has a tense run-in with a local copper – McDonagh and his team were keen to utilise existing locations, and capture the distinctive beauty of Ireland.
If you're looking to make a trip out of it, Inishmore or Achill Island will more that satisfy your curiosity to step into the world of the film – just be careful you don’t ruin a perfectly good friendship in the process.
The Banshees of Inisherin is out now
