(11) Black 47

Black ’47 (2018)

Explore the the Connemara film location of Black 47 with Connemara Film Trail Map

The title refers to the worst year of the Great Hunger in Ireland in 1847 when the potato crop failed. It tells the story of an Irish Catholic soldier fighting for the British abroad who deserts his regiment to rejoin his family.

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea and Barry Keoghan.

Directed by: Lance Daly.

Famous Association: Although several previous films refer to the Famine, this was one of the first to devote itself to the subject.

Quotation: ‘It was hard to say where the challenge was because it was all challenging. I’m not so good at learning languages so to pick up a language that not a great number of people speak was pretty tough.’ Australian actor James Frenchville had to learn Irish for the part.

‘’When looking for a vast unspoiled landscape, our search brought us to Connemara, County Galway…’’
States the film’s location manager, Rossa O’Neill, in comments to KFTV.

Trivia:
In general, the film attracted favourable reviews. ‘Handsomely staged and shot, using the Irish famine as the setting for a fast-paced, well-acted and occasionally exhilarating tale of revenge.’ Black ’47 anchors its grim and gritty action in deceptively deep genre storytelling.

Links:
Arracht a 2019 Irish language period drama film directed and written by Tomás Ó Súilleabháin, is also set during the Great Famine of Ireland. The film location was in Leitir Mealláin where scenes from The Guard were also filmed.