This list of the finest St.Patrick’s Day movies has something for everyone, from thrilling period dramas to modern crime thrillers and even kids’ movies.
St. Patrick’s Day has us shamrocking in and rolling all day, from green cocktails and dyed rivers to dancing and bar crawls. Since it has so many distinct connotations, there are a lot of St. Patrick’s Day movies.
What comes to mind when you hear “St. Patrick’s Day”? Rainbows, leprechauns, a sought-after pot of gold, and plenty of green come to mind.
But there’s much more to St. Patrick’s Day’s history than wearing an all-green attire in public.
What started as a day to commemorate the death of St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, has expanded into a worldwide celebration.
St. Patrick made it his life’s work to convert the people of Ireland to Christianity, and the holiday has since grown to include all Irish people.
Well, some of the best St Patrick’s Day movies to watch this year are:
1. Between The Canals (2011)
Between the Canals follows three small-time crooks from Dublin’s North Inner City who strive to make a name for themselves in a fast-changing society.
Furthermore, Liam is a small-time drug dealer who wants to become an electrician to support his girlfriend and son. Dots is a deranged, irresponsible gangster who aspires to be a big-time dealer.
Scratchcard is a drug addict who has no objectives other than to remain on social assistance and watch the world go by. Liam is divided between his responsibilities to be a decent father to his son and his life in the flats.
Additionally, he only needs to get through this one day and hope that things will improve on the other side. Some of the top cast members include Damien Dempsey, Peter Coonan, Dan Hyland, and Stephen Jones.
2. Holidays (2016)
Holidays is also one of the best St Patrick’s Day movies, with a 5.1 rating on IMDb. Additionally, It is a feature-length anthology film that takes a dark and unique approach to some of the most well-known and beloved holidays.
Holidays celebrate the tragedy on the same special days year after year, challenging our folklore, customs, and assumptions. The principal cast includes Madeline Coghlan, Kate Rachesky, Rick Peters, and Emily Haggins.
3. St Patrick’s Day (2014)
Patrick is a twenty-six-year-old virgin schizophrenic who is kind and open. Thanks to the pills and his mother’s protection, Patrick isn’t a threat to himself or others until he falls in love, of course.
Additionally, Patrick’s obsessive mother, Maura, is blinded by her need to control her son. Her drive to do so blinds her to the fact that sometimes, misdirected love is the only thing more devastating than hate.
Karen, an alcoholic air hostess who is about to lose her job, checks into a hotel to end her life, not realizing that the intimacy she shares with Patrick will reintroduce her to living. Some of the top cast include Kerry Fox, Moe Dunford, and Philip Jackson.
4. The Departed (2006)
The Departed is also a St Patrick’s Day movie you should watch. People enjoy uplifting stories but also want stories about the criminal underbelly. Martin Scorsese’s 2006 thriller is about two Irish Massachusetts cops on opposing sides of the law.
Furthermore, Billy Costigan is played by Leo DiCaprio. He works undercover in the Irish mob to bring down head boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson).
In contrast, Matt Damon plays Colin Sullivan, a state police officer who serves as Costello’s informant, providing the mob boss with inside information.
Costigan and Sullivan are charged with figuring out who the other “rat” is. Some of the top cast of the departed include Martin Sheen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg.
5. The Irish Pub (2013)
The Irish pub has a long tradition. Alex Fegan interviews bar owners throughout Ireland to determine what makes “the Irish pub” an institution.
Some of the top cast include Willie Aherne, Nan Brennan, Liam Aherne, Garry Cusack, Patricia Brennan, Billy Keane, and Joe Shanley.
6. Once (2007)
One is also one of the best St Patrick’s Day movies ever. An unidentified Dublin guitarist/singer/songwriter earns a living by repairing vacuum cleaners in his father’s Hoover repair shop during the day and singing and playing for money on the streets of Dublin at night.
Furthermore, an unidentified Czech girl plays the piano when she can, does odd jobs during the day, and looks after her mother and daughter at night.
Additionally, Guy meets the girl, and the two get to know each other while the girl assists the guy in putting together a demo disc that he can take to London to earn a music deal.
However, the guy and the girl work through their prior loves and disclose their blossoming affection for one another over several days.
7. What Richard Did (2012)
What Richard Did chronicles the summer between the end of high school and the start of university for Richard Karlsen. Richard is a golden boy athlete and the unquestioned alpha male of his privileged group of South Dublin youngsters.
Additionally, the world appears bright, and everything seems conceivable until Richard does something that destroys it all and shatters the lives of those closest to him one summer night.
Furthermore, Richard Did is a quietly poignant portrait of a young child grappling with the disparity between who he thought he was and who he turned out to be.
Some of the top cast include Lorraine Pilkington, Jack Reynor, Róisn Murphy, and Lars Mikkelsen.
8. Brooklyn (2015)
Next on our list of best St Patrick’s Day movies in Brooklyn is set in the early 1950s in Ireland. Saoirse Ronan plays Eilis Lacey, a young lady who works in a grocery store.
She has bigger dreams than Rose’s mother and sister and moves to Brooklyn, New York.
She feels homesick but soon settles down, finds work, studies to be a bookkeeper, and meets Tony Fiorello, a lovely young Italian man.
Furthermore, things are going well until she learns of Rose’s death and decides to return to Ireland.
Nonetheless, she and Tony marry quickly, and then she returns to Ireland independently. Life is about to become more complex.
9. Sing Street (2016)
Conor, a sensitive youngster, struggles to cope with a strained family connection to reunite with Brendan’s elder brother.
Above all, he has to deal with the harsh environment in his new public school as everyone moves to the beat of Pop music in the early 1980s-Dublin.
Then he sees her one day. An enigmatically gorgeous girl stands in front of the school’s entrance, indolently observing people going by. She is tall, with long chestnut hair, a buttery complexion, and huge, black eyes.
Additionally, Conor enlists the support of a group of adolescent dreamers to establish a band to get recognized by the distant girl, Raphina—and, amazingly, however, with every lyric he writes, the gap narrows. With every song he plays, her heart brims with affection.
What does one do in the face of a sea of possibilities? Some of the top cast include Kelly Thornton, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, and Jack Reynor.
10. P.S. I Love You (2007)
P.S.I. Love You is also one of the best St Patrick’s Day movies. Holly Kennedy is attractive, intelligent, and married to the love of her life, Gerry, a passionate, witty, and rash Irishman.
As a result, Holly is also accepted when Gerry’s life is taken by disease. Furthermore, the person who is no longer present is the only one who can assist her.
Gerry is the only one who truly understands Holly. It’s a good thing he prepared ahead of time. Gerry wrote Holly letters before he died to help her overcome her loss and rediscover herself.
Additionally, the first message arrives in the form of a cake on Holly’s 30th birthday, along with a tape recording from Gerry, who tells her to get out and “enjoy yourself.
Some of the top cast members include Gina Gershon, Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, and Harry Connick Jr.
11. The Ugly Truth (2009)
Her chauvinistic reporter subjects a romantically challenged morning show producer to a series of outrageous tests to prove his relationship theories and help her find love.
On the other hand, his devious schemes end in an unexpected outcome. Some of the top cast members include Nick Searcy, Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, and John Michael Higgins.
12. Holidate (2020)
Sloane meets Jackson at a store return counter on the spur of the moment. They agree to only meet as a couple during the holidays to make life at least tolerable.
Furthermore, they are both tired of nightmare dates (him) and meddling family (her) during the holidays, so they make an arrangement whereby they will only meet as a couple during the holidays to make life at the very least tolerable, their connection slowly.
Still, steady deepens, despite their scoffing at romantic tropes (and to their surprise). Some of the principal cast includes Luke Bracey and Emma Roberts.
13. The Guard (2011)
The Guard is also one of the best St Patrick’s Day Movies to watch. Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a belligerent small-town Irish cop with a subversive sense of humor, a dying mother, and a penchant for prostitutes.
And little interest in the worldwide cocaine-smuggling operation that has brought straight-laced F.B.I. agent Wendell Everett to his doorstep.
The principal cast includes Fionnula Flanagan, Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, and Liam Cunningham.
14. The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley, directed by Ken Loach, won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s most coveted award, at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Additionally, during the War of Independence, Damien (Cillian Murphy) joins a local flying column in the I.R.A. Michael Collins (1997), which takes a more Hollywood approach to the Irish War of Independence, is significantly grittier than Loach’s picture.
Additionally, it successfully depicts all sides’ atrocities, particularly highlighting the Black and Tans’ horrors. The story then shifts to the Irish Civil War, culminating in a heartbreaking climax.
Some of the top cast include Orla Fitzgerald, Cillian Murphy, Liam Cunningham, and Pádraic Delaney.
15. In Bruges (2008)
Last on St Patrick’s Day’s movies list is in Bruges. Bruges is the darkest film on this list, yet it is also one of the funniest Irish films ever created.
Additionally, Bruges features two assassins hiding in the Belgian city of Bruges and stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in a dream pairing.
Furthermore, Farrell, in particular, plays a suicidal assassin. And the movie isn’t afraid to make some of the most raunchy gags possible.
Some of the top cast include Jérémie Renier, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Clémence Poésy.
