''Penance'' () is a 2019 Irish

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film directed by Tom Collins and set in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

during 1916 and 1969. It stars Peter Coonan as an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

who recruits a boy to the cause, only to regret his actions decades later.

Production

''Penance'' was filmed in Ramelton, County Donegal and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

, Northern Ireland and is primarily in the

Irish language Irish (an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages, Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European lang ...

. Filming in Derry took place at

St Columba's Church, Long Tower St Columba's Church, Long Tower is a Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Derry. It is located in the heart of the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. The present church is built on the site of Roman Catholic worship which goes back as far ...

, on Bishop Street and Society Street, as those areas had changed little since the 1960s. It was based on the Pádraic Ó Conaire story "Seacht mBua an Éirí Amach" ("Seven Virtues of the asterRising"). Production was financed by

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known a ...

, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, the Irish Film Board (€150,000), the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Northern Ireland Screen and Section 481.

Plot

, 1969. Catholic priest Fr. Eoin McDonnell prevents the arrest of Antaine, a senior

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief t ...

commandant. Fr. Eoin casts his mind back to rural

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

in 1916, when he recruited a teenage Antaine into the Irish independence movement.

Cast

1916

* Peter Coonan as Fr. Eoin McDonnell (young) *Padhraig Parkinson as Antaine (young) *Barry Barnes as Inspector Joyce *Mimi Carroll as Mairéad *Diona Doherty as Ellie Nic Shiubhlaigh *Dara Devaney as Peadar

1969

*Terry Byrne as Fr. Eoin McDonnell (old) *

Gerard McSorley Gerard McSorley (Irish: Gearóid Mac Somhairle; born 1 January 1950) is an Irish theatre, television and film actor. Early life He was born in the County Tyrone town of Omagh and, after attending a Christian Brothers school in his hometown, h ...

as Murray * Barry McGovern as Antaine (old) *Corey McKinley as Feidhlím

Release

''Penance'' was released on 1 May 2018. The film received its TV premiere on

on 20 April 2019.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 5471258 2018 drama films County Donegal in fiction Easter Rising Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Films set in 1916 Films set in 1969 Films set in Ireland Films shot in County Donegal Films shot in Northern Ireland Irish drama films Irish-language films English-language Irish films