Cinema of Ireland - Ireland As A Location

Ireland As A Location

Ireland has also proved a popular location for shooting films, largely due to the tax-breaks, with The Quiet Man (1952), Braveheart (1995), Reign of Fire (2002) and King Arthur (2004) all being shot in Ireland. The first film shot in Ireland was The Lad from Old Ireland (1910), which was advertised as "The first ever film recorded on two continents". The film was a short silent story about a young Irishman who went to the USA to find riches, before returning home to save his family home from the bailiffs.

The Irish government was one of the first in Europe to see the potential benefit to the exchequer of having a competitive tax incentive for investment in film and television. Other countries have recognized the success of Ireland’s incentive scheme and matched it or introduced a more competitive tax incentive. After a long lobbying process, significant improvements were introduced to the Section 481 relief for investment in film projects in 2009 to boost employment in the industry and help re-establish Ireland as an attractive global location for film and television production.

Kevin Moriarty, managing director of Ardmore Studios believes Ireland is an attractive film location as there is now recognition for the quality of the output of the Irish film industry and a perception that Ireland is a viable film destination.