Watch: Donegal 'looking glorious' in star-studded movie to be released next month

The Three Urns is a road trip movie which stars Ciarán Hinds, Olga Kurylenko, Stephen Dillane, Lisa Dwane with Stephen Fry, and Sinéad Cusack., and it necessitated over 40 locations across the chosen backdrop of the county

Break Out Pictures is about to release The Three Urns next month in Ireland - a film that was shot entirely in Donegal.

The Three Urns is a road trip movie, and it necessitated over 40 locations across the chosen backdrop of the county.

placeholder image — The Three Urns is a road trip movie, and it necessitated over 40 locations across the chosen backdrop of the county.

A film by John-Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck, The Three Urns stars Ciarán Hinds, Olga Kurylenko, Stephen Dillane, Lisa Dwane with Stephen Fry and Sinéad Cusack.

Both directors, with the help of Samson Films and location manager Domhnall Doherty (The Green Knight, The Last Duel, The Watchers), completed four location scouts in the region. The cast and crew stayed in Ramelton, where Hinds felt right at home.

“We were very welcome there,” he says. “Sometimes you have a little trepidation about disturbing the people who live [at a location] but they were quite delighted I think. Not quite the circus coming to town but something that hasn’t happened in that area before."

Ramelton and towns such as Raphoe, Dunfanaghy and Buncrana all feature heavily in The Three Urns.

Other unique spots include a tractor’s graveyard, a cobbler’s, a dairy farm and GAA clubhouse. Glenveagh Castle and Grianán of Aileach add to the magic.

Alongside the ancient Grianán of Aileach, the filmmakers assembled at Beltany, a Bronze Age stone circle south of Raphoe town, which dates from circa 2100-700 BC.

Olga Kurylenko found Donegal stunning: “The landscapes were mesmerising. I didn’t know Ireland before. I was also astonished with people’s kindness. I don’t lie so I wouldn’t even mention this if it wasn’t true, but truly, the kindness of people around and on set was one that I rarely see and experience. I’m very grateful to have worked in such wonderful conditions.”

“Donegal gave us a great scope for different locations, both exterior and interior,” says director of photography Richard Kendrick (That They May Face the Rising Sun, Song of Granite, Crá).

“It is always a case of managing the exteriors as the weather can be very changeable. In general, we were very lucky with the weather, which helped.”

Lalor Roddy, who plays a Priest, was “happy to see Donegal shining bright and being recorded for prosperity in this beautiful movie, looking glorious” although on the one day that fine weather was called for - the exterior of a wedding reception - it lashed.

Charming, joyful and with a touch of whimsy, The Three Urns is a funny and often moving look at reconnection and exploration. It is written and directed by John-Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck and produced by Eamon Hughes and David Collins for Samson Films with the support of Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland. Break Out Pictures will release the film in Ireland on April 17.

As for the movie itself, after years living in France, Mr O’Connor (Ciarán Hinds) sets out on a pilgrimage to his former home in Ireland after the death of his wife.

Equal parts picturesque and picaresque, his journey is full of serendipitous encounters with a cohort of colourful characters, including a Lithuanian painter, an itinerant priest, horse traders and horse whisperers, a Choctaw native commemorating the Great Famine, and a group of mystic women worshipping at the ancient Beltany Stone Circle.