The story of Barry Lyndon: 50 years since Stanley Kubrick made his epic in Ireland

Kubrick spent eight months in Ireland working on Barry Lyndon, a film now regarded as one of the greatest of all time. Esther McCarthy goes behind the scenes on the making of the epic period drama 

 Screenwriter Stanley Kubrick on the set of  Barry Lyndon. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

 It’s the lavish, lauded and lovingly lit period drama centred around the rise and fall of a charming scoundrel and social climber.

Shot across a variety of Irish locations including Dublin Castle, Powerscourt, Waterford and Cahir. Barry Lyndon brought cutting-edge technology and storytelling to our screens when it was released in 1975. Now, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of William Thackeray’s novel returns to Irish cinema screens in a new 4K restoration to mark its 50th anniversary. The Triskel and Cork Omniplex are among the cinemas bringing it to the big screen.