How Hollywood's Irish 'stunt florist' got to blossom on silver-screen sets
Helen Byrne: “It’s very hard work. Last December I was doing a small film and I was out in the frost, up a ladder putting a garland around a church, blue with the cold.” Pic: Andrew Dunsmore
In the world of Hollywood, where glitz and glamour often take centre stage, there exists an unsung hero who adds a touch of natural beauty to some of our favourite films and TV shows.
Meet Helen Byrne, affectionately known as the ‘stunt florist’. No crane is too high or ladder too unsteady to deter her from doing what she does best-adding vibrant splashes of colour to the silver screen.
She’s worked alongside some of the world’s biggest stars but her run in the movie business is a far cry from the elegance associated with the entertainment industry.
“It’s very hard work. Last December I was doing a small film and I was out in the frost, up a ladder putting a garland around a church, blue with the cold.”
She may have to contend with the elements every now and then but working conditions have come a long way since her early days in the trade.
“There was no health and safety years ago. They had me on a camera hoist decorating a Christmas tree that was about 25-foot tall with just a lap belt on. That was for Only Fools and Horses for a Christmas special.”
From James Bond to Jane Austen and everything in between, the Baldoyle woman has been a mainstay in show business for over 50 years. It began however in not the most conventional of training grounds: a funeral home in Fairview.
“Kirwan’s had a flower shop on the strand. It was quite an old-fashioned undertakers and they had three sons.”
One of the sons was former RTÉ broadcaster John Kirwan who set off for the US to see what the Americans were doing with undertaking before returning home and revolutionising the industry in Ireland.
“They knocked the whole place down and built an American-style undertakers where you could view the body and all that. That had been unheard of before. They had a separate flower shop that was attached to the undertakers and that’s where I did my training.”
After a couple of years, Byrne left the business of final farewells, opting for a fresh start in London. There she began doing floral arrangements for high-end shop Isabelle Lewis, whose clientele were a little more demanding than those in the cemetery.
Despite the steady work, it wasn’t enough to sustain a comfortable life in the English capital, especially as a single mother.
It wasn’t until she until she started working with a hire company that did antiques, furniture, and flowers for film and television that her career began to blossom.
“Before I started in Newman’s I had no idea that that type of floristry even existed.”
Luckily for the Dublin native, TV sets at the time were very accommodating to working mothers.
“I used to bring my son onto the set when he was a baby. It was much more relaxed in those days. You wouldn’t be able to do it now.”
Despite being able to throw her hand to anything, the 68-year-old has found her niche in historical dramas, becoming the go-to florist for hit TV shows like The Crown, Bridgerton, and Downton Abbey.
She has become an indispensable asset to production teams and for good reason. Her meticulous attention to detail and ability to evoke the charm of bygone eras through floral arrangements have made her an invaluable asset to the industry.
There is nothing quite like floristry to depict the seduction and enchantment befitting of a country house in the early 20th century.
Downton Abbey’s abundance of parklands and flower gardens is one of the reasons the show is so irresistible but how can such beauty be replicated in the modern era?
“We don’t have the same variety of flowers that were around back then. Flowers go in and out of fashion so growers stop growing them. What we often end up doing is using modern varieties that look as period as possible.”
While shows like The Crown must be somewhat historically accurate, other projects have the freedom to embrace a utopian world.
“Bridgerton is complete fantasy obviously, they don’t even stick to period flowers. A lot of the flowers are artificial.”
Quite a bit of research goes into planning the flower arrangement for The Crown but for much of it, memory is her best aid.
“I’ve done it from the 1950s up to 2004 and I’ve mirrored the flowers as it would have been all the way through.
“It involves a lot of looking back on old photographs and research but I was also around in that time so that’s useful.”
She might have a knack for looking back but right now she’s looking forward.
“I’m going to retire when Downton wraps,” says Helen.
Her last project is the third, and likely final, Downton Abbey film.
As for whether we’ll be getting a seventh instalment of the award winning TV series, Helen is uncertain.
After all, season 6 concluded on a high and as the character Lady Sybil Crawley once quipped: “If everything in the garden is sunny, why meddle?”
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