A storybook holiday: Discover Ireland's most Hollywood-worthy locations

Jo Kerrigan retraces the footsteps of giants on a trip through the Irish locations for globally respected artistic creations

Blessisngton Lakes, which featured in the popular TV show The Vikings.

There is always a movie you really loved, a book you devoured, a TV show you couldn’t miss, poetry you recite to yourself, a song you sing whenever you get the chance. Why not make this the autumn you trace their footsteps and discover the actual places where a story was filmed, or that inspired the special song, story, poetry? Wander from one to another, staying in wonderful hostelries and enjoying the best food and drink Ireland has to offer. Now isn’t that tempting?

So many movies have been shot in Ireland that it’s almost easier to list those that weren’t! Even films dealing with faraway locations and topics were made here because directors knew they could find unspoiled countryside, superb scenery, empty beaches, and — of course — plenty of willing ‘extras’! Saving Private Ryan is set in Normandy during the appalling battle of Omaha Beach, but was filmed on Ballinesker strand in Wexford. That old classic The Blue Max, with George Peppard as a German WWI fighter pilot, was shot at the Ardmore Studios in Bray, but that spectacular scene when Peppard flies a plane under a bridge was filmed just outside Fermoy in Co Cork. If you’re driving past on the toll road, you can look to your right and see the high arched railway bridge just as it was then.