St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, March 17th 2023, and the day will be filled with green beer, mythical creatures, Irish folklore, and, if you are lucky enough, possibly even a four-leaf clover. However, what is a young girl or young boy to do on a day that is filled with Irish culture? Watch some of the best Irish movies for kids that are out there! Check out this list of the best St. Patrick’s Day movies for kids in 2023.
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St. Patrick’s Day Movies For Kids 2023
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Make sure your day is free of bad luck and full of Irish history by watching some of the best films to watch for a family movie night. This list of movies in honor of the Patron Saint of Ireland is a great way for kids to learn a bit about the history of St. Patrick and enjoy some fun entertainment for the lucky day.
The Secret of Kells
Plot: In the remote Irish woods, Cellach prepares a fortress for an impending attack by a Viking war party. Unbeknown to Cellach, his young nephew Brendan — who has no taste for battle — works secretly as an apprentice in the scriptorium of the local monastery, learning the ancient art of calligraphy. As the Vikings approach, revered illuminator Aidan arrives at the monastery and recruits Brendan to complete a series of dangerous, magical tasks.
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Evan McGuire, Mick Lally
Luck (Apple TV)
AppleTV+ Luck Parents Guide Movie Review
Plot: The story of Sam Greenfield, the unluckiest person in the world. Suddenly finding herself in the never-before-seen Land of Luck, she must unite with the magical creatures there to turn her luck around.
Cast: Eva Noblezada, Colin O’Donoghue, John Ratzenberger, Simon Pegg, Jane Fonda
Darby O’Gill and the Little People
Plot: Just-fired Darby O’Gill does not want to tell his daughter, Katie, that his position has been taken by a dashing younger man. Then, on his way home, Darby slips through a portal to the land of the little people. There he meets the leprechaun king, Brian, and winds up accidentally bringing the little monarch home with him. Darby then demands Brian grant him three wishes, but the request brings Darby bittersweet, and unexpected, results.
Cast: Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery, Jimmy O’Dea
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
Plot: American businessman Jack Woods rents a cottage on the enchanted Emerald Isle which is occupied by a family of leprechauns. Leprechaun Seamus Muldoon’s son and son’s friends crash the fairies’ costume ball and Muldoon’s son falls in love with fairy Princess Jessica. Their love re-ignites a feud between the leprechauns and the fairies, which escalates into a war. The Grand Banshee warns of terrible consequences and Jack Woods is chosen to make peace. Woods interrupts his own romance with an Irish beauty to help, and becomes involved in a strange and wonderful magical adventure.
Cast: Colm Meany, Whoopi Goldberg, Randy Quaid, Kieran Culkin
Wolfwalkers (Apple TV)
AppleTV+ Wolfwalkers Parents Guide Review
Plot: In Ireland in 1650, the residents of the town of Kilkenny are working to clear the nearby woods under orders from the authoritarian Lord Protector, putting them at odds with a wolf pack who have been terrorising the villagers.
Cast: Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Sean Bean, Simon McBurney
Finian’s Rainbow
Plot: Feisty Irishman Finian McLonergan and his faithful daughter, Sharon, bearing a pot of gold stolen from the leprechaun Og, settle in the village of Rainbow Valley, Missitucky. Siding with local sharecroppers like Woody Mahoney against a blustering, bigoted local politician, the McLonergans get into a number of fanciful scrapes while being pursued by the magical Og, who will become mortal if he doesn’t recover his gold.
Cast: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn
Dwegons and Leprechauns
Plot: A family inherits an old house filled with amazing and colourful magical creatures. An all-singing, all-dancing romp ensues with the wide range of creatures playing a role in bringing the family closer together.
Cast: Joey D. Vieira, Melissa Leo, Thomas Francis Walsh III, Mark Lewis
Brooklyn
Plot: Young Irish immigrant Eilis Lace navigates her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother’s home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her past disrupts her new vivacity, and Eilis must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Brid Brennan
Leap Year
Plot: When yet another anniversary passes without a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Anna decides to take action. Aware of a Celtic tradition that allows women to pop the question on Feb. 29, she plans to follow her lover to Dublin and ask him to marry her. Fate has other plans, however, and Anna winds up on the other side of the Emerald Isle with handsome, but surly, Declan — an Irishman who may just lead Anna down the road to true love.
Cast: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow
The Luck of the Irish
Plot: A teenager named Kyle Johnson must battle for a gold charm to keep his family from being controlled by an evil leprechaun.
Cast: Ryan Merriman, Alexis Lopez, Timothy Omundson
Dancing at Lughnasa
Plot: Kate Mundy is the eldest of five sisters living together in a small house in Ireland in 1936. The only one with a steady job, Kate oversees the various conflicting personalities. Though none of the women is married, Christina has a young son named Michael. The household works well in its fashion, but after the sisters’ addle-minded brother, Jack, shows up, then Michael’s father, Gerry, things are unlikely to stay the same.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Catherine McCormack, Michael Gambon, Rhys Ifans
A Very Unlucky Leprechaun
Plot: A girl moves with her father to a cursed house in Ireland, where she befriends a leprechaun.
Cast: Warwick Davis, Tim Matheson, Stephanie Lombardi
Once
Plot: A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
Cast: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, Bill Hodnett
The Quiet Man
Plot: After accidentally killing an opponent in the ring, boxer Sean Thornton leaves America and returns to his native Ireland, hoping to buy his family’s homestead and live in peace. In doing so, he runs afoul of Will Danaher, who long coveted the property. Spitefully, Will objects when his fiery sister, Mary Kate, begins a romance with Sean, and refuses to hand over her dowry. Mary Kate refuses to consummate the marriage until Sean retrieves the money.
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald
The Last Leprechaun
Plot: Spending the summer in Ireland with their soon-to-be step-mum two children are horrified to find she is a banshee who is planning to destroy the last of the leprechauns.
Cast: Veronica Hamel, David Warner, Jack Scalia, Mick Walter
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Plot: Set during the Irish War of Independence in the early 1920s. Damien, an Irish medical student, is about to leave Ireland to complete his training in London, but before doing so witnesses atrocious brutalities carried out by the Black and Tans which leads him to join his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army. Soon however, the peace treaty is signed, and the brothers are pitted against each other.
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham
Far and Away
Plot: Joseph and his landlord’s daughter, Shannon, travel from Ireland to America in hopes of claiming free land in Oklahoma. The pair get sidetracked in Boston, where Joseph takes up boxing to support himself. When he loses a pivotal fight, the two are left penniless. Now faced with poverty, the two must find new ways to scrape by. As their affection for each other grows, Joseph questions whether he is truly what Shannon needs in her life.
Cast: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Colm Meany
Belfast
Plot: A semi-autobiographical film which chronicles the life of a working class family and their young son’s childhood during the tumult of the late 1960s in the Northern Ireland capital.
Cast: Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jude Hill