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Legend of the Leprechauns

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns is a 1999 Hallmark Entertainment made-for-TV fantasy movie. It stars Randy Quaid, Colm Meaney, Kieran Culkin, Roger Daltrey and Whoopi Goldberg. The film contains two main stories that eventually intertwine: the first being the story of an American businessman who visits Ireland and encounters magical leprechauns, the second being the story of a pair of star-crossed lovers who happen to be a fairy and a leprechaun, belonging to opposing sides of a magical war.

The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns – Based on the Irish folk tale characters of leprechauns and fairies, this imaginative two-part made for TV miniseries was produced by Hallmark for the NBC network in 1999.

The story follows an American businessman Jack Woods (Randy Quaid) who has come to the Emerald Isle with a hidden agenda. He wants to develop a large chunk of pristine land in the Irish countryside into a golf course. But low and behold, when he takes up residence in one of the small cottages on the land, he discovers it is inhabited by none other than a leprechaun and his wife.

Colm Meaney (of Star Trek Fame) plays Seamus Muldoon, the red-bearded leprechaun whom Jack Woods rescued from the water (Leprechauns hate water) and so was beholding to his benefactor.

The story becomes complicated when Jack falls in love with Kathleen Fitzpatrick, a local raven-haired beauty who spends her time caring for her grown brothers, who can’t seem to make a decision on the own.

At its core, the miniseries combines the romantic sentiment of classic movie The Quiet Man (1952) starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara with the dynamic story of forbidden love found in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. All in all, the movie is a gentle, fun frolic, filled with Irish history, folklore and lush green countryside. It’s well worth a look see.

A beautiful story, that captures the legends of Leprechauns with a touch of innocence. Even though this movie is now over 10 years old, it will provide hours of timeless entertainment for you, your children and family. 5 Golden Stars from CelticRadio.net:

Picture Gallery from the Movie: The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns:

Tags: Children, Culture, Irish, Legends, Movie, St. Patrick's Day
Posted in Celtic, DVD Review | No Comments »

The Secret of Roan Inish

Monday, January 18th, 2010

The Secret of Roan Inish is an American independent film written and directed by John Sayles, and released in 1994. It’s based on the novel The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry. It is centered on the Irish and Orcadian folklores of selkies—seals that can shed their skins to become human. The story, set on the west coast of Ireland, is about Fiona, a young girl who is sent to live with her grandparents near the island of Roan Inish, where the selkies are rumored to reside. It is an old family legend that her younger brother was swept away in his infancy and raised by a selkie. Part of the film takes place in Donegal. The movie has been widely praised for its uniqueness and its breathtaking cinematography filmed by Haskell Wexler.

The story is told from the point-of-view of Fiona — played by Jeni Courtney — a young girl who is sent to live with her grandparents in an Irish fishing village. Her grandfather weaves tall tales about the family’s evacuation from their home on the tiny island of Roan Inish and his great-great grandfather, who once cheated death at the hands of the sea. As she meets other villagers, Fiona hears more personal stories about an ancestor who married a beautiful, part-human/part-seal, and more about how the sea stole her baby brother during the departure from Roan Inish. Later, Fiona believes that she has found Jamie romping in the grass on Roan Inish, and she must convince the family of her vision.

Although in the original novel the story takes place in Sotland, the filmmakers decided to have the film take place in Ireland for practical reasons. Critic Stephen Holden, of The New York Times, liked the film’s direction. He wrote, “The Secret of Roan Inish is the first film directed by Mr. Sayles that could be described as visually rhapsodic. Photographed by Haskell Wexler on Ireland’s rugged northwestern seacoast, it is a cinematic tone poem in which man and nature, myth and reality flow together in a way that makes them ultimately indivisible.

A beautiful story, that captures the selkie legend with a touch of innocence. 5 Golden Stars from CelticRadio.net: