Interwar · Film · 2006
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Two brothers in County Cork take up arms against British rule, only to discover that winning a treaty can divide them more than the war did.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: County Cork
Key location
After British troops kill a young man in his village, medical student Damien gives up a job in London to join his brother's IRA flying column.
Stop 2: County Cork in the civil war
The treaty splits the column, and the two brothers end up wearing different uniforms in the same valleys.
What really happened
The Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) pitted the IRA's guerrilla flying columns against the Royal Irish Constabulary, the British Army and the hated Black and Tans and Auxiliaries, who answered ambushes with reprisals and house burnings. County Cork saw some of the fiercest fighting, including the Kilmichael ambush of November 1920, and about 2,000 people died across Ireland before the truce of July 1921.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 created the Irish Free State but kept an oath to the Crown and partition, splitting the republicans. The civil war that followed (June 1922-May 1923) set former comrades against each other. The O'Donovan brothers are fictional; the film won the Palme d'Or, and some British critics accused it of a one-sided portrait of the Crown forces.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- The Wind That Shakes the Barley
- Directed by
- Ken Loach
- Countries
- Ireland, United Kingdom
- Languages
- English, Irish
- Released
- 2006
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Civil war
- Resistance
- Combat
