For viewers who may be scratching their heads over some of the main characters' actions, or the meaning of the title, a quick look at Irish history can help explain some of these elements. The Banshees of Inisherin takes place in 1923, during the Irish Civil War.
Is Banshees of Inisherin an allegory for the Irish Civil War?
Some theorized that Colm and Pádraic's conflict is a metaphor for the Irish civil war. This would make sense as neighbor turned on neighbor without warning during the war. There was some mention of a military conflict throughout the film, so McDonagh might've been leading the audience in that direction.
The message of the film is the downfall of culture and the way loss can destroy someone. With the two leads serving as metaphors for the Irish as a nation, the message of the film can be read as a cautionary tale.
The argument was made as part of a general critique of the film's hammed up Irishness: its seeming delivery of a barrage of stock tropes, stereotypes, and visual motifs that, from its opening scenes, screams: “Hold on to your flat caps… Here comes Ireland”.
What is the historical context of The Banshees of Inisherin?
The Banshees of Inisherin is set in 1923 and foils as a cutting metaphor for the Irish Civil War. Conflict was everywhere. Even Michael Collins, a hero of the Irish War of Independence (see also the film adaptation of his story), found himself at odds with many of his countrymen during the subsequent Civil War.
The War Allegory in The Banshees of Inisherin Explained
Does Colm represent the IRA?
In one way, the growing animosity between Colm and Pádraic directly mirrors the Irish Civil War, where it can be argued that Pádraic represents the Free State forces and the self-sabotaging Colm is akin to the IRA.
The film begins, however, with Colm refusing to speak to Pádraic. Eventually, Colm tells Pádraic that he simply doesn't like him anymore. The root of that dislike comes from their difference in intellect and interests. Colm is a fiddler and composer, introspective and artistic.
Why did he cut off his fingers in The Banshees of Inisherin?
With Colm, though, there's an added layer of pathos: He's an accomplished fiddler and composer. By cutting his fingers off, Colm sacrifices a core part of his identity and the main source of meaning in his life—and he makes sure the entire island knows that it's Pádraic's fault.
What is the purpose of the old woman in The Banshees of Inisherin?
In The Banshees of Inisherin, there's no literal banshee, but it's clear that's the role that Mrs. McCormick, the pipe-smoking old woman that Pádraic avoids like the plague, plays in the village. Her dark forebodings suggest death is on the horizon — literally, on the horizon they can see.
Is The Banshees of Inisherin based on a true story?
The island town featured in The Banshees of Inisherin may be fictional, but the locations around Ireland where it was filmed are beautifully real — and very visitable.
The Irish Civil War (Irish: Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire.
Possibly the most notable of these men were Irish-born Michael Corcoran (b. 1827), killed in 1863 after the battle at Gettysburg when his horse fell on him, and Thomas Francis Meagher (b. 1823), who drowned shortly after the war in 1867.
Barry Keoghan, who plays a youth possibly on the autism spectrum, is terrific as Dominic. It is he who is sharper (and kinder) about life's fallacies, accepting the bad hand he has been dealt by gods of fate.
Colm has a choice — he can easily leave the house before Pádraic sets it ablaze. But he won't. As he told the priest, he doesn't intend to deal with his despair by embracing suicide. But that doesn't mean he can't wait for something to come along to kill him.
McCormick (again: definitely, definitely not the titular banshee) leads him to the lake, only to find Dominic's washed-up corpse, having apparently killed himself in the wake of Peadar's unrelenting violence.
The protagonist, Pádraic, is a young cow herder who lives with his sister, Siobhán, on Inisherin, a remote island off the coast of Ireland. He is devastated and confused upon unexpectedly learning that his best friend, Colm, doesn't want to speak to him anymore.
He seems to be living an average life until he goes to have a drink at the pub with his best friend Colm, played by Brendan Gleeson, who seemingly ignores him. Upon pushing for more information, Colm eventually tells Padraic that he simply doesn't like him anymore and doesn't want to be friends.
What year does The Banshees of Inisherin take place?
Plot. The setting is year 1923 on an island, that also is a place of fiction (or not real); The island is on the Irish west coast; A farmer (Colin Farrell) lives there in a simple house with his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon); They have two cows and a small donkey.
In April 1922, however, republican forces took over the Four Courts building in Dublin. Collins, whose pro-treaty allies had just won a majority of seats in the first elections in the Free State, ordered an attack in June on the Four Courts. This was the start of the civil war.
The Irish Civil War (28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire.
