How flight of fancy became movie The Sparrow

A feature film shot in Baltimore and Skibbereen will be on theatrical release in Bantry and Clonakilty from this Friday

TEN years ago, Michael Kinirons and Alicia Ní Ghráinne planned a short break in Baltimore – a short escape from city life. They ended up moving in, getting married, and shooting a major feature film there.

The Sparrow is a dramatic film shot in Baltimore with a cast that includes David O’Hara (The Departed, Braveheart), and the likes of rising Cork star Éanna Hardwicke (Normal People), Mark O’Halloran (Adam & Paul), as well as a host of local talent.

Declan McCarthy leads a funeral cortege in a scene from The Sparrow.

The film will be showing in both Clonakilty and Bantry cinemas, as well as Cork city cinemas the Arc and the Omniplex, as well as a host of cinemas nationwide, from Friday July 5th, says writer and director of The Sparrow, Michael Kinirons. ‘We’re delighted to finally get it out to cinemas. It’s a film designed for the cinema experience on the big screen,’ said Michael.

The audience may recognise locations used in the film including Baltimore village, Glebe Gardens, Lough Hyne and Liss Ard Estate. The Sparrow was filmed in Baltimore and surrounds over five weeks, and features some of the hottest acting talent in Ireland.

Director Michael and producer Alicia developed a family atmosphere on set. Small wonder, when they are, of course, husband and wife as well as professional collaborators.

Michael and Alicia’s West Cork tale is a familiar one: they came to Baltimore to stay for a few weeks of relaxation, not work, and ended up calling it home.

‘We moved to Baltimore kind of on a whim,’ explained Michael. ‘It was originally supposed to be for, like, just a couple of months in the summer to do a bit of a change of scenery and we sort of fell in love with the place and never left.’

It was while in Baltimore that Alicia set up production company Tiger Darling in 2016, in order to develop her own short film, The Pike, which would go on to star Sinead Cusack and receive wide acclaim. ‘I set up Tiger Darling because I got sick of not being able to get funding,’ she said. ‘And people in Baltimore supported me 100% – everybody came to the quizzes and raising the money and all that, it was brilliant.’

The next step for the fledgling production company was to produce a feature film. Baltimore and its surrounds then became a well of inspiration for what would become The Sparrow. ‘There was something percolating around my mind for quite a while,’ said Michael. ‘It was only when I moved to West Cork that I responded to the people and the landscape and the idea of a character lying about something really awful that they’d done, and I thought, “okay, that’s where the movie’s at”.’

West Cork then became the inspiration. ‘Every scene was written with a specific location around Baltimore in mind, like Lough Hyne. I’d say 60% to 70% of locations were within 10 minutes of our own house around Baltimore and we shot in Skibbereen as well, places like Spearline, so it was integrally built around West Cork.’

David O'Hara with the clapper board and production crew at Glebe Gardens during filmingo of The Sparrow. (Photo: Molly Keane)

The Sparrow was produced with Irish public investment on a budget of just €1.5m, and was filmed in less than five weeks – a huge task to make a film in such a turnaround, and on such a tight budget. Even tougher when key scenes take place on the water, at Lough Hyne.

‘It’s really hard to make anything like that in five weeks, and then when you take in the waterwork involved, it’s even harder,’ said Michael. ‘When you’re watching a film on the water you’re looking at two people in a boat but what you mightn’t realise is that you’ve got five boats behind the cameras, two safety boats, divers, make-up and hair in their own boat. It’s a huge, proper production and Alicia and line producer Sinead Barry did a great job.’

‘People are very helpful but it’s not easy,’ said Alicia. ‘Shooting in summer is difficult anywhere but in one of the most beautiful places in Ireland is extra difficult but the community helped make it work and we got the spots. We were very lucky.’

Behind the scenes in the boatyard during production of The Sparrow in Baltimore. (Photo: Conor Horgan)

The generosity of the local community was another priceless aid, with Michael and Alicia having lived in the community for years at that stage. ‘We had moved to West Cork in 2014 and we got married here in 2016, in the castle, in for a pint in Bushe’s, then Kevin Cadogan gave us an old gold Jaguar, and we were off to the West Cork Hotel, and had a party in the old printworks.’

That local knowledge meant they had great local help for the movie – from Barry Looney in the West Cork Hotel, to the Fields, to Jim Griffiths.

Indeed, even The Southern Star got on board, producing a special edition of the paper with a fictional front page for the movie. The film featured plenty of West Cork acting talents, including Abhainn Harrington, Jaiden Ordish, Fiachna O’Donnell, Declan McCarthy, and Kevin Cadogan.

The film was produced before the formation of West Cork Film Studios, but the production crew employed the talents of many local residents, including Martin Goulding, Evelyn McLoughlin, Melanie Froud, Roisín Little, Mark O’Mahony, Molly O’Mahony, Stephen Park, Robert Collender, Jerry Smith, Nathan Timmins, Aodh O’Donnell, Rory Dalton and Séamus Griffith. ‘We planned all these locations around the house and that everything would be contained. We didn’t factor in that all the crew knew where you lived and could knock up at any time or day or morning. People would be popping up for cups of tea and then you’re the host for everybody!’ laughs Michael.

‘Shooting that local, our house was the middle ground and the whole atmosphere was amazing. I’ve heard from crew it was one of their favourite projects that they have worked on. We had a family atmosphere, for sure,’ said Alicia. Three years after filming, The Sparrow is getting its general release in Irish cinemas, with Clonakilty and Bantry offering the opportunity to catch a major film shot locally on the big screen.

It’s also a chance to see breakout talents like Eanna Hardwicke and Ollie West on the big screen before they hit the next level of stardom (Ollie West will be on BBC’s upcoming series The Listeners).

Éanna Hardwicke and Ollie West in The Sparrow.

Family circumstance has meant that Michael and Alicia have left West Cork for now, to be closer to their parents, and both have major projects internationally in the pipeline, including another psychological thriller with the working title Anima. But returning to live and work in West Cork remains on the horizon, while they also see a bright future for West Cork Film Studios.

Michael and Alicia already continued to keep West Cork as the base for their own production company Tiger Darling. ‘The company is based in West Cork, we have an employee now in Ballydehob. And we are hoping to get back down there to work again,’ says Alicia.

‘We also have a TV series set between West Cork and Dublin which we are trying to get off the ground. It’s called Person of Interest, a crime thriller,’ said Michael.

And there are hopes that the Irish theatrical release of The Sparrow will help the movie spread its wings and get a further international release.

‘It would be great if the Bantry and Clonakilty communities come out and support the film,’ said Michael.

• The Sparrow is at the Clonakilty Park Cinema and the Bantry Cineplex from July 5th. It is also on national release in cinemas including the Omniplex Mahon Point and the Arc in Cork city.