Eanna MacLiam

After a chance encounter, a Dubliner is stalked by a murderous facsimile of himself.

No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

Sharon Curley is a 20-year-old living with her parents and many brothers and sisters in Dublin. When she gets pregnant and refuses to name the father, she becomes the talk of the town.

The hot-tempered, unruly players of this pub league soccer team are in dire straits after having lost everything -- their drive, their skills and soon, their playing field. When mysterious Walter Keegan shows up offering to be their coach, captain Bubbles and the rest of his loopy, obnoxious teammates are so desperate to succeed, they agree to give him the job. Drilled into the ground with a fierce discipline they have never known, the team pushes beyond their aches and pains to gain not only redemption on the field, but more importantly, their self-respect.

The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.

The thriller Boxed addresses the little-known fact that the Irish Republican Army would bring in sympathetic priests to administer last rites to those they were about to execute. The film analyzes the fallout that occurs when one of these priests ha a change of heart, deciding to fight for the life of the captive. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.

Jimmy Rabbitte, just a tick out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.

Fatso is the proprietor of what may be the worst eaterie in the city, and is struggling to keep a sinking ship afloat. His compulsive gambling is getting the better of him and he has to contend with an endless succession of loan sharks and debt collectors. He employs hopelessly incompetent staff and generally manages to keep the entire community around him ticking over. However just as Fatso seems to be getting everything under control, he is faced with a dilemma that could destroy him for good.

The growing relationship of two people who travel through Ireland in a series of stolen cars.

Brendan is a janitor at a university who has a fondness for gambling, especially betting on horse races. However, he doesn't have much skill at it, and poorly considered bets have drained the bank account he'd set aside for his daughter's education. Brendan's wife has made Brendan promise to give up gambling, but when their daughter announces she's just been accepted to Trinity College in Ireland, Brendan has to come up with the tuition money, and fast. While doing his sweeping at work, Brendan makes a remarkable discovery - the preserved head of an aboriginal tribesman who, under proper conditions, can pick the winners in horse races.