My upbringing in Cork pub helped my film role

Báite is a new Irish-language film set in the 1970s in a rural community that is shaken following the discovery of a body.

Directed by Ruan Magan and written by Sheena Lambert, based on her novel, the film stars Moe Dunford as Detective Sergeant Frank Ryan, who is sent from Dublin to investigate the circumstances of the death.

While the film examines the aftermath of the body’s discovery, it centres on Peggy (Eleanor O’Brien), a young pub owner fighting to keep her family pub in the West of Ireland.

Dunford, who is from Waterford and lived for several years in Cork, says he was drawn to the script’s exploration of change.

“I love that it was set in the 1970s, a changing time in Ireland,” he said.

“I liked how Frank, who’s trying to get away from the more modernised Ireland, slowly becomes interested in being part of the small town community. I love the family dynamics of Peggy running the pub.

“There was such richness about a changing Ireland, set against the backdrop of Peggy and her struggle to keep her family pub and her place in life.”

Despite not being a Gaeilgeoir, Dunford was keen to meet the film’s director, Ruan Magan, and take on the challenge of the role.

“I got an offer to meet Ruan, and I was very excited, but then I was told that it’s in Gaeilge and my Irish wasn’t up to scratch,” said Dunford.

“We met anyway. I got to read a bit of the script, and from the parts I could make out, I really enjoyed that it was set in a rural town with a sense of community and of trying to uncover the truth.”

Magan is a renowned Gaeilgeoir, but Dunford said the director was keen to mix actors with varying levels of Irish and to support them regardless of their ability.

“There were actors from all over Ireland, with varying degrees of fluency and different dialects: Connemara, Waterford, Dingle, Cork (the film also stars Cork’s Denis Conway), Dublin.

“This made it easier to join the cast, rather than if all the actors had been fluent.”

Dunford reached out to his secondary school Irish teacher to help him reconnect with the language.

“I love that Frank is described as having just passed his Irish exam to get into the Gardaí. I didn’t want to play him that way, but it helped take the pressure off, so I brushed up with the help of my old Irish teacher.

“It was great to feel the challenge. I’m Irish, it’s already there, and I’ve always wanted to do an Irish language movie.”

For Dunford, whose career has ranged from The Vikings to The Dry and his break-out role in St Patrick’s Day, it was also an opportunity to connect with stories set outside of Dublin.

“I always wanted to work in the West,” he said.

“I’ve been wanting to make more rural stories; stories set outside of Dublin city centre.

“I have nothing against Dublin; I live here now, and I love the city, but there’s a certain reality and Irishness you don’t get in Dublin-centric stories, which you find on the outskirts.

“It meant a lot to tell stories in our language and about a changing Ireland, and I thought Báite was a really good one to do.”

Like the main character, Peggy, Dunford understands pub life firsthand. Although he was born and educated in Waterford, he spent several formative years in Cork after his family bought a pub in Ladysbridge.

“Although I still went to school in Dungarvan, I grew up in a pub my mum and dad bought in Ladysbridge,” he said.

“There were lots of elements of pub life in the film that I understood, like Peggy holding down the pub, the local in the corner who is the staff’s favourite, and the small gestures and salutes between the staff and the customers.

“The music and the singing, even the children being hoisted up onto the bar by their father while he was drinking, and everyone watching the match.

“I have those memories of growing up, and the script captured that element of community and Irishness, which is very important.”

In the film, as the truth about the body stirs old emotions in the village, it is up to Peggy to hold the community together through her loyalty to her customers.

Dunford says growing up in a pub gives you a real sense of what it is to be part of a community.

“You get a great sense of things inside a pub. You meet interesting characters.

“I watched Eleanor as Peggy and saw how comfortable she was behind the bar. If there was anything wrong with the pub, you could see it in how she picked up the cloth or pulled a pint.

“There’s something very Irish and effortless about how she’s the matriarch of the place, holding down the fort.

“I found that really impressive and truly representative of Irish rural life.”

The film is Magan’s feature directorial debut, although he has made several successful documentaries. Dunford says he easily adapted to the demands of narrative work.

“His background in Irish history and his love of nature really added to his sense of the era and community.

“When we started shooting, there was a full moon, and on the last day, there was an aurora borealis. It made it extra special.

“Ruan loved the feeling of setting and place, and that there’s something unearthed about Peggy and Frank.

“There’s a connection, a chance for them to help each other find themselves or start again.

“I loved Ruan’s understanding of the character Frank and Sheena’s writing.”

Báite opened in cinemas on March 6, cert: 12a