Galway actor lands star role in new film on War of Independence

Lifestyle – Judy Murphy meets Galway actor Tara Breathnach who has graduated from TV soaps to  the big screen in Nightingale Falling

Money can buy you many things, but goodwill and support are not necessarily among them.  However, goodwill and support were demonstrated by the bucketful when the independent film, A Nightingale Falling, was shot with almost no money last year in Offaly.

A Nightingale Falling, which lists Galway actress Tara Breathnach among its stars, goes on nationwide release this Friday, having already wowed audiences at Galway Film Fleadh and at last week’s inaugural Sky Road Film Festival in Clifden, where it was named best film. But none of it could have happened without extraordinary support and backing from local people in Offaly, who did everything from controlling traffic to supplying extras for the drama, according to Tara.

She’s had a whirlwind couple of weeks, attending the Clifden premiere as well as one in Offaly. The Spiddal-based actor also travelled to London where she was working on a two-day shoot for the BBC soap, Holby City, where she had a guest role.

But she is not complaining. Far from it. Tara, who is originally from Knocknacarra, has made a deliberate decision to base herself in the West of Ireland, and is happy to commute to Dublin, London or elsewhere when work demands it.

She will be best known to audiences locally as the devious Tina from TG4’s Ros na Rún, a role she played until a year and a half ago, when she was written out of the series.

“The thought of leaving was terrifying, but at the back of my mind I’d been wondering about going,” she says.

However, left to her own devices, Tara would have been reluctant to leave the safe environs of the Irish-language drama, so “being pushed was good”, she adds with a laugh.

Since then, she has played Ann Boleyn in a BBC docu-drama series and her most recent BBC work was with Holby City, playing a guest character who may return.

Tara has also found theatre work in London, and was understudy for Dervla Kirwan in the West End’s staging of Conor McPherson’s highly acclaimed play, The Weir, recently. Unfortunately for Tara, Dervla was in rude good health for the duration.

Closer to home, Tara landed the role of May Colingwood in A Nightingale Falling after fellow actor Muireann Bird saw her in a play at Dublin’s Focus Theatre last year. Muireann had been cast in the film, set during the Irish War of Independence and based on the novel by Clare writer and musician PJ Curtis.

Muireann and Tara both knew about each other from Galway but had never worked together, although both moved in the same professional circles.

“We had both worked on the Jack Taylor series [the TV3 adaptation of Ken Bruen’s detective books] but not on the same episodes,” says Tara.

After seeing Tara on stage, Muireann advised her to email a CV to the film’s co-producer Garret Daly, which the Galway actress duly did. That was in April. The film was due to start shooting in June, but the producers had not found anyone suitable for the role of May until Tara came along.

A Nightingale Falling was mostly shot in Daingean, Co Offaly, as well as in Tyrrellspass, Co Westmeath. Daingean was a perfect location for a period film thanks to its old buildings, including a barracks, courthouse, industrial school and a residence which provided the ideal backdrop for this historic drama, set during the War of Independence.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.