Beyond the island

The Banshees of Inisherin sees the return of one of cinema's most iconic duos – Brendan Gleeson and Collin Farrell. Their relationship on the fictional island on Inisherin, however, is a far cry from their formidable bond in In Bruges (also directed by Martin McDonagh). The story centres on the tale of an abrupt breakup of friendship between Colm Doherty, played by Gleeson, and Pádraic Súilleabháin, played by Farrell [pictured at the UK premiere]. Set in 1920's Ireland, the escalating dispute between Colm and Pádraic provides a suitable allegory of the backdrop of the Irish civil war, in which previous allies and friends eviscerate each other, over the pursuit of dreams.

The opening scenes of Inisherin's green and tranquil surroundings are the backdrop to what is a troubling and often disturbingly violent tale. The story begins when Colm terminates his friendship with Pádraic during their routine two o'clock visit to the pub. Colm is a songwriter and musician. He is seen as talented and clever locally, and presents himself as deep, thinking, sophisticated man. His cottage is adorned with artistic paraphernalia, presumably collected from wider travels off the small and remote island where the film's action is centred. Pádraic, the other half of the friendship duo, is a very different character. Content with his lot in life, he finds comfort in routine, takes life as he finds it, treating others and his animals with care. He has a particular soft spot for his miniature donkey Jenny.

The name  Súilleabháin means one eyed in Irish, presumably an aptronym. Pádraic lacks the depth and perspective on the situation he finds himself in. He is too one dimensional, as Colm sees it, to be his friend. Colm's ambition is to create a musical legacy rather than to waste his time chatting with the 'dull' Pádraic. As the story plays out it becomes clear that Pádraic is baffled by the way he is dropped in this small community, where everyone knows there has been a falling out. Avoiding Colm is impossible: people live cheek by jowl in rural Ireland and island communities in particular. The breakup is very different to the way in which most friendships disintegrate in urban areas. They tend to fizzle out, rather than ending with the strange and ominous thud this film delivers.          

The film's stunning visuals capture the paradox of rural Ireland – beautiful yet hauntingly isolated, strong communities that both enrich and diminish life in equal measure. The end of his friendship with Colm means that Pádraic comes to understand the loneliness of life on Inisherin. Jenny the loyal donkey and his other animals play their part in keeping his newfound loneliness at bay. He has his sister Siobhan, played brilliantly by Kerry Condon. They still live in the family home and appear, in some respects, infantilised. Siobhan is lonely and longing for something more. She is well-read and wise, though belittled and snubbed for her inability to find a husband. Dominic (Barry Keoghan) offers a poignant performance as a young man characterised as the island's idiot (yet often on hand with a refreshingly straightforward take on events). They both dream of a way out of Inisherin.

Colm admits some of the dispute with Pádraic is an attempt to buffer against the boredom of island life. But his treatment of Pádraic is abusive. He creates a monster of sorts, someone who is both hostile and aggressive. By the end the relationship is more equitable, if still dysfunctional. Any student of Irish history watching will of course wonder, given the films context, whether this represents the relationship between Britain and Ireland. Britain, the more powerful actor before Irish independence and the civil war, responded to the Irish 1916 rising with the execution of all its leaders. At the time the British Army had many Irish in its ranks fighting for the independence of small nations in World War I. Historically, this execution of the Irish leaders can be seen as a British act that ultimately mutilated the Union of Britain and Ireland. And certainly we know that treatment of people, groups, and their leaders in this way can result in marked change in sentiment and political relations in Ireland (Bew, 1998).

We cannot be sure Colm has the makings of a great man or musician. There is evidence of missteps. His eventual actions, as well as being in keeping with great artists like van Gogh, are also an excellent excuse for him to cease playing. For Colm this dispute and its fallout always had the power to disguise his inevitable fall. And there is no doubt that this dispute and much of the commentary the movie offers is symbolic. As we watched, perhaps because of our own interest in Brexit (Shelly & Muldoon, 2022), we were struck by the ongoing damage a powerful party like Britain can continue to impose for symbolic reasons on both itself and relations across Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

As the story unfolds and Pádraic and Colm's friendship descends into all out hostility on Inisherin, the Irish Civil War is playing out on the mainland. From time to time, the islanders can see explosions and fires erupting in the distance. The parallels to be drawn here are clear. First, the damage Colm and Pádraic inflict upon themselves during their dispute is disproportionate. Colm doesn't want to speak to Pádraic, he wants to write music and live a solitary life: hardly a basis for the hostility that was unleashed. The same could be said of the Irish civil war. During the Irish civil war, the Irish Free State government executed more of their own people, the anti-Treaty Irish Republic Army, than the British did (Kissane, 2021). The casualties were too high, and families and politics have been riven for 100 years since.  

A second parallel is that Pádraic and Colm see their dispute as something from which they will not be able to move on. Pádraic cannot return to the man he was before their conflict, or forget the pain Colm inflicted. Colm appears better able to move on. This resonates with much of we know from social psychology. Generally, the powerful are ignorant of the cost of their behaviour, the powerless are much more affected by their treatment leaving them very mindful of their disadvantage (Muldoon et al., 2021).  

There is another parallel too. Colm and Pádraic's concerns dominate the narrative of the movie in the same way as civil war politics has dominated Irish life. Whilst the row between Colm and Pádraic is island 'news', Dominic and Siobhan's issues are secondary. Indeed, sometimes they are even denigrated and belittled. The lack of concern draws a bleak parallel to the marginalisation of issues concerning women and young people in Ireland. The spotlight was drawn away from the way in which power was abused and women and children were abused by the powerful in favour of self-mutilating politics. 

So though on the face of it the film offers a straightforward plot, it leaves you with the sense that it is alluding to something greater beyond the island of Inisherin. Perhaps it is a commentary on the ongoing dysfunction at the heart of British Irish relations, within Ireland or between male 'friends' . The cast, the animals, the costumes, the scenery, the accents are tangibly authentic. This is Ireland portrayed as it is, with charm and grit. It is a movie that will stay with us.

- Professor Orla Muldoon is Founding Professor of Psychology and Director, Centre for Social Issues Research, University of Limerick

- Catriona Shelly is a psychology PhD student at the University of Limerick, an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholar, and member of the Centre for Social Issues Research.

References

Bew, P. (1998). Ideology and the Irish Question: Ulster Unionism and Irish Nationalism 1912–1916.

Kissane, B. (2021). The Geographical Spread of State Executions during the Irish Civil War, 1922–23. Social Science History, 45(1), 165-186.  

Muldoon, O. T., Lowe, R. D., Jetten, J., Cruwys, T., & Haslam, S. A. (2021). Personal and political: Post‐traumatic stress through the lens of social identity, power, and politics. Political Psychology, 42(3), 501-533.

Muldoon, O. T., Haslam, S. A., Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Kearns, M., & Jetten, J. (2019). The social psychology of responses to trauma: Social identity pathways associated with divergent traumatic responses. European Review of Social Psychology, 30(1), 311-348.

Shelly, C., & Muldoon, O. (2022). The damages of Brexit in Northern Ireland. The Psychologist, 35, 24-27.