CAHIR CASTLE, located in Tipperary, has won the European Film Commissions Network Location (EUFCN) Award 2021, which recognises the best locations for filming TV and film.
The castle was the location for filming for The Green Knight, an Amazon Prime Video film which tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur's reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men.
During the first stage of the competition, EUFCN member film commissions had the opportunity to submit one location from a film or a TV series shot in their country and released between 21 September 2020 and 11 September 2021.
The EUFCN Location Award Jury evaluated all submissions, focusing on the significant role of the location in the story and its innovative use inside the audiovisual product.
The four other shortlisted locations include Norway for the film Dune, Spain for Netflix's The Crown, Croatia for Murina and Germany for The Queen's Gambit.
One of Ireland’s largest and best-preserved historic castles, Cahir Castle has captured the imagination of multiple filmmakers over the past decades. In The Green Knight the 13th-century fortress features as the Camelot of Arthurian legend, a role it has starred in before in the 1981 film Excalibur.
"I am delighted that Cahir Castle has won the EUFCN Location Award, which spotlights one of Ireland’s most iconic filming locations and is a recognition of Irish crew’s work on The Green Knight, one of the many international productions that chose Ireland as its home," said Steven Davenport, Head of US Production and Partnerships at Screen Ireland.
"The collaboration between state agencies like Screen Ireland and the OPW enables film and television productions, both national and international, to benefit from the breath-taking range of filming locations across Ireland and bring them to life on screen."
The Location Award plaque was received by Eleanor Morrissey, Site Manager at Cahir Castle.
"All of us working in Cahir Castle and in the Office of Public Works are immensely honoured and very proud to win this award that acknowledges how special this fortress is not only in Ireland but in Europe," says she said.
"Anybody who has visited it will easily see how its impressive battlements rising above the River Suir make it a dream location for internationally acclaimed fantasy films such as last year’s The Green Knight or The Last Duel. I want to thank all the people who voted for our site to win the EUFCN Location Award 2021. The team and I are delighted to be able to welcome one lucky winner who participated in the voting to Cahir Castle soon."
