Offaly man involved in writing Irish famine epic 'Black 47'

Renowned Offaly playwright Eugene O'Brien was involved with the writing of acclaimed famine epic Black 47, currently screening in cinemas around the world. 

The Edenderry man, famed for his many award-winning plays, including Eden and hit RTE TV series Pure Mule, is listed as a writer of the screenplay for the famine feature film. 

Black 47 is directed by Lance Daly and stars Hugo Weaving, James Frecheville, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Rea, Freddie Fox, Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford, and Sarah Greene.

The movie takes its name from the most devastating year of the Great Irish Famine, 1847, which is referred to as Black '47 in the history books.

The film is an adaptation of the 2008 Irish language short film An Ranger which was written and directed by P.J. Dillon and Pierce Ryan

Both men co-wrote the screenplay for Black '47 with O'Brien and director Lance Daly. The film was released in cinemas in Ireland last week having received its premiere at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.

It has received largely positive reviews as a film that goes where no film has gone before, especially in such a largescale production.

When released in cinemas in Ireland on September 7, Black 47 became the highest-grossing film across the island for 2018 taking in €444,000 in its first weekend at the box office, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend since the 2015 total of Brooklyn starring Saoirse Ronan.