The Field in Leenaun
The village at the head of the fjord is the one you have seen if you have seen The Field. Jim Sheridan shot his 1990 film of John B. Keane's play almost entirely in Leenaun, with Richard Harris as Bull McCabe, the farmer who will kill for a rented field, John Hurt as the Bird, Sean Bean as his son Tadhg, Brenda Fricker and Tom Berenger. Harris was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
The story
The film is set in the early 1930s. It opens with Bull McCabe dumping a dead donkey in a lake; his son has killed it for breaking into the field the family has rented for generations, and the donkey's owner blames Bull and demands blood money. The play was written in 1965.
Around the village
Just across the county line at Aasleagh Bridge, the River Erriff drops over Aasleagh Falls, Eas Liath, the grey waterfall, before entering Killary; the river, formed by the Owenree and Owenmore in Glennacally and running beside the N59, is a salmon and trout spate fishery. The Killary Harbour guide covers the fjord itself, and the pubs and hotels of Leenaun are on the model.
Questions people ask
Where was The Field filmed?
Who starred in The Field?
Where is Aasleagh Falls?
Written from Wikipedia, "The Field (1990 film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.