Gleeson, who is extremely skilled on the violin, joined fellow musicians Dirk Powell, Michael McGoldrick and Francis Gaffney as they played all over the country, including locally at Birr Theatre, Co. Offaly, where we managed to grab a brief interview with the actor.

 

Probably most recognised for his role in the ‘Harry Potter’ Franchise and box office hits suchs as ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘Braveheart’, the three-time Golden Globe nominee also starred in short film ‘Noreen’ directed by his eldest son Domhnall in 2010.

 

Domhnall’s script for ‘Noreen’ won the FilmOffaly bursary award, which encourages emerging filmmakers by investing in their ideas whilst bringing more filming opportunities to the Offaly area. The film follows two Irish police officers as they try to solve a local death – chaos, naturally ensueing – and stars Brendan along side another of his sons, Brian.

 

The film was shot entirely in Offaly shortly after Gleeson wrapped on 2011’s ‘The Guard’ which also saw him playing an Irish policeman. During the interview, he describes the differences between the two characters psyches and how it was working with his family on ‘Noreen’.

 

The main focus of the interview however, was Offaly itself. Brendan went on to tell us how much he enjoys the varied landscapes the county has to offer, as well as how important the FilmOffaly bursary is in developing upcoming talent.

 

Find out more about what he had to say regarding Offaly and his time on the set of ‘Noreen’ below.