20 Best Irish Mafia Movies Of All Time
The Irish Mafia has long been a fascination for filmgoers, with its reputation for violence, loyalty, and organized crime. From the gritty streets of New York City to the lush countryside of Ireland, these films offer a glimpse into the world of the Irish Mafia and the complex characters that inhabit it. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at some of the best Irish Mafia movies of all time.
From classic gangster films to modern takes on the genre, these movies showcase the best of the Irish Mafia on the big screen. So grab a pint of Guinness and settle in, because we’re about to dive into the top Irish Mafia movies of all time.
The Departed (2006)
As the police struggle to maintain control over an area ruled by the powerful Irish Mafia, their superiors consider the possibility of infiltrating the mafia ranks – or the net they are trying to tighten around the mafia may completely loosen. Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) is a young police officer trying to gain respect among the forces of order. Collin Sullivan (Damon) is a criminal who successfully infiltrated the police with only one intention – to inform his ruthless leader, Frank Costello (Nicholson), of every move they make.
When Costigan is given the task of forging a path to Costello’s carefully guarded inner circle, Sullivan must find an informant before things get out of control. As the stakes continue to rise and time runs out for the undercover police officer and his villainous counterpart, each of them must frantically work to uncover the other before their own identity is revealed.
A History of Violence (2005)
In the peaceful town of Millbrook, Indiana, the peaceful man Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen), owner of a popular local diner, enjoys a family life with his beloved wife Edie (Maria Bello) and their two children. However, his life is turned upside down when he kills two assailants who threatened the life of Tom’s employee with incredible skill and cold blood.
Tom becomes a local hero and ends up on the front pages of newspapers and in the prime time slots of news programs. Very soon, the mafia member Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) appears in Millbrook, calling Tom by the name Joey Cusack, claiming to know him from a past in which he was a hired killer. Tom tries to ignore this, but Carl and his men attack his family, forcing him to defend them. It seems that Tom does indeed hide a secret from the past.
Kill the Irishman (2011)
During the summer of 1976, Cleveland is shaken by explosions. There is a fierce struggle for supremacy between gangster Danny Greene and the Italian mafia led by Leo Moceri, known as Mouth, and John Nardi. Originally an Irishman, Greene was once a simple dock worker from a poor neighborhood, but over time he became a dangerous gangster.
Using the owner of a nightclub and a greenskeeper, Alex “Shondora” Birns, and making a pact with Nardi, Greene stopped carrying out mafia orders and became a solo player in the fight for influence…
The Road to Perdition (2002)
Michael Sullivan (T. Hanks) is a hired hand of Irish mafia boss John Rooney (P. Newman) who loves him almost like a son and trusts him more than his own son Connor (D. Craig). Everything changes when Sullivan’s younger son Michael (T. Hoechlin) becomes a witness to a murder committed by Connor in the presence of his father.
In order to get rid of the witness, Connor kills Sullivan’s son (but not the witness, but by mistake his brother) and wife. Sullivan flees with younger Michael and tries to first seek protection and justice from Chicago boss Frank Nitti, but soon realizes that he has also sent a hired killer after him, the diabolical photographer Maguire (J. Law)…
Gangs of New York (2002)
Five Points is a notorious part of old New York. It is ruled by gangs and the streets are often the site of bloody clashes between natives and newcomers. The most powerful are the Irish immigrants, the Dead Rabbits, led by the charismatic leader Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson). In a bloody street battle, the notorious native leader William Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), known as Bill the Butcher, kills Priest and takes over the streets of New York.
Followed by years of his ruthless rule. But he does not suspect that his life will soon be threatened by young Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) who will do everything to avenge his father Priest’s death. With the help of Bill’s protegee, a skilled street thief, Amsterdam mercilessly claws his way towards his goal, trying to preserve his own soul…
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Two brothers, Connor McManus (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy McManus (Norman Reedus), accidentally kill a mafia member. Believing that this is a divine sign and that it is their duty to destroy evil, they begin to eliminate one mafia member at a time.
FBI Detective Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) will try to figure out who is responsible for the murders, and all the clues lead him to these fearless brothers. The detective is convinced that they are doing the right thing.
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)
For eight long years, the MacManus brothers (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus) have lived a reclusive life in Ireland. But all that will change when the ruthless Concezio Yakavetta (Judd Nelson) orders the murder of their beloved priest, drawing the wrath of the god-fearing brothers.
In their bloody crusade, they will be joined by the fiery Mexican Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr.), while the brilliant special agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz) is hot on their heels.
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
The action is set at the end of the 1920s and centers on the stories of two rival mafia gangs, Irish and Italian. Both are well-organized and bound by strict patriarchal rules and a strange, but firmly expressed ethic. Both gangs have their own bosses, their gray eminence, and their armies. In their world, there are no women, so the appearance of Verne (M. Gay Harden), who will lead one of the main characters to not play by the rules, will cause confusion and destabilization in the established rhythm.
The gangs will start a war, the city authorities will side with the Italians, and the leader of the Irish mafia will also be physically threatened because the police do not want to provide him with protection. In order to restore peace and balance, it is necessary to remove the main cause of confusion, which in this case is Verne…
Live by Night (2016)
Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a respected Boston police officer, has long turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now, after graduating in petty thefts during childhood, Joe has become the most powerful city mafia boss who enjoys the role of a rebel.
However, life on the wrong side of the law comes with a high price. In a time of ruthless people; ambition, illegal alcohol, weapons, and battles for market control, no one – not even family or friends – can be trusted.
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Rocky Sullivan (F. Burke) and Jerry Connolly (W. Tracy) are two teenagers and best friends who grow up in the most dangerous neighborhood in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Both prone to petty crimes, Rocky and Jerry experience different fates after the police prevent their last break-in. Rocky ends up in a reformatory, while Jerry avoids arrest by deciding to become a priest.
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Years later, Rocky (J. Cagney) is a well-known gangster face on the front pages who has just been released from prison. Coming to his old neighborhood, Rocky is thrilled to meet Jerry who, as a priest, is trying to help local young men avoid a life of crime. In love with the girl Laury (A. Sheridan) and faced with the possibility of finally doing something good, Rocky begins to doubt his gangster career, especially when Jerry’s life is threatened…
Run All Night (2015)
A member of the Brooklyn underground and a successful paid hitman, Jimmy Colon (Liam Neeson) has had better days. At 55, he is haunted by the sins of his past and a persistent police detective (Vincent D’Onofrio), and it seems that Jimmy finds only solace at the bottom of a whiskey glass.
But when his son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) becomes a target, his father, also the best friend of mafia boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), will have to snap out of it and decide if he still belongs to the criminal family or his real family that he left behind long ago.
The Town (2010)
In Boston, banks are robbed over 300 times a year. Most professional robbers live in Charlestown. One of them is Doug McRay. His only family are his criminal colleagues, who he leads on ruthless robberies, taking everything they want and always getting away with it.
Doug’s life is complicated by Claire, a manager of a robbed bank, with whom he starts a romantic relationship. When he wants to leave his criminal life behind, Doug will have to choose between his friends and the woman he loves.
State of Grace (1990)
After ten years, Terry Noonan (S. Penn) returns to the Irish part of the infamous New York neighborhood Hell’s Kitchen, where he grew up and where gangs fight for dominance over the dirty streets and dubious locales. His best friend, Jackie Flannery (G. Oldman), is still there, as is the old crowd, but they are all involved in gang business and organized crime.
Jackie’s older brother, the ambitious and unscrupulous Frankie (E. Harris), leads the largest Irish gang in the neighborhood, which Terry joins. Kathleen (R. Wright), the sister of these two gangsters and Terry’s first love, tries to escape the darkness and despair of the neighborhood and continue her life on the right side of the law. While Frankie tries to expand his influence and make an alliance with the strongest and most influential gang in the neighborhood, the Italian mafia, his crazed brother mourns for the past and fears that the Italians will take over the Irish territory. Jackie coldly kills three Italians who come to an Irish local and thereby incurs the wrath of the mafia boss, but also of his brother.
To avoid a gang war in which the Irish would be destroyed, Frankie agrees to calm Jackie down in the only possible way – with a bullet. At the same time, Terry confesses to Kathleen that his sudden return home was not a coincidence. He is a policeman whose secret task is to infiltrate Frankie’s gang and break it from the inside. Torn between loyalty to his friends and serving the law, Terry realizes that he will soon have to choose a side.
The Kitchen (2019)
The action takes place during the 1970s in the western part of Manhattan in New York, known as “Hell’s Kitchen”. It follows the wives of mafia members who skillfully take over their husbands’ business while they are incarcerated.
Black Mass (2015)
Bulger (Johnny Depp) is an Irish-American gangster who played a double game for over 20 years as one of America’s most notorious criminals, enjoying the protection and support of childhood friends, the most important people in the Boston FBI.
Their dirty deal, which made Bulger an FBI informant, allowed him to strengthen his power, but also eventually made him the FBI’s greatest enemy and spent 16 years on the most wanted list of criminals.
The Public Enemy (1931)
Since childhood, Tom Powers (James Cagney) and his best friend Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) have been involved in crime. In the Prohibition era, they become “big shots” from small-time criminals. However, after the death of their boss, Tom and Matt become vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Tom has become close with the quirky girl Gwen (Jean Harlow), and his brother Mike (Donald Cook), a war hero, is despairing over his brother’s criminal activities…
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
Eddie Coyle, a gun dealer from Boston, does not want to go to prison but also does not want to give up his way of life. Therefore, he continues to sell weapons to the underground, but becomes an informant for the police and the Department of Finance.
Southie (1999)
After being away for three years, Danny Quinn (Donnie Wahlberg) returns to South Boston, also known as “Southie,” to find his mother (Anne Meara) overwhelmed with worry as her other three children are caught up in the neighborhood’s destructive lifestyle of drinking, sex, and fighting. Danny discovers that his brothers are deeply involved in the Irish mob in Boston and in debt to a local mobster.
His younger sister Kathy (Rose McGowan) has become a barfly in his absence. Danny must raise money to protect his brothers from getting hurt and get Kathy off the streets. He turns to his old girlfriend from the neighborhood, Marianne (Amanda Peet), who still has feelings for him. Unable to find legitimate work, Danny becomes a partner in an underground gambling club, but he is unaware that their silent partner is his enemy Joey Ward.
When Joey’s father declares war on Colie Powers, Danny finds himself in the middle of the conflict and the stress of attempted murder in front of his house kills his mother.
What Doesn’t Kill You (2008)
Paulie and Brian are two old friends from South Boston who are forced to turn to crime in order to survive. They join a local group of criminals, but Brian is not comfortable with this new life and is forced to reconsider their long-term friendship.
On the Waterfront (1954)
The burly Terry Malloy (M. Brando) used to be a promising boxer, but his career was ruined when he and his brother Charley (R. Steiger) agreed to cooperate with union leader Johnny Friendly (L. J. Cobb), a man connected to the mafia. Now Terry works as a dockworker in New York City’s docks, while Charley has graduated from law school and, as a corruption-prone lawyer, still works with Friendly. After becoming a witness to the murder of a colleague who testified before an investigation committee, Terry initially decides to keep quiet despite his conscience.
When he meets the attractive sister of the deceased, Edie Doyle (E. M. Saint), and begins to get close to her father Barry (K. Malden), an engaged Catholic priest who wants to influence the situation at the port, Terry will change his decision. But everything will be further complicated when Barry is beaten up by Friendly’s men.
