Hallmark Channel
Back in November during Hallmark Channel’s ‘Countdown to Christmas’, viewers were treated to a charming romance movie set in Ireland titled ‘Tis the Season to Be Irish. Everything about that movie worked from the cast to the location to the story to the cute lamb that followed the lead actress around. Now that Hallmark is into its ‘Winter Escape’ era, the network is jetting us back to the Emerald Isle for another Irish romance that actually begins as something quite different. But does it work as well as its holiday predecessor?
Love of the Irish, a play on the famous phrase ‘Luck of the Irish’, centers mainly around a young woman named Fiona (Shenae Grimes-Beech), a dancer and aspiring actress whose big dream is to land a starring role in a Broadway production. But after being constantly turned down, she decides to take a break and do something different with her life … like book a ten day trip to Ireland for her and her mother Helen (Moira Kelly) — even though Fiona goes on about how hard it is to make ends meet and pay her bills. The reason for the trip is actually so Helen can find and meet her birth mother based only on the address of an envelope from a small town in Ireland. As Helen’s own antiques shop is undergoing repairs due to a new unplanned ‘waterfall installation’ (the roof had a major leak) and her husband is away on business, she accepts Fiona’s nudge (more like a shove) to take the trip.
Within hours of arriving, Fiona has already had words with a local in a pub, slightly embarrassing Helen and proving the old stereotype of the ‘Ugly American’. The next day she heads to the post office to see if she can find the address of the letter’s sender as it only had a post office box number, and it turns out the assistant postmaster is none other than the man she traded barbs with at the pub, Liam (Stephen Hagan). Once she fills him in on why she is looking for the person who wrote the letter, Liam helps and they are able to find the woman’s name, MJ, but not an address. As it’s a small town, Fiona quickly learns MJ (Eilish O’Carroll) is a tour guide at a local museum, and she books two spots with a group to get a glimpse of her. Helen is overwhelmed at first but eventually goes back to muster up the courage to introduce herself, and MJ quickly bonds with Helen over their shared love of history, even though she does not yet know Helen is her daughter. While they both work on restoring an old desk, Helen hides the letter in a drawer and once MJ finds it she is overcome with emotion to know that Helen is her daughter. But will the two be able to continue to bond? Meanwhile, Fiona has found herself floundering, feeling she has no luck at all and will never achieve her dream. At the same time, an old building that housed a dance studio is going up for auction and Fiona is interested in buying it. She bonds with Liam as he takes her on a short quest to bring about her own Irish luck, and the moment she makes a wish on the last piece of the puzzle — a four-leaf clover, natch — her luck instantly changes and she gets a call back for the show that initially rejected her … for the lead role! Now she must decide if she really wants to head back to New York for a chance to star on Broadway — she still has one other person as competition — or does she want to stay and create a space for the young girls of the town with the studio, providing she can purchase the property, and continue to develop a relationship with Liam?
Hallmark Channel
Love of the Irish is a middling Hallmark romance movie, not quite as engaging as ‘Tis the Season to Be Irish even though it does bring back reminders of that movie, particularly with the Fairy Tree upon which people make their most dreamed for wishes in the hopes they will come true. Even the cottage Fiona and Helen rent looks vaguely familiar on the outside. The structure of the screenplay between Fiona’s and Helen’s stories also dilutes the romantic plot with Liam, and things happen so quickly with Helen and MJ that we don’t have time to get that invested in their relationship. The scenery, though, is lovely and the production design instantly transports you to a small town in Ireland.
Where the film does succeed is with its cast. Grimes-Beech has a tough role to play in Fiona because she is a bit of an abrasive New Yorker when she arrives in Ireland, so she has to make us really feel engaged with her instead of getting tired of her ‘woe is me, I have no luck’ whining. That she can make Fiona charming, especially as she interacts with Liam’s daughter Annie (Doireann McNally), shows that she has the skills but she needs a better vehicle to place her front and center. Kelly is a veteran actress and has the ability to make us feel Helen’s deep emotions with a simple glance at MJ. It might have even been better, coming so close on the heels of the Irish Christmas movie, to make Helen’s story the focus and forget the romance altogether (as the network did with the extremely entertaining Sugarplummed). Hagan is also charming as Liam and has nice chemistry with Grimes-Beech, but their story again is more about finding the luck of the Irish while the romance is basically pushed on them by everyone else. The movie also has a minor subplot with Liam’s pal Eoin (Cathal Ryan) and flower vendor Daisy (Ebimie Anthony), that has more of a romantic spark than Fiona and Liam’s story. The film is also populated with some other colorful local actors that add to the ambiance … but it really could have used a guest appearance from Lamb Chop (I was kind of hoping the movie was set in the same town as ‘Tis the Season to Be Irish to create an entire Hallmark-Ireland Cinematic Universe).
Overall, Love of the Irish is pleasant and has a wonderful cast and beautiful setting, but the story is a bit too over-stuffed for viewers to become engaged in any one of the stories. Still, it’s still a nice bit of escapism.
Love of the Irish has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
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