Each year on St. Patrick’s Day Katie and I choose an Irish film to watch. Our choices needn’t be about Irish history or even focus on the nationality of the characters overmuch. The point is more to celebrate Irish culture through a product of that culture.
This year’s choice was That They May Face the Rising Sun.
You can read about the plot elsewhere. Here, I simply want to give a sense of where the film’s focus lies.
This film will show you the peace and sense of community on offer in the lead couple’s rural Irish village, really highlighting the attractions of such a place. At the same time, the film subtly communicates how this way of life is fading. The couple has no kids. The village folk are old — dying in some cases, or in another marrying at too old an age to produce a new generation. A child is shown at one stage and it’s a powerful moment, linking generations. But it’s also the only time we see a child. Where are the youth? Again, the film is subtle, but implies most young folks have gone abroad for broader opportunities and will be raising their families there.
Now, this is a movie set over four decades ago. It’s not necessarily depicting the contemporary rural Irish situation (though I imagine to some degree it is…), but as someone who lives in the rural Vermont of 2026 I found the theme here to be as relevant as ever. We live in a beautiful corner of the world: it’s safe, close to nature, full of community spirit. It is fading though. Vermont’s population is again in decline. Taxes and the cost of living are too high, good paying jobs are too few, and the political climate is hostile to business. Vermont consistently ranks among the oldest states in the country.
Yet there are those of us who have moved or clung on to rural Vermont and rural Ireland despite the headwinds. That They May Face the Rising Sun does a marvelous job of illustrating why.