Movies

Lights, camera, action! If you’re a film fan or a box set binge watcher, you’ll be fascinated to see the setting of some of your favourite movies and TV series up close.

Powerscourt On Screen

Lights, Camera , Action!

Powerscourt Estate is one of the most filmed locations in Ireland for major film productions. Over 50 movies & TV series have been filmed or partially filmed here. On this page you’ll discover some of the big-name pictures and stars that have graced our grounds over the years, plus some insider stories about the filming!

The League of Gentleman at Powerscourt Waterfall
Filming Vikings at Powerscourt Waterfall 1

Powerscourt’s tumbling waterfall and iconic views have inspired filmmakers since Powerscourt was used as a location in the 1920’s. The waterfall has an enchanting quality on screen. From the 1981 dramatic sword and sorcery film ‘Excalibur’ to the world of Nordic legend in ‘Vikings’ in 2015, Powerscourt provides a stunning location. The recently released movie “Cocaine Bear” was shot at Powerscourt Waterfall with a cabin built at the carpark for the film and most of the outdoor scenes filmed in the native woodland. Did you know that the legendary “sword from the lake” scene in Excalibur used the bottom of the waterfall in place of a lake?

henrycavillthetudors.film .2014 1

Not to be side-lined, Powerscourt House has also seen its fair share of the spotlight. Legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick shot many scenes for Barry Lyndon in the Grand Ballroom and at other locations in the house. Perhaps the most iconic Powerscourt movie moment was the scene in The Count Of Monte Cristo, where Jim Caviezel makes a big entrance in a hot air balloon, and lands on the steps of the Italian Garden with Powerscourt House lit up as a backdrop. This scene was later parodied and made more famous in The Simpsons!

Jurassic 4 1

Out in the gardens, the Jurassic Park film “Battle at Big Rock” chose the Powerscourt River Walk as the location due to the giant Redwood trees, as they resembled those found in a California National Park. The location managers said they were the best grove of towering Redwoods they had seen outside of California. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was also filmed swimming in the Dolphin Pond which acted as an ornamental swimming pond in the Tudors.

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roystonvasey.filming.2014

One of the earliest iconic films shot at Powerscourt was Henry V in 1944 which was directed by and starred the legend, Laurence Olivier. Most of the film was shot with Powerscourt Waterfall as a backdrop. Olivier was injured on set when he directed a rider to gallop straight towards the camera he was looking through. The horse failed to veer away, and the collision left a permanent scar on the star’s lip, which he disguised with a moustache.

thetudors.filming.2014
filming.actors.sword .2014

Powerscourt has had a host of stars visit for filming including Ryan O’Neal, Tom Cruise, Rock Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Sally Field, Guy Pierce, and Clive Owen. Popular TV series such as The Tudors starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Camelot featuring Joseph Fiennes have also been shot on the Estate. Other famous folks who have visited Powerscourt over the years include Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, The Queen of Denmark, Neil Armstrong, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Ridley Scott, Val Kilmer, Nicole Kidman, Joan Rivers, and Matt Damon.

Filming - movies & commercial

If you have an enquiry regarding filming opportunities (movies & commercial) at Powerscourt, please contact us by e-mail or phone us on 01 204 6000.

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Coming To Powerscourt?
WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY

This place is amazing. Soo beautiful. We’ve been many times and each time we love it. We chose to come in May but maybe next time we’ll head over in June hopefully to see all the flowers blooming. The walks are soo relaxing and the view is just amazing. This time we stayed for lunch and cannot praise enough their food. Such fresh and tasty soup and sandwiches and yummy desserts. Cannot wait for our next visit as even if it’s far away from where we live and takes almost 3 hours to drive, it’s just soo beautiful ?

We visited Powerscourt gardens for the first time in late October. The walled gardens still had a colourful display of flowers and shrubs, the trees were in wonderful autumn shades and the Japanese gardens were delightful with the Acers looking very attractive. Powerscourt is certainly worth travelling to see if you are in the area.

I’ve been here many years ago and the grounds are just as beautiful as I remembered. The new addition of shops, Avoca cafe, nursery and distillery just adds even more things to do. This is a great place to stop and spend sometime.

This garden was incredible. We went on a very rainy day and it was difficult to really enjoy the beauty that was there. We quickly walked thru the formal gardens, Japanese garden and tower house. The collection of trees were magnificent but it was raining too hard to read all the labels Would definitely go back if we get a chance.

The walled gardens are the most amazing flowers I have ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours. The rest of the grounds are very beautiful and peaceful when there aren’t large tour groups. The lunch at Avoca is very good, fresh and reasonably priced. You can even have some retail therapy at the stores. Again, the most amazing flowers!!!

CTA Section Logo
Coming To Powerscourt?
WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY

This place is amazing. Soo beautiful. We’ve been many times and each time we love it. We chose to come in May but maybe next time we’ll head over in June hopefully to see all the flowers blooming. The walks are soo relaxing and the view is just amazing. This time we stayed for lunch and cannot praise enough their food. Such fresh and tasty soup and sandwiches and yummy desserts. Cannot wait for our next visit as even if it’s far away from where we live and takes almost 3 hours to drive, it’s just soo beautiful ?

We visited Powerscourt gardens for the first time in late October. The walled gardens still had a colourful display of flowers and shrubs, the trees were in wonderful autumn shades and the Japanese gardens were delightful with the Acers looking very attractive. Powerscourt is certainly worth travelling to see if you are in the area.

I’ve been here many years ago and the grounds are just as beautiful as I remembered. The new addition of shops, Avoca cafe, nursery and distillery just adds even more things to do. This is a great place to stop and spend sometime.

This garden was incredible. We went on a very rainy day and it was difficult to really enjoy the beauty that was there. We quickly walked thru the formal gardens, Japanese garden and tower house. The collection of trees were magnificent but it was raining too hard to read all the labels Would definitely go back if we get a chance.

The walled gardens are the most amazing flowers I have ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours. The rest of the grounds are very beautiful and peaceful when there aren’t large tour groups. The lunch at Avoca is very good, fresh and reasonably priced. You can even have some retail therapy at the stores. Again, the most amazing flowers!!!