Location

Locations
Synge Street CBS, Synge Street, Dublin, Ireland
(School exteriors)

Dalkey Island, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
(Location)


The production chose to seek out locations in and around Dublin rather than look to do
extensive builds of interiors in studios. In particular, the buildings of the Synge Street School,
in the eighth district of the city spanning the Liffey (which still operates as a state-run Christian Brothers School) is not much changed since Carney’s days there.

“I would say 50 percent of my job is getting the locations right,” says MacDonald. “If they tell a truth, to me as a designer and as a writer-director, you’re half way there. I had a great
Locations Manager, Eoin Holohan, with whom I worked. I really pushed him because I knew
that there would be locations that were remnants of the 80s in this town.
“For example, Eamon’s house is a good one. As a basis, it had the remnants in a few rooms of insane carpets and wallpapers, which immediately gives you a foundation on which to build.”

The crew shot extensively in the high-walled yards of Synge Street School using the geography of the exteriors to highlight the inner city feel of the school. Synge Street School itself has changed very little since the 80s.