‘Bray: Music, Movies and More’

Bray and the wider Wicklow area has long been associated with film making and TV production. Some of the famous films that have been made here include The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Excalibur; Zardaz with Sean Connery, My Left Foot; In the Name of the Father; Braveheart and the recent Oscar nominated Blue Moon, as Lee Cronin’s Mummy, while the director of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, made his first movie, Dementia 13, in Ardmore Studios.

Major TV shows such as Penny Dreadful, The Tudors, Vikings, The Floor, Harry Wild and the Netflix smash Wednesday, which stars Jenna Ortega, have also been shot in the area.

And some famous movie people have also made the area their home.
Bray also has a strong music heritage, with many famous musicians either coming from or living in the area, such as Fran O’Toole of the Miami Showband, Phil Coulter, Mary Coughlan, Bagatelle, Bono, Shane McGown, Sinead O’Connor, Hozier and more recently, Florence Road.

The Arcadia Ballroom which was located across the road from the train station played host to famous acts such as Roy Orbison, Tom Jones, Joe Dolan, The Drifters and Sandie Shaw.