I watched most of Series One and Two before a self-driving week in Ireland with my husband which included two nights in Galway and a day on the Connemara Loop. That was 2 months back and I've just concluded a second viewing, including the final episode I'd not seen fully the first time round. I have to admit my primary motive was to revisit the landscape and do some place-spotting but the quality of the drama kept distracting me from my touristic infatuation with the Republic of Ireland generally and Connemara, specifically. At times villains of the stories can be a bit over the top, but for the most part I thoroughly enjoy the writing, the acting and of course, the setting. If this series wasn't so hard to get hold of here in Canada I'd be recommending it to people I know.
I enjoyed seeing Charlie Murphy, again, who did a fine job in the mini series Rebellion about the Easter Rising that laid the groundwork for the foundation of the Irish Republic. She's a good actress who adds substance and credibility to the final story, A Cold Heaven, in her mixed-up adolescent role. One of the most interesting parts of the series overall is the father-son struggle that lingers even once Jack Driscoll's father is out of the picture, literally. His ghost is a brooding presence over all of Connemara, in this drama, and sparks lots of tension between Jack's second-generation policeman character and his mother. Police corruption or wrongdoing is an issue that makes this ten-year-old series seem fresh and topical.
