Trivia

Writer and director Jim Sheridan described Richard Harris "as mad as a brush", and that he found him very difficult to control.

Ray McAnally was originally cast as "The Bull", but his sudden death forced writer and director Jim Sheridan to re-cast his leading man. Richard Harris was considered for the role of the Priest, and persuaded Sheridan to trust him in the lead role. Harris' career had been in the doldrums for ages, but his towering performance here earned him his first Oscar nomination since 1962, and gave his movie work a huge resurgence.

Rather than use prosthetic effects in his mouth, Sir John Hurt had his caps removed, and played the role of Bird with his own teeth.

In order to secure his role, Richard Harris arranged a meeting with writer and director Jim Sheridan, and turned up in full costume and in character. Sheridan, who was initially reluctant to cast Harris because of his difficult reputation, decided to cast him based on this meeting.

An image from this movie featured on an Irish thirty-two pence stamp in 1996, for the celebration of the commemoration of the Centenary of Irish Cinema. The stamp featured Sean Bean, Sir John Hurt, and Richard Harris in the Irish setting of Killary Harbour in Ireland.