Dancing at Lughnasa
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Pat O'Connor
Screenplay by	Frank McGuinness
Based on	Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel
Produced by	Noel Pearson
Starring	Meryl Streep Michael Gambon Catherine McCormack Kathy Burke Bríd Brennan Sophie Thompson Rhys Ifans
Cinematography	Kenneth MacMillan
Edited by	Humphrey Dixon
Music by	Bill Whelan
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics (United States) FilmFour Distributors (United Kingdom)[1]
Release date	13 November 1998 (1998-11-13)
Running time	95 minutes
Countries	Ireland United States
Language	English
Box office	$2,361,632

Dancing at Lughnasa is a 1998 Irish-British-American period drama film adapted from the 1990 Brian Friel play Dancing at Lughnasa, directed by Pat O'Connor.

The film competed in the Venice Film Festival of 1998. It won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Female Role by Brid Brennan. It was also nominated for 6 other awards, including the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Feature Film and the Best Actress Award for Meryl Streep.

Cast and characters

• Meryl Streep – Kate Mundy
• Michael Gambon – Father Jack Mundy
• Catherine McCormack – Christina Mundy
• Kathy Burke – Maggie Mundy
• Sophie Thompson – Rose Mundy
• Bríd Brennan – Agnes Mundy
• Rhys Ifans – Gerry Evans
• Darrell Johnston – Michael Mundy
• Lorcan Cranitch – Danny Bradley
• Peter Gowen – Austin Morgan
• Dawn Bradfield – Sophie McLoughlin
• Marie Mullen – Vera McLoughlin
• John Kavanagh – Father Carlin
• Kate O'Toole – Chemist

Reception and awards

Although the film received average reviews (60% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 35 reviews^[2]), most critics praised the performances of the entire cast. Janet Maslin, critic of the New York Times said that "Meryl Streep has made many a grand acting gesture in her career, but the way she simply peers out a window in Dancing at Lughnasa ranks with the best. Everything the viewer need know about Kate Mundy, the woman she plays here, is written on that prim, lonely face and its flabbergasted gaze."^[3] Peter Travis of Rolling Stone magazine wrote that "a luminous cast reveals long-buried feelings. Meryl Streep finds the expansive soul behind prim schoolteacher Kate. And she is matched by Kathy Burke's bawdy Maggie, Brid Brennan's secretive Agnes, Sophie Thompson's slow-witted Rose and Catherine McCormack's bold Christina, who never married the father of her son."^[4]

Kathy Burke received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Drama from the International Press Academy (Satellite Awards).

Mementos from the filming are on display at the St. Connell's Museum in Glenties.