Ian McElhinney

Ian McElhinney

1948-08-19 Belfast, Northern Ireland 76 Credits

Biography

Ian McElhinney (born 19 August 1948) is a Northern Irish actor and director. He has appeared in many television series in a career spanning more than forty years; notable appearances include Taggart, Hornblower, Cold Feet, and The Tudors. In recent times his best known roles are as Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones, Morgan Monroe in The Fall, and Granda Joe in Derry Girls.

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Secrets of The Christmas Market

Secrets of The Christmas Market

2024

as Narrator

Acting

Behind the scenes at Belfast's much-loved festive market, where stallholders from 30 countries welcome over a million visitors to 106 Christmas chalet...

The Boys in the Boat

The Boys in the Boat

2023

as Elderly Joe Rantz

7.3
Acting

The triumphant underdog story of the University of Washington men's rowing team, who stunned the world by competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Last Rifleman

The Last Rifleman

2023

as Tom Malcolmson

6.6
Acting

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary ...

Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look

Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look

2022

as General Jan Dodonna (archive footage) (uncredited)

7.3
Acting

Celebrate Disney+ Day with a special look at the Star Wars original series Andor.

The Ulysses Project

The Ulysses Project

2022

as Mr. Deasy / Barrister JJ Molloy

Acting

An irreverent, modern, non-traditional re-telling of Ulysses, told rapidly by a succession of over 75 international actors. The film maintains the rhy...

Father Father

2019

Acting

Father James must decide what kind of a "Father" God wants him to be?

Zoo

Zoo

2018

as Mr. Shawcross

6.7
Acting

Young Tom and his misfit friends fight to save 'Buster' the baby elephant during the German air raid bombings of Belfast in 1941.

Dave Allen at Peace

Dave Allen at Peace

2018

as Priest

4.4
Acting

Filmed in homage to his original TV series, this fictionalised account follows Dave Allen from childhood to becoming one of the UK and Ireland's come...

To Be Frank Carson

To Be Frank Carson

2017

as Self

Acting

Frank Carson was one of Britain and Ireland's most loved comedians. Dan Gordon explores the story of the Belfast funny man as he prepares to stage a o...

Bad Day for the Cut

Bad Day for the Cut

2017

as Eamon

6.5
Acting

A middle-aged Irish farmer, who still lives at home with his mother, sets off on a mission of revenge when the old lady is murdered.

The Journey

The Journey

2017

as Rory O'Suaird

6.3
Acting

Firebrand Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein politician Martin McGuinness, two implacable enemies in Northern Ireland, are for...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2016

as General Dodonna

7.5
Acting

A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice

2016

as D.I. McKie

5.3
Acting

Sacrifice is the story of consultant surgeon, Tora Hamilton, who moves with her husband, Duncan, to the remote Shetland Islands, 100 miles off the nor...

The Truth Commissioner

The Truth Commissioner

2016

as James Fenton

4.5
Acting

Set in a post-Troubles Northern Ireland, The Truth Commissioner follows the fictional story of Henry Stanfield, played by Roger Allam, a career diplom...

A Patch of Fog

A Patch of Fog

2015

as Freddie Clarke

6.5
Acting

A university teacher gets caught shoplifting by a security guard, who won’t let him go. He becomes his new best friend and says ‘I won’t call the cops...

The Death of a Projectionist

The Death of a Projectionist

2015

as Gerry

Acting

Gerry is a projectionist. He loves his work, his colleagues and the joy that the films gives him. But is he ready for the changes around the corner?

Game of Thrones: A Day in the Life

Game of Thrones: A Day in the Life

2015

as Self

7.6
Acting

Glimpse the epic scale of Game of Thrones in this featurette that spends one day touring various Season 5 sets in Croatia, Spain and Ireland.

Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience

Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience

2015

as Barristan Selmy

8.6
Acting

The first episode of this IMAX screening takes place entirely at The Wall with the Night’s Watch (S4 EP9) hopelessly outnumbered as they attempt to de...

Wodehouse In Exile

Wodehouse In Exile

2013

as Major Cussen

7.2
Acting

An all-star cast heads up this intimate film about how author, P.G.Wodehouse, came to face a charge of treason during the Second World War and how thi...

Bomb Squad Men: The Long Walk

2012

as Narrator

Acting

Three former bomb disposal officers who served at the height of the Northern Ireland conflict, return for the first time in 30 years to revisit the d...

Titanic: Born in Belfast

Titanic: Born in Belfast

2012

as Narrator

Acting

This thought-provoking program offers a behind-the-scenes look at the construction of the ill-fated Titanic, the lavishly grand White Star liner that ...

Brendan Smyth:  Betrayal of Trust

Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust

2011

as Abbot Smith

4.0
Acting

The true story of the notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth, and how one family in Belfast, aided by journalist Chris Moore, uncovered the true ex...

Three Wise Women

Three Wise Women

2010

as David

4.6
Acting

After a young girl witnesses her father having an affair, she declares she will never love anybody ever again. As a result, her guardian angel is forc...

An Old Fashioned Christmas

An Old Fashioned Christmas

2010

as Sean

5.2
Acting

Isabella takes her granddaughter to Ireland to stay with a famous family friend for the holidays, only to discover that the best Christmases are simpl...

Leap Year

Leap Year

2010

as Priest

6.9
Acting

When yet another anniversary passes without a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Anna decides to take action. Aware of a Celtic tradition that allo...

Make it New John

2010

as John

Acting

Make it new John tells the story of the DeLorean car, its creator John DeLorean and the workers of the Belfast-based car plant who built it. The film ...

Triage

Triage

2009

as Ivan

6.0
Acting

The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.

Scapegoat

2009

as H. A. McVeigh QC

Acting

This is the fascinating true life story of one of Ireland's most famous unsolved murders. It is the tale of how an innocent man was found guilty but i...

City of Ember

City of Ember

2008

as Builder

6.3
Acting

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is fail...

Clay

Clay

2008

as Father O'Mahoney

5.2
Acting

Adaptation of the book by David Almond, set in 1960s Tyneside. Two 14-year-old boys team up against Mouldy, the town bully. Turning Crazy Mary s garde...

Closing the Ring

Closing the Ring

2007

as Cathal Thomas

6.1
Acting

During the 1940s, a group of young men go off to war, leaving behind Ethel Ann, who is in love with one of them, Teddy. In modern-day Belfast, a man n...

The Front Line

The Front Line

2006

as Mikey

6.3
Acting

An African immigrant bank security guard turns the tables on Dublin's nastiest criminals when they force him to be the "inside man" on a bank robbery.

Omagh

Omagh

2005

as Stanley McCombe

6.3
Acting

The movie starts at the 1998 bomb attack by the Real IRA at Omagh, Northern Ireland. The attack killed 31 people. Michael Gallagher one of the relativ...

On Eagle's Wing

On Eagle's Wing

2005

Director

Directing

A musical, a dance show, and an oratorio all rolled into one. Filmed on the vast stage of Belfast's Odyssey Arena in Northern Ireland, John Anderson's...

Hornblower: Loyalty

Hornblower: Loyalty

2003

as Captain Hammond

7.2
Acting

Hornblower must deliver a French nobleman to a secret rendezvous near Brest, all while coping with enemy agents in his own ranks.

Mapmaker

Mapmaker

2001

as Sergeant Devlin

Acting

Hired to draw a map of tourist sites in a small Northern Ireland town, cartographer Richie Markey (Brian F. O'Byrne) uncovers a dark secret and realiz...

Hornblower: Retribution

Hornblower: Retribution

2001

as Captain Hammond

7.5
Acting

Hornblower and the other officers of the Renown must return to Jamaica to face a court-martial and possible execution for their actions in relieving t...

Borstal Boy

Borstal Boy

2001

as Verreker

6.3
Acting

Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old IRA foot soldier, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission i...

The King's Wake

2000

as Athairne

Acting

It's Samhain (Hallowe'en) in old Ireland, and King Connor is haunted by his life, his legacy, and the enemies he killed in his time. Based on the famo...

Durango

Durango

1999

as Vestor McCarthy

5.0
Acting

In 1939 Ireland, a young man decides to lead a forty mile cattle drive rather than selling his cattle to an unscrupulous local buyer.

Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant

Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant

1998

as Captain Hammond

7.4
Acting

Acting Lieutenant Hornblower attempts to study for his promotion examination, but becomes distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew...

Touch and Go

Touch and Go

1998

as Clive Bevan

7.0
Acting

Nick and Alison, a young couple although married for several years, find their sex-life is uninspiring. After much agonising, they decide to visit a w...

Silicone Valerie

1998

Acting

Ian McElhinney stars as a priest who meets temptation in the form of a young woman. Valerie wants to enlist the priest's help as she aims to be crowne...

The Boxer

The Boxer

1997

as Reggie Bell

6.7
Acting

Nineteen-year-old Danny Flynn is imprisoned for his involvement with the I.R.A. in Belfast. He leaves behind his family and his sixteen-year-old girlf...

This Is the Sea

This Is the Sea

1997

as Da Stokes

5.7
Acting

The film is set in Northern Ireland shortly after 1994 cease-fire. Hazel is a Protestant and Malachy a Catholic. Romance between them is threatened by...

Hamlet

Hamlet

1996

as Barnardo

7.3
Acting

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.

The Boy from Mercury

The Boy from Mercury

1996

as Brother Dowdall

6.0
Acting

Set in 1960s Dublin, a fatherless eight-year-old boy who feels alienated by his family, escapes his reality by deciding he's been sent from Mercury to...

Michael Collins

Michael Collins

1996

as Belfast Detective

6.9
Acting

Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a compl...

Small Faces

Small Faces

1996

6.3
Acting

Three teenage brothers, gang-member Bobby, troubled mama's boy Alan and self-assured prankster Lex, reside in a downtrodden section of Glasgow, Scotla...

Life After Life

Life After Life

1995

as Working out governor

Acting

Leo Doyle, a convicted IRA murderer, is released into the community after 14 years in prison on a scheme to rehabilitate former terrorists. He soon fi...

Beyond Reason

Beyond Reason

1995

as Smythe QC

Acting

Drama based on a real-life story of a love affair between a married army captain and a young female soldier. Susan Christie and Duncan McAllister have...

A Breed of Heroes

A Breed of Heroes

1994

as Father O'Browne

1.0
Acting

In 1971, fresh-faced, eager for heroics, the young officers arrive in Belfast. Pelted with rocks by kids, sniped at by the IRA, they take refuge in se...

Blind Justice

Blind Justice

1994

as Father Malone

5.1
Acting

Canaan, a mysterious gunfighter left nearly blind from Civil War combat, roams through Mexico with a baby he has sworn to protect. On his way to a tow...

Circle of Deceit

1993

as Father Fergal

7.5
Acting

John is a special forces operative who retires after his family is killed in a terrorist bombing, but his former bosses have other plans. He is re-act...

You, Me & Marley

You, Me & Marley

1992

as Reggie Devine

6.0
Acting

A group of bored Roman Catholic teens from Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom steal cars and joyride around the city, causing havoc among the n...

The Playboys

The Playboys

1992

as Joe Cassidy

6.0
Acting

A young woman, Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) scandalizes her provincial Irish village in the 1950s by having a baby out of a wedlock, and refusing to na...

Children of the North

Children of the North

1991

as O'Hare

7.0
Acting

The murders of two MI6 agents in Northern Ireland add up to an explosive political situation.

Hidden Agenda

Hidden Agenda

1990

as Jack Cunnigham

6.9
Acting

In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to uncover atrocities committed by the British government...

Fools of Fortune

Fools of Fortune

1990

as Stranger

5.3
Acting

A Protestant Irish family is caught up in a conflict between Irish Republicans and the British army.

Shoot to Kill

Shoot to Kill

1990

as ACC Trevor Forbes

Acting

Shoot to Kill is a four-hour drama documentary reconstruction of the events that led to the 1984–86 Stalker Inquiry into the shooting of six terrorist...

Who Bombed Birmingham?

Who Bombed Birmingham?

1990

as Sinn Fein leader

7.0
Acting

Docudrama film exploring the efforts of World in Action researchers Ian MacBride and Chris Mullin in proving that the "Birmingham Six" only admitted t...

The Grasscutter

The Grasscutter

1990

as Brian Deeds

5.0
Acting

An Ulster Volunteer Force vigilante, turned police informer, is sent by the British government to New Zealand to start a new life, leaving behind hi...

The Lilac Bus

1990

as Billy

7.0
Acting

The lives of seven friends who share a bus from their village to Dublin every day get complicated as the reasons for their discontent are revealed.

Reefer and the Model

Reefer and the Model

1988

as Reefer

5.2
Acting

Comerford’s signature sharp realism infuses this drama about Reefer, an ex-IRA man who picks up hitch-hiker Teresa, a pregnant woman trying to overcom...

A Prayer for the Dying

A Prayer for the Dying

1987

as Lodger

5.8
Acting

Martin, an I.R.A. hitman, is seen by a Catholic priest while carrying out a hit. He grows a bond with the priest and his niece. But his past and his f...

The Rockingham Shoot

The Rockingham Shoot

1987

as John Reilly

Acting

Rigid nationalist Reilly's frustration at the last remains of British rule draws him to the Rockingham Shoot, where a violent incident occurs.

Naming the Names

Naming the Names

1987

as Mr McBride

Acting

Finn's story seems to begin when Henry Kirk comes into the bookshop where she works. But it goes back a lot further than that...

Lamb

Lamb

1986

as Maguire

5.6
Acting

Michael Lamb is a Father questioning his calling, in a Reform School in Ireland. When young epileptic runaway Eoin is sent to the school, the two reco...

Shergar

Shergar

1986

as Damien

Acting

Malachy: "Who do you kidnap? You can't touch children, women, no sons of Irish mothers. What's left?" When Frankie is released from Portlaoise Prison,...

The End of the World Man

1986

as Architect

3.0
Acting

When some Belfast children find out that city planners intend to "develop" a wooded area called the Glen that the girls use as a retreat from the pres...

Anne Devlin

Anne Devlin

1984

as Maj. Sirr

5.0
Acting

The story of Anne Devlin, who was caught up in the revolt of the Irish under Robert Emmett in 1803, told exclusively from the woman's point of view.

A Woman Calling

1984

as Mr Burke

Acting

Professor Broderick, a famous professor of Psychology, returns to his house by Belfast Lough to discover a woman waiting for him.

Acceptable Levels

Acceptable Levels

1983

as Andy

Acting

A BBC film crew is interviewing a ‘typical Catholic family’ in the Divis Flats area of Belfast, when news comes in that a child, known to the family, ...

Potatohead Blues

Potatohead Blues

1982

as Mousey

Acting

Stan McVay has given up smoking, gone on a diet and feels like hell. He's also abandoned the Ulster spud and learned that his teenage daughter is havi...

Angel

Angel

1982

as Groom

5.6
Acting

Saxophonist Danny witnesses the murder of his band manager and a deaf-mute girl after a gig. Questioned by the police, he remembers only the orthopedi...

Mutant: Year Zero

Mutant: Year Zero

N/A

as (voice)

Acting

Based on the popular video game of the same name; set in a post-apocalyptic world, an unlikely team of animal-mutants, led by a witty duck and a gruff...