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
Complete Filmography

Secrets of The Christmas Market
2024
as Narrator
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
2023
as Elderly Joe Rantz
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
2023
as Tom Malcolmson
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
2022
as General Jan Dodonna (archive footage) (uncredited)
Celebrate Disney+ Day with a special look at the Star Wars original series Andor.

The Ulysses Project
2022
as Mr. Deasy / Barrister JJ Molloy
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
Father James must decide what kind of a "Father" God wants him to be?

Zoo
2018
as Mr. Shawcross
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
2018
as Priest
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
2017
as Self
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
2017
as Eamon
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
2017
as Rory O'Suaird
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
2016
as General Dodonna
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
2016
as D.I. McKie
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
2016
as James Fenton
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
2015
as Freddie Clarke
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
2015
as Gerry
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
2015
as Self
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
2015
as Barristan Selmy
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
2013
as Major Cussen
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
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
2012
as Narrator
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
2011
as Abbot Smith
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
2010
as David
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
2010
as Sean
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
2010
as Priest
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
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
2009
as Ivan
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
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
2008
as Builder
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
2008
as Father O'Mahoney
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
2007
as Cathal Thomas
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
2006
as Mikey
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
2005
as Stanley McCombe
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
2005
Director
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
2003
as Captain Hammond
Hornblower must deliver a French nobleman to a secret rendezvous near Brest, all while coping with enemy agents in his own ranks.

Mapmaker
2001
as Sergeant Devlin
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
2001
as Captain Hammond
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
2001
as Verreker
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
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
1999
as Vestor McCarthy
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
1998
as Captain Hammond
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
1998
as Clive Bevan
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
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
1997
as Reggie Bell
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
1997
as Da Stokes
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
1996
as Barnardo
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
1996
as Brother Dowdall
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
1996
as Belfast Detective
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
1996
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
1995
as Working out governor
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
1995
as Smythe QC
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
1994
as Father O'Browne
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
1994
as Father Malone
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
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
1992
as Reggie Devine
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
1992
as Joe Cassidy
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
1991
as O'Hare
The murders of two MI6 agents in Northern Ireland add up to an explosive political situation.

Hidden Agenda
1990
as Jack Cunnigham
In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to uncover atrocities committed by the British government...

Fools of Fortune
1990
as Stranger
A Protestant Irish family is caught up in a conflict between Irish Republicans and the British army.

Shoot to Kill
1990
as ACC Trevor Forbes
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?
1990
as Sinn Fein leader
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
1990
as Brian Deeds
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
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
1988
as Reefer
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
1987
as Lodger
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
1987
as John Reilly
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
1987
as Mr McBride
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
1986
as Maguire
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
1986
as Damien
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
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
1984
as Maj. Sirr
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
Professor Broderick, a famous professor of Psychology, returns to his house by Belfast Lough to discover a woman waiting for him.

Acceptable Levels
1983
as Andy
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
1982
as Mousey
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
1982
as Groom
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
N/A
as (voice)
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...