| Barrytown | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Roddy Doyle |
| Original work | The Commitments (1987) |
| Owners | Beacon Pictures 20th Century Fox Deadly Films BBC Film |
| Years | 1987–present |
| Print publications | |
| Novel(s) |
|
| Short stories |
|
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
|
| Television series | Screen Two (1993) |
| Theatrical presentations | |
| Play(s) | The Snapper (2018–present) |
| Musical(s) | The Commitments (2013–present) |
| Audio | |
| Soundtrack(s) |
|
| Official website | |
| TheCommitments.co.uk | |
Barrytown is an Irish comedy-drama media franchise centred on the Rabbittes, a working-class family from the fictional suburb of Barrytown, in Dublin. It began in 1988 when Beacon Pictures and 20th Century Fox bought the rights to the 1987 novel The Commitments by Roddy Doyle shortly after it was published. The book was successful, as was Alan Parker's 1991 film adaptation. The film received cult status,[1] and is regarded as one of the best Irish films ever made.[2][3] In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked the film at number 38 on its list of the "100 best British films of the century", based on votes from 1,000 leading figures of the film industry.[2]
A sequel novel, The Snapper, was published in 1990, followed by a film adaptation in 1993. A third novel, The Van, was published and shortlisted for the 1991 Booker Prize,[4] followed by a film adaptation in 1996. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, a spin-off published in 1993 by Secker and Warburg, won the Booker Prize for that year, with an epilogue novel, The Guts, published in 2013. A musical and stage play based on the first two installments of the series have also been produced, ongoing from 2013 and 2018.