Star Wars – what the stars can expect when they visit West Cork

WEST Cork is the latest location for the Star Wars crew busy at work in Ireland this week.
From Malin Head to Mizen Head – and then off to Kerry – the cast have picked the best week of weather for filming so far this year.
However, that wasn’t all good news this week, as their plans for a scene showing the Millennium Falcon hit by a shower of rain had to be ‘faked’ in Malin Head this weekend, when soaring temperatures screwed up the director’s plans.
The temperatures are set to cool in Brow Head this week, though, with cloud cover predicted by weather forecasters for the rest of the week on the Mizen peninsula, starting tomorrow.
So, where exactly are they filming?
Well, as revealed EXCLUSIVELY in the Southern Star earlier this year, the crew have been working for weeks to get set up on Brow Head, a beautiful headland which features a Marconi Tower, just south of Crookhaven village – next stop Mizen Head tourist centre.
Brow Head is a well-known walking area for locals, who have had a mixed reaction to the arrival of the trucks, cameras, aluminium tracks, security men and on-site catering facilities.
Their morning walks on this gorgeous headland may have been curbed, but there is no doubt that the decision to film one of the world’s most famous franchises in this area also means that it will be a major boost to tourism.
Set along the Wild Atlantic Way, Brow Head is just a short drive from Crookhaven Village, in one of the most scenic spots along the south-west coast.
A regular summer holiday spot for city dwellers, ‘Crook’ was also once a major trading spot along the coast, even boasting a Lloyd’s shipping office.
Today it is a haven for the sailing fraternity with its pretty restaurants, cafés and pubs along the seafront.
Nearby Mizen Head is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the south coast, with its spectacular bridge and lighthouse looking across at the ‘teardrop of Ireland’ – the Fastnet Lighthouse. The Fastnet, as well as being an iconic landmark for sailors and racing enthusiasts, was often the last land view of Ireland many emigrants got as they set off for distant shores, in decades gone by.
As well as availing of the excellent seafood in nearby restaurants and the wonderful hospitality of the hostelries, the cast and crew can expect to find some gorgeous locations to get away from the madness of the shoot, should time allow.
Just at the bottom of Brow Head lies Galley Cove, a picture-postcard beach with crystal clear waters facing out to the Atlantic. Nearby Barleycove Beach, complete with its regular surfers, is long established as one of Ireland’s finest long strands.
Closer to Goleen, there are myriad little coves and secluded beaches, beloved of kayakers, divers and coasteering classes. Visitors to the area can enjoy boat-trips, deep-sea fishing and dolphin, shark, seal and whale-spotting,
Let’s hope at least some of the massive entourage get time out to ‘feel the Force’ and the magnetic attraction of West Cork.

Galley Cove (yesterday, below) as little Lucie does her best Darth Vader impression, after her first summer swim: