UPDATE! Small Recap and Update on the Star Wars: Episode VIII Filming in Ireland. New Photo from Malin Head!

Malin 02

We’ve seen a lot of reports lately with the Ahch-To huts from the Episode VIII set being built in Ceann Sibéal, but not much from another location in Ireland that will be used for the filming – Malin Head. A few days ago we reported some rumors that the first crew members started arriving in Malin Head. Now, one of our readers has managed to grab some photos and a video from there showing that preparations for the set has already begun.

 

(April 25, 2016)

First, here’s a quick geography lesson. Many of you may be confused as to where exactly in Ireland Episode VIII will be filming. See the Ireland County map below, on which we marked all confirmed and rumored locations for Episode VIII:

 

Ireland Map

 

So far there are three counties where Episode VIII will be filmed.

 

  1. County Kerry
  2. County Donegal
  3. County Cork

 

Note: It seems that some people are confused. The 1, 2 and 3 positions on the map are just marking the Counties on the map. They are not actual filming locations.

 

With 5 we’ve marked the location of Skellig Michael island where Rian Johnson and crew have already filmed  for a few days back in September 2015. A return to Skellig Michael is unlikely, but we have to keep in mind Kathleen Kennedy’s statement in an interview from a few months ago:

“We’ll continue to use Skellig. Skellig is absolutely beautiful and you know the extraordinary thing which just shows you the force was working in Ireland is that it was sunny and beautiful both times we shot there,” the producer said.

“We’re going to be near Dingle and Skellig again.”

Kerry
Set at Ceann Sibeal. Photo By : Domnick Walsh

 

The Dingle Peninsula that Kathy mentioned is also located in Kerry. Standing on the western tip of Dingle is position 4 – Ceann Sibeal. This is the location from which we got the most photos and is also where they are building the Ahch-To huts. You can see our coverage for this location HERE, HERE and HERE.

 

 

In County Donegal (2) is where you will find Malin Head (6). This location was recently confirmed, and a few days ago a rumor was reported that crew members have already started to arrive there. This is the location from which we will show you the new photos and video later in this article.

 

Brow head
Brow Head

 

County Kerry with Ceann Sibeal and County Donegal with Malin Head have already been officially confirmed as filming locations for Episode VIII (HERE). The third county, Cork (3), has been only rumored for now. According to the rumor they will be filming in Brow Head (7), the most southerly point of mainland Ireland. You can read that report HERE.

 

Hopefully, you now have a clearer picture of the filming locations in Ireland. Filming is expected to begin in mid May. The main shoot will take place on Ceann Sibeal for two weeks.

 

Looking at the map, it’s curious that the production is going for the three furthest points of Ireland. Northern – Malin Head, Western – Ceann Sibeal and Southern – Brow Head.

 

Skellig Michael
Skellig Michael

 

Now on to some rumors we’ve heard thanks to our friend Perrymoon who spoke with a few local residents. Keep in mind that this is what the local talk is. This is in no way a confirmed information, so treat it with the usual grain of salt.

I’ve been in Kilarney after my Skellig tour, this is a major city in Kerry. I was in a souvenir shop that had some original SW t-shirts and talked a little bit with the owner. She explained to me that Mark Hamill and family had been in the shop. According to her:

– The opening scene of the film in the island, continuing the ending of TFA, will be 10 minutes long.

– Over 400 people will be involved in the upcoming shootings in Ireland. As far as she knows, lots of them involved in the Ceann Sibeal set recreating Skellig Michael.

– A “huge” part of the film will feature Irish locations. It’s not only about the beauty of it, but also about the tax incentives. That’s why they expect the production to be settled in Ireland for a while very soon.

 

How a shop owner knows the length of the opening scene is beyond me, but if you remember during TFA filming on Skellig, the locals knew that the sequence shot there will only be 3 minutes from the movie, so who knows…

 

Malin Head
Road construction at Malin Head. Photo by Donegaldaily

 

Another one of our readers (Paul from Derry) took a walk around Malin Head and grabbed some photos and video from the location where the filming is expected to take place.

 

Here is a pic from the local pub Farrens in Malin Head. This just was painted on the wall a few days ago.

 

Malin Head

 

If you look at the center of the following pics you will see some production people in high-vis jackets looking around the location.

 

Malin Head Malin HeadMalin

 

You can see the production cabins and a road leading to the site. Today there were lorries bringing in a temporary road to the site. We spoke to a few people, and we were told that they will be on this location for the next 6 weeks!

 

IMG_6773 IMG_6774

 

The following video gives you an even better picture at the actual location where the movie will be filmed at Malin Head and the location of the base camp:

 

 

 

Thanks to Paul from Derry for the video as well

 

 

UPDATE!

 

(April 29, 2016)

Our friend Paul from Derry sent us another video from Malin Head showing that they are building a scaffold on the set that looks exactly like the one built on Ceann Sibeal. This is probably going to be another stand in for Skellig Michael and the planet Ahch-To, since the scaffold looks exactly the same as the one they used for the huts in Ceann Sibeal.

 

Malin 02

 

While the picture is a bit fuzzy, it gives a clear look at the scaffold they already built. I am sure in the next days we will see the Ahch-To huts in Malin Head. Here’s another video from Paul:

 

 

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

38 thoughts on “UPDATE! Small Recap and Update on the Star Wars: Episode VIII Filming in Ireland. New Photo from Malin Head!

  • April 25, 2016 at 8:52 pm
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    “I’ve been in Kilarney after my Skellig tour, this is a major city in Kerry.” – stopped reading after this.

      • April 26, 2016 at 12:38 am
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        Ask Shaky.

        • April 26, 2016 at 12:52 am
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          You’re the one who stopped reading.

    • April 25, 2016 at 10:10 pm
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      It’s a main town in Kerry and touristic center. What’s the prob?

      • April 26, 2016 at 12:36 am
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        There’s no prob, like I said, I just decided not to bother reading the rest, I gave my reason, Shaky Premise got it – he’s a very smart guy dontcha know.

        • April 26, 2016 at 9:57 am
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          You didn’t gave your reason. I’m not that clever to understand it so I’ll just move on.

        • April 30, 2016 at 12:35 am
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          I assume its because the next part involves rumours, but you hardly made that clear as a reason. I understand it if my assumption is right, but there’s no reason to be an arse.

    • April 25, 2016 at 11:05 pm
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      Sorry if I didn’t use the proper words. It’s not New York if this is what “major city” means, but Portmagee is very small and quite, and other cities (or let’s say towns) we crossed by car. Kilarney felt bigger and more crowded than the others. I was trying to compare with other Kerry cities or towns.

    • April 25, 2016 at 11:12 pm
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      So you actually read about half the article. Good for you!

      • April 26, 2016 at 12:29 am
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        Yeah, that’s what I said, well done you successfully comprehended an English sentence.

  • April 25, 2016 at 9:52 pm
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    I love the craggy, rocky look of the coastline in these locations!

  • April 25, 2016 at 10:07 pm
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    Just imagined rey in the water, lightsaber on, with rocks in both sides. This film’s gonna be epic, and the training will definitely be different than Dagobah

  • April 25, 2016 at 10:33 pm
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    This is very nice. Love the map and the locations are beautiful.

  • April 25, 2016 at 10:59 pm
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    “How a shop owner knows the length of the opening scene is beyond me, but if you remember during TFA filming on Skellig, the locals knew that the sequence shot there will only be 3 minutes from the movie, so who knows…”
    https://youtu.be/fDgzThsMd1Q

    • April 25, 2016 at 11:17 pm
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      Haha, the woman seemed honest, but who knows. She wasn’t a Star Wars fan yet she was excited the films would bring people to Kerry. She was in touch with some people involved due to the design of their touristic t-shirts featuring Star Wars. Just licencing contacts? Don’t know, but the Hamills had been there and she was interested on how much of Kerry we would see in the film rather than the film itself, that’s why she was precise on that answer. She had very cool BB8 and Rey figures in the showcase but unfortunately not on sale (that’s how conversation started, otherwise I wouldn’t be Dick Tracy in a souvenir shop)

  • April 26, 2016 at 1:50 am
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    I’m okay having this film start where TFA ended since that’s something they never tried before in any of the other films but I really hope they flash forward after those ten minutes so that the characters have time and room to grow. It’s going to feel a little too convenient if this is like Halloween II where it all happens the same day as the last film.

    • April 26, 2016 at 4:02 am
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      I just re-watched Looper the other day, and Rian Johnson does a really good playing around with time, moving back and forward seamlessly. I’m sure we’ll see Luke and Rey’s first meeting, just not sure when it will happen in the film.

      • April 26, 2016 at 4:05 am
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        Oops, just re-read the bottom part of the article, and the rumor is 10 minutes of the opening will be following on from TFA ending…
        Of course it’s not verified. I guess we’ll find out in 20 months…

      • April 26, 2016 at 1:59 pm
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        It would definietly fit the weird term that keeps getting thrown about but I’d much rather see that the one that Rey is the force incarnation of Anakin Skywalker.

        • April 26, 2016 at 4:16 pm
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          You know..I personally fell in love with this “leak” and I don’t know why..I just find it be a sort of beautiful thing that the chosen one is born every time the Galaxy is off balance. I’m not however a big fan of having multiple chosen ones prior to Skywalker..I would much rather have Anakin be the first (the one that was prophesied) and have the reincarnation aspect be a phenomenon no one expected. Having him guide Rey on her journey to bring the balance needed and not letting her make the same mistakes that he made, would bring the entire saga together. Plus it also reminds me a lil of the last airbender which was one of my favorite shows lol.

          • April 26, 2016 at 4:22 pm
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            I’m having doubts of it’s legitimacy since nothing has been said about it on here yet and there were spelling/grammatical errors galore. Some of it may be true though.

          • April 26, 2016 at 4:27 pm
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            Yea still looks kinda shady..we’re just going to have to wait! But It’s good to know I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t resist the urge to read all these potential plot leaks lol it’s so difficult to stay away!!!!

          • April 26, 2016 at 4:30 pm
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            Good bet the Finn love story is real but not sure about the rest.

          • April 26, 2016 at 5:02 pm
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            It’s 100% fake. I posted about this on Twitter last week. Later Pablo Hidalgo also debunked it.

          • April 27, 2016 at 3:33 pm
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            Best news I heard all I day!

          • April 29, 2016 at 8:45 pm
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            Thank god. Sounded awful.

    • April 26, 2016 at 8:16 pm
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      I think it’s confirmed that it follows right after TFA, isn’t it? we’ve got the same shot of Luke and Rey already re-done by Ryan Johnson, plus it would be very weird not to see what happens right after that moment. We N.E.E.D. to see how this powerful relationship stars. In terms of how this plays with the yellow text scrolling and space shot, I think an easy way would be that the film stars with some First Order Star Destroyer scene to set what’s going on with the bad guys (4 prior films all star this way) and then you just cut back to Rey and Luke with one of that cool SW screen transitions.

      • April 27, 2016 at 3:37 pm
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        It has been and I like that idea too. It’s interesting how all the SW films after Clones all start out with a Star Destroyer over head.

  • April 26, 2016 at 6:29 am
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    Cool. Just show a lot of Luke that’s all I care about not huts

  • April 26, 2016 at 8:20 am
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    If I can see a Star Wars star on my May27-June13 Ireland trip i will probably cry with joy. Haha.

    • April 26, 2016 at 10:09 am
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      If you could do some photos would be amazing! BTW, be sure to book a Skellig Michael tour in advance. I could do the tour around the island but the boat DID NOT let us in there, this is only for people visiting from May to September so you are a lucky one if you get your pass and walk the Jedi steps 😀 They said that May was fully booked already because the passages are quite limited (only few people x day), but maybe they are different companies and in any case you have June too. It’s a very unstable location in terms of weather and sailors don’t confirm the journey until the day, so it’s nice to have some room to improvise. May the force be with you!

  • April 27, 2016 at 6:08 pm
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    Any theories on the Ahco-To huts?

    • April 30, 2016 at 12:04 am
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      Well, in new canon it is a planet where there was the first Jedi Temple (and most probably the Jedi Order had been formed,) so these huts used to be most probably living quarters for the first Jedi. One of them may be the entrance to the Temple itself.

  • April 29, 2016 at 11:14 pm
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    Hopefully the weather will look that nice for the shoot and not be a foggy mess.

  • April 30, 2016 at 12:30 am
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    Potential Spoiler: The county of Donegal is one of only 2 places on Earth where you will still find wild ewoks in their natural habitat.

    • April 30, 2016 at 12:37 am
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      Herefordshire is the other. No sorry, that would be Hobbits.

    • April 30, 2016 at 3:24 am
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      The other is my illegal ewok petting zoo. Shh….

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