Death and Nightingales filmed at Springhill

The Entrance Front of 17th century 'Planter' house, Springhill showing the whitewashed and symmetrical central block — The Entrance Front of Springhill | © National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

Springhill, a 17th-century plantation home in Northern Ireland cared for by the National Trust, welcomed some major stars including Jamie Dornan for the filming of the BBC drama Death and Nightingales.

About Death and Nightingales

Death and Nightingales is a 2018 BBC adaptation of Eugene McCabe's modern Irish classic novel, starring Jamie Dornan, Matthew Rhys and Anne Skelly. Directed by Allan Cubitt, who previously directed Jamie Dornan in The Fall, the three-part series is set in the beautiful haunting countryside of Fermanagh in 1885 and tells the story of a tense 24-hour period.

Through the events of a single day in the life of Beth Winters, played by Anne Skelly, we see decades of pain, betrayal, and resentment build to a devastating climax. The drama follows Beth, who is celebrating her 23rd birthday and decides to join the charming Liam Ward, played by Dornan, to escape from her unhappy life and difficult relationship with her landowner stepfather Billy, played by Matthew Rhys.

Cast members of the BBC's Death and Nightingales | © BBC/Night Flight Pictures Ltd 2018/Christopher Barr

Filming at Springhill

Although set in Fermanagh, Death and Nightingales was filmed at various locations across Northern Ireland, including Springhill near Cookstown, Tollymore and Strangford.

Providing an authentic setting for the period drama, Springhill plays a central role in the series as the Winters’ family home where much of the story unfolds. In order to accommodate the filming schedule, Springhill was closed to the public for much of May and June, with staff and volunteers assisting the production team on site.

Filming of Death and Nightingales at Springhill in numbers

Over 1,000 objects in Springhill had to be packed away before shooting began
More than 100 people made up the production team on site
Forty National Trust staff and volunteers were on duty helping the production team each day
Twelve spaces inside Springhill were used for filming, including the live-in apartment of National Trust staff who had to move out temporarily
There are eight species of bat at Springhill and the film crew had to wait until all the bats had roosted for the evening before turning on their night shoot lights
It took eight days to reinstate Springhill to its former grandeur and four days were spent dusting and cleaning

Why Springhill was the perfect match

Production company The Imaginarium chose to film at Springhill because the well-preserved house was the ideal location for a late 19th-century gentleman’s residence to be recreated.

The plantation house dates from the late 17th century, which correlates with the story in Death and Nightingales. Billy Winters' grandfather would have bought the house and surrounding land around 1800 and built extensions to the existing house at that time. So, Springhill perfectly reflects the story of the Protestant Winters family in its history and architecture.

The growth of film tourism

Screen tourism is a major growth industry in Northern Ireland and many of the places we look after have benefited from being used as film locations. The global success of HBO’s Game of Thrones brings thousands of people to Castle Ward in County Down each year, all eager to explore the authentic film location of Winterfell. Kearney, Mount Stewart, Crom, Divis and the Black Mountain and Portstewart Strand have all provided settings for films and TV dramas, with Springhill now claiming its place alongside them.

Jamie Dornan visited Springhill during filming of the BBC's Death and Nightingales | © BBC/Night Flight Pictures Ltd 2018/Christopher Barr

Supporting special places

As well as showing off beautiful locations, filming directly benefits the places in our care that star in the production. The income from location fees goes straight back into conservation work to care for historic houses and landscapes, so that we’ll all be able to see them both on screen and in real life for years to come.