When the boys come out to play

Belfast, 1972. Twelve-year-old Geordie McDonald is forced to grow up fast in a city under siege. As the Troubles tightens its grip, he and his family cling to one another as danger seeps into every corner of their lives – from whispered threats and armed neighbours, to the ever-present sound of gunfire in the night.

When Geordie and his siblings are evacuated to Dublin, along with trainloads of other children from the North, they must learn to navigate a new world in the South. Geordie and his younger brother are sent to live with a middle-class family in Rathmines, but the shadow of the Troubles reaches even here. In the aftermath of the Bloody Friday bombings, tensions rise between neighbours, and Geordie must move again.

In the rural idyll of County Kerry, Geordie meets a fiddler, carrying tunes from the Blasket Islands, rumoured to be written by the Fairies themselves. As his willing protégé, Geordie becomes absorbed in music, legends, and the Irish language. Among the hills and carefree country people, he discovers a new sense of belonging; his recurring nightmares fade, as do the nervous ‘fits’ which have plagued him since his early years.

The return to Belfast is bittersweet – reunited with his scattered family, but in a city tearing itself apart. As the headlines announce more violence, Geordie searches for meaning in a conflict he can’t fully understand. When a nun suggests he develop his newfound musical talents, and study for a challenging music exam, Geordie dares to hope for a future beyond Belfast. But his father has different ideas, convinced he knows best how to keep his family, and his community, safe. As Geordie grows, the line between boyhood and manhood begins to blur, and he is faced with choices that will shape not just his identity, but his entire future.