Eileen Walsh on honouring the women in her life in new film

Eileen Walsh said that the story of Small Things Like These, in which she stars, was "in [her] bones", and that the film is a "vital" exploration of a dark time in Irish history.

Walsh attended the Irish premiere of the Irish film, adapted from Claire Keegan's celebrated novella of the same name, which was held in Dublin's Light House Cinema last night.

The film takes place in 1980s Co Wexford, when Bill Furlong, a local coal merchant - played by Cillian Murphy, who also produced the film - discovers unsettling secrets about his small town and the Magdalene Laundry operating in it.

Eileen Furlong, his wife, is caught in the middle of such discoveries, as she navigates her own place as a woman in Ireland in the 80s.

When asked how she approached playing such a character, a mother to five girls and living under the watch of the Catholic Church, Walsh stressed how deeply personal a role it was for her.

"My intention with playing Eileen Furlong was to actually give respect and honour my own mother, and her mother, and my aunts that I grew up with. It was very important to mark the fear and shame that they grew up under. This is generational, you know?

"I'm the youngest of six, my dad was a coal man. This story was in my bones, so to pay homage to those women was very important, because they might have been silent but they carried the world."

The film takes its cue from Keegan's novella in how it focuses on small details that tell a huge story, and this is especially clear in the costuming. Walsh agreed that the efforts of the production team payed off for her too.

"There was something very particular about costume and it not being too garish or too obviously 80s, and I think they really struck that perfectly because you could watch this movie and think this was from a hundred years ago, and it's only when 'Come on Eileen' comes on the radio or whatever it is that you go, oh, that's the year, right!'

"It's quite dark, it's quite dour but people still want their [Levi's] 501s for Christmas!"

Walsh also hit on how important it is to tell this story for new generations, as more information on the painful legacy of the Magdalene Laundry has come to light in recent years.

"It's hugely important. 25 years ago I did Magdalene Sisters and that was news to people then. We're a generation down the road and it's news to people now that this happened, they're discovering this story all over again.

"It's history within our touching distance. There are people still alive that are either children of it or have been through it and I'm certainly meeting more and more people as the premieres go on or the special screenings, who have personal connections and who are shaking with the need to get their story heard. It's vital, this film is vital."