Turmoil comes to the small fictional coastal town of Carrigeen in the south-west of Ireland. A Norwegian-owned earmarked a town for wind farm on new Irish drama, The South Westerlies. The series will have an exclusive premiere on Acorn TV on Monday, November 9. All 6 Episodes are dropping at once.
Acorn TV’s new picturesque Irish drama The South Westerlies follows a single working mom. That mom is also environmental consultant in Dublin keen on earning a highly-prized job promotion.
However, it requires a return to the town she has avoided for 15 years. A town where she has a personal, complex history and she prefers to keep old secrets firmly under wraps. Orla Brady previous starred in American Horror Story: 1984, Into the Badlands and Star Trek: Picard. In Westerlies she plays Kate Ryan. She has to go undercover to quell opposition to her company’s offshore wind farm. But her past with the town threatens to expose more than her hidden mission.
The binge worthy, lighthearted six-part series features an impressive ensemble of acclaimed actors alongside Brady. These actors are Eileen Walsh (Catastrophe, Patrick Melrose) and Patrick Bergin (Sleeping With The Enemy, Patriot Games). The show also stars Steve Wall (Raised by Wolves, The Witcher), Ger Ryan (Little Dog, Rialto). There’s lastly a standout guest role from Sorcha Cusack (A Discovery of Witches, Father Brown) as Kate’s mother, Goldie.
Kate Ryan (Brady) works for Noreg Oul. She is on the verge of a lucrative promotion and a move to their HQ in Oslo. That’s until her employer adds a last minute caveat. He gives her a final assignment in Ireland for their company’s new wind-power subsidiary, NorskVentus. The got planning permission for their wind farm offshore from the West Cork town of Carrigeen. But ongoing local protests are creating a PR nightmare.
Kate must go undercover to Carrigeen and pretend to be a vacationer to quash objections before an appeals deadline. Doing so will smooth the path for imminent turbine installation. Kate arrives there along with her teenage son Conor (Sam Barrett, The Happy Prince). But she faces an eco-battle as she quickly discovers the anti-wind farm lobby presence in town. That lobby is much stronger than NorskVentus led her to believe. Patrick Bergin plays “Big Mike” Kelleher, the town’s local councilor, who’s firmly on the fence about the wind farm.
It’s not just the spectacular scenery that’s under pressure – what compounds Kate’s eco-battle is the return of an old boyfriend. Baz Crowley (Wall) is a crinkly-eyed surfer, Baz Crowley who bears a striking resemblance to Conor. Her old friend Breege (Walsh) runs the local café. She’s unhappy with Kate’s reappearance after 15 years of silence. And she’s not so quick to forgive her comrade’s neglect. The pressures mount for Kate as tensions rise from local protestors. Breege is on to Kate on why she has stayed away from Carrigeen all this time. And a surfing accident puts things in perspective.
Bonnie Laufer spoke with the lovely Orla Brady from her home in Dublin about working on the series.
- Release Date: 11/9/2020