The Luck of The Irish was proudly proclaimed as ‘Ulster’s First Feature Film’. In fact invitations to the premiere of the event made much of its, “authentic Ulster songs, Ulster humour, Ulster scenery and all-Ulster cast”. And, indeed, the film seeks to establish its Ulster credentials in the very earliest scenes. There are expansive shots of Northern Ireland’s countryside and throughout the film such scenic, or tourist locations, are showcased in the most flattering manner possible. Meanwhile, the first interior scene takes place within Widow Whistler’s shop, a shop which has a ‘Buy Ulster Goods’ banner on its front door. And then, the camera slowly pans around, lingering on and framing an assortment of Northern Irish goods, be it a copy of the Belfast Telegraph, or C&C lemonade.
However, whilst The Luck of The Irish and much of Hayward’s subsequent work is at pains to flaunt an image of Ulster as distinct from the rest of Ireland, he tends to fall back upon the same symbolism, settings, conventions and concepts of idealised rural life, which are familiar from his southern contemporaries depictions of Ireland as the ‘old country’. Therefore Hayward’s vision of Ulster is tainted by association with the pre-existing concepts of Cultural Nationalism and Celtic Mysticism. Indeed publicists for the film, who were keen that neither the indigenous population, nor the vast Anglo-American audience be alienated, sought to play up both the film’s local Ulster characteristics and the parallels with typically romantic images of Ireland. They issued accompanying materials on both the ‘Story of Ulster Life’ and the ‘Romantic comedy of Irish Life’. Ultimately, then, despite the Ulster-centric detail and use of local dialect, it could be argued that Hayward failed to establish a unique national identity in Northern Irish cinema.