Sky has announced that the new Sky 1 adventure-drama Moonfleet will be filmed in Ireland this summer.

Production on the Ray Winstone and Aneurin Barnard-starring two-part series will begin on Monday June 17.

Locations include Howth, Drimnagh Castle, parts of central Dublin, Celbridge and Co Wicklow, with Silver Strand the series' 'Moonfleet Bay'.

Written by Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes), Moonfleet is an adaptation of the John Meade Falkner novel of the same name and follows the adventures of young John Trenchard (Barnard) and smuggler Elzevir Block (Winstone).

Winstone said: "I'm incredibly excited to be working with Sky - I can't wait to start filming in Ireland and it's a real honour to be bringing such an epic adventure story to life."

The cast of Moonfleet also includes Lorcan Cranitch (Silent Witness, Cracker), Anthony Ofoegbu (Spooks, The Bill), newcomer Sophie Cookson, Ben Chaplin (Mad Dogs, Dorian Gray), Omid Djalili (Gladiator) and Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners).

The series will be produced by Company Pictures in association with Dublin-based Element Pictures.

Sky Ireland Managing Director, JD Buckley, said: "This announcement again confirms Sky's commitment to Ireland and to producing great original content here.



"Following on from the successful premiere of Moone Boy Series 2 at the Sky Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny last weekend, we are delighted to welcome the talented Moonfleet cast to Ireland this summer. We also know Element Pictures very well and it's great to see them involved in another quality Sky 1 HD production."



Andrew Lowe, Managing Director of Element Pictures, said: "We are delighted to be in production with Sky and Company Pictures on Moonfleet following our successful collaboration on The Take.

"Sky's decision to shoot Moonfleet in Ireland is an endorsement of the quality of Irish cast and crews, and demonstrates the importance of the Government's commitment to the sector through the provision of the tax incentive, S.481."