The Field is a 1990 Irish drama film written and directed by Jim Sheridan and starring Richard Harris, John Hurt, Sean Bean, Brenda Fricker and Tom Berenger.

It transpires that McCabe's son, Tadhg, killed the donkey after discovering it had broken into the field the family has rented for generations.

McCabe has a deep attachment to the rented field, which his family has cultivated and improved, from barren to now very productive, over a number of generations.

McCabe blames himself for the death, as he told Seamie the field could only support one family, and that Tadhg would have to emigrate when he grew up.

Further maddened with grief, McCabe attempts to drive the waves back from his dead son, while Tadhg's mother and the Traveller sob on the clifftop.

[3] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "The Field is a grim allegory of hard life on the land -- a symbolic play, transplanted uneasily to the greater realism of the film medium, where what we might accept on the stage now looks contrived and artificial.

"[4] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "The Field is a movie that all too often reveals its origins as a play.

"[5] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote: "Sheridan seems out in left field here, undone by the sheer hokum of the material.

"[6] In 1996, An Post, the Irish Post Office, issued a set of postage stamps to commemorate the centenary of Irish cinema; the 32p stamp featured an image from The Field of actors Harris, Bean, and Hurt standing against the backdrop of Killary Harbour.