After a hurling match, Damien witnesses the summary execution of his friend Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, by British Black and Tans, for refusing to say his name in English and punching an officer.
As he is leaving town, Damien witnesses the British Army vainly trying to intimidate a railway employee for refusing to permit the troops to board.
After drilling in the mountains, the column raids the village's Royal Irish Constabulary barracks to acquire revolvers, then uses them to assassinate four Auxiliaries.
In the aftermath, Anglo-Irish landowner Sir John Hamilton coerces one of his servants, IRA member Chris Reilly, into passing information to the British Army's Intelligence Corps.
Soon the Irish Free State replaces British rule, and Teddy and his allies begin patrolling in National Army uniforms.
When the Battle of Dublin launches the Irish Civil War, the Anti-Treaty column commences guerrilla warfare against Free State forces.
[9] Some filming took place in Bandon, County Cork: a scene was shot along North Main Street and outside a building next to the Court House.
[12] The commercial interest expressed in the UK was initially much lower than in other European countries and only 30 prints of the film were planned for distribution in the United Kingdom, compared with 300 in France.
Loach commented on this theme in an interview with Toronto's Eye Weekly (15 March 2007):[14] Every time a colony wants independence, the questions on the agenda are: a) how do you get the imperialists out, and b) what kind of society do you build?
"[16] In September 2006, History Ireland wrote that Ken Loach was "guided by his view that it was the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil that informed the social thinking of the revolution.
"[17] Speaking at an Irish Presidential event on Irish film in 2022, Lelia Doolan described The Wind that Shakes the Barley as "unapologetically socialist," noting that "in one scene at Mass, the priest thunders the bishops’ belief in the virtues of the Treaty and its promise of peace - against the leftwing obduracy of the anti-Treaty attitude – 'I suppose next ye’ll want to nationalise the twelve apostles!
'"[18] The Wind That Shakes the Barley became the most popular independent Irish film ever released in Ireland, earning €377,000 in its opening weekend and €2.7 million by August 2006.
The website's critical consensus reads, "Bleak and uncompromising, but director Ken Loach brightens his film with gorgeous cinematography and tight pacing, and features a fine performance from Cillian Murphy.
[21] The Daily Telegraph's film critic described it as a "brave, gripping drama" and said that director Loach was "part of a noble and very English tradition of dissent".
The Daily Record of Scotland gave it a positive review (4 out of 5), describing it as "a dramatic, thought-provoking, gripping tale that, at the very least, encourages audiences to question what has been passed down in dusty history books.
"[26] In a generally positive review, the Irish historian Brian Hanley suggested that the film might have dealt with the IRA's relationship with the Protestant community, as one scene in its screenplay did.
[28] In 2024, a study commissioned by Betfair Casino, combining ratings from IMDb, Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes, placed The Wind that Shakes the Barley as Cillian Murphy's second most popular film performance.