Fights, Camera, Action!..

Not every family can sit around the dinner table talking about sword fighting with Paul Mescal in Galdiator II, crashing cars in TV dramas, or riding horses with Matt Damon in The Last Duel, but then again, the Condrens are no ordinary family.

For the Kells-based clan, action and adrenalin has become a way of life. Over decades they have thrown punches, crashed cars, choreographed spectacular fight scenes and supplied film props for productions around the world.

What began with one brother's leap into the stunt industry has grown into a family legacy, with each generation carving out its own place behind the scenes of some of the biggest films and television shows.

Originally from Templeogue in Dublin, the family's journey in the stunt industry began when eldest son Patrick was a film extra. After doing some training for stunt work, Patrick's passion soon inspired his younger brother Joe Condren and their father, Patrick Condren Snr, to join him.

The family moved to Kells in 2005 and Joe went on to establish Total Stunts, building it into an award-winning company that now operates from Ireland, Germany and the United States. As a Stunt Coordinator, he has overseen action sequences on more than 600 productions worldwide, with the company providing everything from stunt performers and coordinators to specialist props, equipment and rigging.

The next generation is carrying the tradition forward. Joe's son, Sean Condren, performs stunts on horseback, behind the wheel and even underwater. When he is not in front of the camera doubling for actors, he is working behind the scenes as a stunt rigger, helping to safely prepare the action audiences eventually see on screen.

From television dramas to Hollywood blockbusters, there is little the Condrens have not experienced. Sean has doubled for stars including Paul Mescal in the 2024 film Gladiator II, as well as Jamie Dornan and Colin Farrell, giving him a front-row seat to some of the industry's biggest productions while remaining almost entirely unseen by audiences.

The family business extends far beyond the stunts themselves. Their impressive collection of specialist movie props includes everything from replica weapons and foam rocks to rubber hammers, fire hydrants and gym weights, the kind of convincing props that have featured in productions including the long-running Dublin-based drama Fair City.

From Patrick to Joe to Sean, the Condrens have transformed a love of action into a thriving family business.

The legacy has continued not only through Joe, but also through siblings Tony, Brendan and Emma, as well as Joe's other son, Aran, making filmmaking very much a family affair.

After recently celebrating his 80th birthday with a big bash in the Headfort Arms in Kells, Patrick Condren Snr reminisced on his grandsons' fearless nature, laughing as he recalled one memorable childhood adventure.

"When Sean and Aran were little boys, I bought them two ponies. They had never done any horse riding lessons. Sean hopped up on the horse's back and grabbed Aaron, who was only about three at the time, and both of them shot up the road on the horse."

Patrick Snr has plenty of stories of his own from performing stunts, including crashing a van during filming of the 2004 comedy Man About Dog starring Sean McGinley, Pat Shortt and Fionnula Flanagan.

More recently, the family's credits have included The Young Offenders, Kin, The Last Duel, Vikings, Bring Them Down, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, Wreck and Love, Rosie.

Despite the physical demands of the job, Joe says the industry has changed dramatically over the years, with training and safety at the heart of every stunt.

"You've as much chance of injury as you have playing a game of soccer. Scenes involving car flips and vehicles really only have one take, as the car could be written off afterwards depending on the scene.

If it's a smaller production, there are no back-up cars to retake the scene. There is very little room for error. There's a huge team involved behind a singular scene flipping a vehicle or crashing a vehicle, not just one person."

Behind every dramatic fight scene is an equally fascinating world of carefully designed props.

While some of the family's collection had already gone out on rental, what remained in their workshop was enough to build a blockbuster production right there and then.

Joe explained: "You use the likes of the rubber fire extinguishers for scenes involving fights, and they're exact replicas of the real thing. My sister Emma has gotten into creating props for films through 3D printing and moulds, as she is also in the film and stunt business.

"You have different levels of weapons for on screen. Some guns or knives might be softer, some might be more firm. They're made out of different materials. The guns can also let off air which creates a sound effect to emulate a gun shot and a puff of smoke. It is much easier for the actor to react to an actual sound than to a gun that is silent. So much thought and work goes into it behind the scenes."

Even the smallest details that viewers rarely notice require meticulous planning.

"Rocks have to be replicated in foam from the exact mould of the original rock, in order for actors to not injure themselves but to still create the same impact when throwing the original rock to the ground. It is all about how it looks on camera."

While audiences only see the finished product, Joe says the real work begins long before the cameras roll. From high falls and vehicle stunts to harnesses, pulleys and specialist rigging, safety underpins every aspect of the business, as no job like this is completely risk free.

Joe recalls a moment that is every stunt actor's worst nightmare that occurred during the filming of Rust in 2021 when a revolver gun with a live round was unknowingly on set, making one of the biggest news stories of that year.

“I remember when the story broke. The gun was being used as a prop for a scene, but it had been declared a ‘cold gun’, meaning it had no ammunition inside of it. With the carelessness of a live round being mixed in with dummy bullets on set, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured. Mishandling firearms on set can lead to tragedy, so we really prioritise safety with our props.”

Walking through Total Stunts' workshop feels like stepping onto a film set. Walls are lined with swords, replica firearms, rocket launchers and shelves of carefully crafted props, while harnesses, pulleys and green-screen equipment sit ready to practice for the next production.

With Sean and Aaron now building careers of their own across the film industry, the business has become a full-time passion shared across generations.

Listening to Joe speak, it is clear the excitement has never faded. Whether they are choreographing a car crash, crafting the perfect prop or preparing for a high-risk scene, the Condren family has built something remarkable and international from the ground up in the town of Kells.