Fergus Tighe’s portrait of the Quinn family—actor Aidan, director Paul, and cinematographer Declan—was shot while the brothers were making This is My Father in Ireland. Beginning with their childhood in Chicago, Three Brothers traces the individual careers of the members of this Irish-American clan and examines their relationship to Ireland, to one another, and to the medium in which they work. To director Tighe, it’s about "being American, being Irish, being both, being neither." Three Brothers is an intimate, perceptive, and often amusing biography.

Over four years in production and shot on a shoestring budget, Fergus Tighe’s largely autobiographical debut feature is an accomplished and sensitive film that examines a young teenager’s decision to leave his small town and emigrate to London in search of a freer but uncertain existence. Ostensibly a film about adolescent alienation, Clash of the Ash is also a perceptive look at how ingrained emigration has become in Irish society. The film won Best Drama prize at the 1987 Celtic Film Festival and Best Film award at the 1987 Cork Film Festival.