Lough Tay, Ballinastoe Woods and Iceland: The filming locations of Bloodaxe
Bloodaxe
After six seasons of Vikings for History Channel and three seasons of Vikings: Valhalla for Netflix, Michael Hirst has returned to the Norse world. This time for Amazon Prime Video. This time with his son. And he films in exactly the same Irish county that built the Viking world before.
Bloodaxe is an eight-episode historical drama created, written and executive produced by Michael Hirst and his son Horatio Hirst for Prime Video, produced by MGM Television under Amazon MGM Studios.
The series chronicles the rise of Erik Bloodaxe and his formidable wife Gunnhild, Mother of Kings. Xavier Molyneux plays Erik. Jessica Madsen plays Gunnhild. Levi Miller plays Haakon the Good. Rod Hallett plays King Athelstan. Karlis Arnolds Avots plays Egil Skallagrimsson. Jesper Christensen plays King Harald Fairhair. Kieran Bew – Hugh Hammer in House of the Dragon – has also joined the cast.
Production is centred around Ashford Studios in County Wicklow – the longtime production home of both Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla.
Principal photography for Season 1 began in County Wicklow in June 2025, using Ashford Studios as the production hub alongside extensive outdoor regional locations.
Ballinastoe Woods in the Wicklow Mountains features in confirmed location activity – local reports and community discussions on Reddit note large-scale Viking-era production in the woods, following in the footsteps of the original Vikings series which used the Wicklow Mountains extensively. The forests, moorland and mountain terrain of County Wicklow stand in for historical Scandinavia with a credibility that few European locations can match.
Lough Tay – the stunning glacial lake in the Wicklow Mountains sometimes called the Guinness Lake for its dark water – has a rich history with this production team, having served as a primary filming site for the original Vikings series. Crew and local activity for Bloodaxe have been spotted around Lough Tay, neighbouring Lough Dan and Wicklow Harbour.
Additional confirmed outdoor locations include Wicklow Bay, Powerscourt and its surrounding estate.
Continue reading below the ad
Social media reports mention filming activity at the Black Castle in Wicklow Town and on the beach near the castle in March 2025, with the beach and castle area closed from Monday March 3 to March 21 to accommodate what is believed to be production activity. The Black Castle – the dramatic ruined medieval fortification on the rocky headland above Wicklow’s harbour, its exposed position over the sea giving it a suitably Nordic atmosphere – is exactly the kind of location a Viking drama would use. Final confirmation that the closure was specifically for Bloodaxe has not been officially established.
Alongside Ireland, production also filmed in Iceland – its volcanic terrain, black sand beaches and specific northern light providing environments that no Irish location can replicate for the story’s most extreme Norse settings.
Season 2 production began in August 2026. The Irish Mirror confirmed that production on the historical epic is underway, with Kieran Bew, Gard Løkke, Melina Åkerman, Sebastian Bull and George Burgess joining the cast for the second season.
Bloodaxe premieres on Prime Video on January 20, 2027.
SOURCE
Prime Video // Amazon MGM Studios // Reddit // Irish Mirror
CREDITS
© Amazon MGM Studios // Photo Bernard Walsh
with our self-guided film walking tours
Discover how films are made, why locations matter and other behind-the-scenes stories.
download now, it's free!