Matt Damon returns to Ireland for Last Duel filming

Work has resumed on Ridley Scott's The Last Duel, with Matt Damon and co-star Ben Affleck returning to Ireland to pick up filming.

Production on the historic epic halted in March with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving Damon stranded in the Emerald Isles for three months.

In April locals spotted the Bourne Identity star taking a swim at a beach in Dalkey, not far from Dublin, and a snap of Damon carrying a SuperValu bag from an Irish grocery chain drew widespread curiosity. In a May interview with Ireland's Fully Charged radio show, Damon explained the bag merely contained his family's towels.

"That bag, we just had the towels. I was with the kids, we were taking a dip there. We didn't show up with beach bags, we were just improvising," he disclosed.

Elsewhere in the interview, Damon revealed he had chosen to stay in Ireland as the pandemic set in, as he had settled his family and assistants, including teachers for his children, into staying there. He added there was no place he'd " rather be" than Ireland, and described Dalkey as like a "fairy tale".

"It's incredible. This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It feels a little like a fairytale here. Bono lives over there, Enya lives over there," he laughed.

Although Damon eventually departed Ireland in May, he has now returned to The Last Duel's set in Cahir, County Tipperary, with cast and crew reportedly in "bio bubbles" according to the Irish Independent.

The film is slated for an October 2021 release.