Irish movies may have the Midas touch this awards season - and they are also sprinkling gold dust on the box office receipts.

Ticket sales shot up 69% a fortnight ago as a combination of schools' mid-term break and a slew of blockbusters saw people flock back to the flicks.

"Cinema spending soared during the recent mid-term break as parents nationwide sought to keep their children entertained," Bank of Ireland's analysis of card spending shows.

Spending rose by 10% when compared to the previous week.

"With schools closed across the country, many parents looked to fill their children's time off with a range of outings, with spend in swimming pools spiking by 30% and outlay in museums rising by 27%. The analysis reveals that it wasn't just a case of parents cajoling their kids to museums either, with spending in museums amongst 13 to 17-year-olds ticking up by 23%," the bank said.

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People in Mayo saw the strongest mid-term spending increase in the country at 47%, followed by consumers in Laois up 29%; Cavan up by 23%; Roscommon up by 23%; and Leitrim up by 23%.

However, spending in Westmeath during mid-term break was flat at 0% when compared to the previous week, while increased outlay in Carlow and Dublin of 4%, and Kildare at 7% were modest compared to many other counties.

The nation's theatres were also busy during mid-term, posting a spending jump of +16%, and it won't come as a surprise to anyone to learn that mid-term spending in sweet shops, up 14% - and fastfood outlets - up 7%, rose higher.

Teenagers spent their money in a variety of locations, with sports clubs up 120%, shopping centres up 69%, and swimming pools up 55% all proving popular.

Bank of Ireland's Jilly Clarkin said: "The age-old question faced by parents trying to entertain their children never gets any easier to solve, but according to our latest Spending Pulse it looks like they gave it a good go recently.

"People flocked to the cinema in their droves, but it wasn't just a popcorn-fest for the mid-term break as museums and theatres filled up too.

"A spending rise in shopping centres and fast-food outlets is to be expected, with teens themselves posting a total spending spike of 51% during their week off, but a 30% hike in swimming pool spend indicates that many children also kept active in their time away from the classroom." Former cinema manager David Redford said: "During the pandemic a lot of [movie] productions were shut down. Several cinemas opened this time last year, so for a year they were struggling to get good quality new films.

"But since production resumed there's been a steady stream of international blockbusters such as the last Marvel Movie Ant-Man and the Wasp and smaller art house films. Creed III opened last weekend, which is the latest in the Rocky series.

"The other Oscar-nominated Irish film - An Cailín Ciúin - has been in cinemas almost a year and has taken nearly €1.5million in Ireland, which is a lot for a small film made in this country.

"But Banshees of Inisherin, even though it's on Disney Plus - it's on streaming and has been for several weeks - it's still pulling in very good crowds.

"The fact that Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell have been tirelessly promoting in advance of the Oscars hasn't done any harm at all. Part of it is a rebound as people couldn't go to the cinema during lockdown.

"It's the same with live events, there are also comedy clubs all over doing huge business."

Also Irish language movie An Cailín Ciúin - or the Quiet Girl - is in the running for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.

The Banshees of Inisherin has grossed $45.3m worldwide against an estimated budget of $20m.