Ballykissangel (1996–2001)

An English priest is transferred to a small Irish village.

Creator:

Kieran Prendiville

Stars:

Frankie McCafferty, Joe Savino, Deirdre Donnelly

6 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Frankie McCafferty	...	Donal Docherty (58 episodes, 1996-2001)
Joe Savino	...	Liam Coghlan (58 episodes, 1996-2001)
Deirdre Donnelly	...	Siobhan Mehigan (56 episodes, 1996-2001)
Gary Whelan	...	Brendan Kearney (55 episodes, 1996-2001)
Aine Ni Mhuiri	...	Kathleen Hendley (53 episodes, 1996-2001)
Niall Toibin	...	Father MacAnally (52 episodes, 1996-2001)
Tina Kellegher	...	Niamh Egan (49 episodes, 1996-2001)
Tony Doyle	...	Brian Quigley (46 episodes, 1996-1999)
Peter Hanly	...	Ambrose Egan (38 episodes, 1996-1999)
Bosco Hogan	...	Dr. Michael Ryan (38 episodes, 1996-2001)
Birdy Sweeney	...	Eamon Byrne (34 episodes, 1996-1999)
Peter Caffrey	...	Padraig O'Kelly (33 episodes, 1996-1998)
Lorcan Cranitch	...	Sean Dillon (24 episodes, 1998-1999)
Don Wycherley	...	Father Aidan O'Connell (24 episodes, 1998-1999)
Victoria Smurfit	...	Orla O'Connell (24 episodes, 1998-1999)

Storyline

Peter Clifford, a young Catholic priest from Manchester, is transferred to the village of Ballykissangel, Ireland, and is taken by the dry-humored publican Assumpta Fitzgerald who has almost the exact opposite of his good nature and dislikes the organized church. He has to deal with occasional battles against his hateful superior, Father MacAnally, and the day-to-day problems of the people: Brian Quigley, whose constant search for money often leads him to immorality, his daughter Niamh and her lover straight-arrow garda Ambrose Egan, uptight and inquisitive shopkeeper Kathleen Hendley, gruff vet Siobhan Mehigan, cheery mechanic Padraig O'Kelly, comical schoolteacher Brendan Kearney, and elderly farmer Eamon Byrne. Later arrivals to the town include former monk Father Aidan O'Connell, pariah Sean Dillon and his daughter Emma, Eamon's nephew Danny, female Garda Frankie Sullivan, Australian Father Vincent Sheahan, and horse-trainer Avril Burke.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | schoolteacher | catholic priest | farmer | ireland | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC Northern Ireland World Productions

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 1996 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ballykissangelin pappi

Filming Locations:

Avoca, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Northern Ireland, Ballykea, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tony Doyle, who starred as Brian Quigley in the first five seasons, was the father of Susannah Doyle, who appeared as Avril Burke in the sixth.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cult of...: All Creatures Great and Small (2008)

User Reviews

character driven

This is a great series. As you watch you get pulled into the lives of the various characters living in a small village. While there is a tendency to romanticize the rural life in many films (and in part here), there is a greater depth than the average show. There is much humor in this series and also much heat break. As much as the viewer yearns for things to go right in the characters lives, things tend to go wrong and the characters must deal with personal loss, death, divorce, and financial ruin. For a show billed as a comedy, it is more drama with an overlay of humor. I am being somewhat vague in this review because this is a series to be dipped into for episodes that are uplifting and heart warming but ultimately overshadowed by reality. If you watch it once you will find find that after the passage of a few years you are longing to revisit Ballykissangel and share in the lives of what almost become real people.