Ballykissangel 

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
Áine Ní Mhuirí	...	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:

catholic | ireland | pub | fictional town | friendship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Owen Roe (I)''s character who appeared once each in the first and third seasons was originally named Sean Dooley, but when he returned as a regular character late in the fifth season, his name was switched to Paul Dooley because Lorcan Cranitch's character Sean Dillon had been introduced in the third season.

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Connections

Remade as Hope Island (1999)

User Reviews

Pleasing Irish series

One of my favourite series. Ballykissangel is an example of how Ireland can produce quality family drama with wonderful characters and good writing against a picturesque backdrop of the Irish countryside.

Filmed at Avoca in Ireland it follows the characters in the fictional town of Ballykissangel, mainly the Catholic priest Father Peter Clifford. Hidden underneath the weekly episodes was the quietly growing attraction of Father Peter and Assumpta Fitzgerald (pub owner of Fitzgeralds)

The series had a slightly quirky edge to it and its humour helped make the series such a ratings winner. The show went for 6 seasons but the best episodes were the first 3 seasons. After the end of the first 3 the two main characters left and the the creator and writer, Kieran Prendiville, also handed over the reins to other writers. The show was never the same and lost some of its humour. Then Peter Hanley (Ambrose) left the show. Later on the series suffered more blows with actors, Birdy Sweeny (Eamonn) and Tony Doyle (Brian Quigley), dying in real life.

With falling ratings Season 6 saw Ballykissangel given some new life with the arrival of a more charismatic priest, Father Vincent Sheahan (played by Australian Robert Taylor) and the return of the original writer Kieran Prendiville. Despite Season 6 being more enjoyable, and showing more promise, it was decided to end the show after 58 episodes.

Personally I think it could have continued as long as Kieran Prendiville held its reins but it was not to be.

Ballykissangel will go down in television history as an example of how good an Irish production can be, which, at its best, was extremely likeable.

Details

Official Sites:

BBC Northern Ireland World Productions

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 1996 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ballykissangel

Filming Locations:

Wicklow Town, 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

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1