Is Father Ted The Greatest Irish Sitcom Of All Time…?

Well, we reckon it has a pretty good shot at the title, given just how universally loved the show is.

It lasted just 25 episodes, over three series, from 1995 to 1998, and yet, Father Ted is on a TV or a computer screen somewhere in the world every single day. If not hour.

This is the show that Maurice Gibb insisted he take to his grave, the manuscripts for the show having been placed in his coffin.

This is the show that gave us Dougal! Father Jack! Mrs Doyle! Ted! Not to mention a plethora of supporting characters – warped Irish stereotypes all – that would have David Lynch reaching for the smelling salts.

Just why Father Ted is so loved is a question that not even its creators, Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, have been able to answer, although they did recognise, years after it ended, that they might just have reimagined Only Fools & Horses as bonkers Irish priests. Which goes some way to explain its broad appeal.

For Patrick McDonnell – who’s headlining our Father Ted Night on Friday, December 8th – the show’s undying popularity is all down to one simple fact.

“It’s just very, very funny,” states the Louth lout. “And that never gets old. I still get recognised as Eoin McLove from that show, and it’s wonderful to be part of the Father Ted world. Even if it’s for being that guy on the show with no willy.”