''Hanging with Hector'' is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

television series broadcast on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...

. It is presented by the Irish personality

Hector Ó hEochagáin Shane Ó hEochagáin (; born 17 August 1969), known mononymously as Hector, is an Irish television and radio presenter born in Drogheda, County Louth, and raised in Navan, Co. Meath. He currently presents ''The Tommy and Hector Podcast with Laur ...

(Hector). The show centres on Ó hEochagáin's exploits as he meets a different well-known individual for each episode and spends the day " hanging out" with them, engaging in their lifestyles and partaking in their chosen pursuits in a manner deemed entertaining for the Irish television viewing public. It has been criticised for being "about as original as washing your teeth each morning". It is very similar to its more recent female equivalent ''

Livin' with Lucy ''Livin' with Lucy'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish television programme presented by Lucy Kennedy. First aired on 14 April 2008, the premise of the show is that Kennedy spends a weekend living with a different celebrity each episode, analysin ...

'', although Ó hEochagáin, unlike

Lucy Kennedy Lucy Kennedy ( ga, Lusaí Ní Chinnéide; born 21 April 1976) is an Irish television and radio presenter. Kennedy first came to public attention from co-hosting ''The Podge and Rodge Show'' on RTÉ Two. She has also presented dating show ''The ...

, does not actually live with the celebrities. The celebrities are largely male, with the most recent season including the chef

Richard Corrigan Richard Corrigan (born 10 February 1964) is an Irish chef. He is chef/patron of Corrigan's Bar & Restaurant Mayfair, Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill, Daffodil Mulligan Restaurant & Gibney's Bar London and Virginia Park Lodge in Virginia, County C ...

, the former Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Trevor Brennan Trevor Brennan (born 29 September 1973) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played for Barnhall, Bective Rangers, St Marys College RFC, Leinster, Stade Toulousain and Ireland, being capped 13 times. He played either in the second row o ...

, the rugby analyst and radio presenter

George Hook George Hook (born 19 May 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby union pundit. He formerly hosted ''The Right Hook'' and ''High Noon'' on the Irish radio station Newstalk. He had a career as a rugby union coach and businessman, be ...

and, most recently, the horse trainer

Aidan O'Brien Aidan Patrick O'Brien (born 16 October 1969 in County Wexford, Ireland) Aidan O'Brien bio NTRA. ...

. However, the female athlete

Derval O'Rourke Derval O'Rourke (born 28 May 1981) is an Irish former sprint hurdles athlete. She competed internationally in the 60 and 100 metres hurdles, and is the Irish national record holder in both events. She participated in two Ind ...

has featured in the past. The second season featured the comedian

Jon Kenny Jonathan Kenny (born 12 December 1957) is an Irish comedian and actor who lives in Lough Gur and is one half of the famous Irish comic duo d'Unbelievables with Pat Shortt.

(known as one half of D'Unbelievables) and snooker player

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

. The first season included the fraudulent banker-turned CEO of Galway United F.C.,

Nick Leeson Nicholas William Leeson (born 25 February 1967) is an English former derivatives trader whose fraudulent, unauthorized and speculative trades resulted in the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest merchant bank. Leeson w ...

, the footballer

Niall Quinn Niall John Quinn (honorary MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit. As a player he was a striker who played top flight football for Arsenal, Manchester City and S ...

and Ó hEochagáin's schoolboy friend and future radio partner Tommy Tiernan. The very first episode saw Ó hEochagáin hang with his most profile figure,

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

, who was still

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

at the time the programme was filmed and aired. The episode included a business trip to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The episode with the goalkeeper

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

took place at his home in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, United Kingdom. It was filmed just prior to a Premiership fixture with Arsenal F.C., and Ó hEochagáin famously acquired a pair of boots belonging to Alan Shearer. The episode with the comedian

Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...

followed him as he performed three shows in one night at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, made a television appearance on ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

'' and visited

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

motor racing circuit to improve his driving skills. The episode with the actor Colm Meaney was filmed in

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

where the pair went swimming and got wheel-clamped before flying out to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

for the Haugesund Film Festival where they attended a screening of the film ''The Boys (and Girl) from County Clare'' and sing to the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n audience a rendition of "

Whiskey in the Jar "Whiskey in the Jar" ( Roud 533) is an Irish traditional song set in the southern mountains of Ireland, often with specific mention of counties Cork and Kerry. The song, about a rapparee ( highwayman) who is betrayed by his wife or lover, i ...

". Also featured were the jockey

Johnny Murtagh Johnny Murtagh (born 14 May 1970) is an Irish flat racing trainer and former jockey from Bohermeen, near Navan, Kells, County Meath. As a jockey he won many of the major flat races in Europe, including all the Irish Classi ...

and the comedian

Deirdre O'Kane use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , education ...

Episodes

Season one

Niall Quinn revealed his regret at becoming involved in the

Saipan incident The Saipan incident was a public quarrel in May 2002 between Republic of Ireland national football team's captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy when the team was preparing in Saipan for its matches in Japan in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It r ...

Season two

Jon Kenny took Ó hEochagáin around his home town of Bruff,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

, where they chatted to the local butcher, an

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

impersonator, before attending a bullock auction. Ken Doherty took Ó hEochagáin on a tour of Preston as he prepared to compete in the season-opening Grand Prix. Ó hEochagáin then humorously refereed a charity match following a meeting with

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

Recent archive

Season three

Ó hEochagáin travelled to a food festival in northern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

where he met Richard Corrigan, who took him to his new restaurant in

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. They later visited

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Trevor Brennan met Ó hEochagáin in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France and they visited Stade Toulousain, took a trip to the local market and challenged the local citizens to a game of

boules ''Boules'' () is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Croatian: boćanje and in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls (called in France, ...

. Derval O'Rourke gave Ó hEochagáin an insight into her athletic lifestyle as she travelled to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to train in a warmer climate. She was then taken to the RTÉ Sports Personality of the Year awards and the couple flew via helicopter to

Naas Racecourse Naas Racecourse is a horse racing venue in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, approximately 18 miles from Dublin. The course stages both Flat racing and National Hunt racing and in 2010 fifteen race meetings were held there. The Naas Races Company ...

. George Hook provided Ó hEochagáin with an insight into his journalistic, radiotorial, judgmental lifestyle.

Once-off edition

Hector was with Aidan O'Brien to witness the preparations for the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October ...

in the United States. He also on his daily rounds with Aidan at

Ballydoyle Ballydoyle is a racehorse training facility located in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is a sister thoroughbred facility to Coolmore Stud, and both are owned by John Magnier, son in law to the racehorse trainer Vincent O'Brien. The current train ...

, on the Gallops and in the stables."O'Brien 'Hanging with Hector'"
. Irish-Racing.com. Retrieved 22 December 2008.

References

External links

Official site
* * {{IMDb title, 0431526, Hanging with Hector

2004 Irish television series debuts 2008 Irish television series endings Irish reality television series RTÉ original programming