Ardal O'Hanlon (; born 8 October 1965) is an Irish comedian, actor, and author. He played
Father Dougal McGuire in ''
Father Ted
''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...
'' (1995–1998), George Sunday/Thermoman in ''
My Hero'' (2000–2006), and DI Jack Mooney in ''
Death in Paradise '' (2017–2020). His novel ''
The Talk of the Town'' was published in 1998.
Early life
O'Hanlon was born in
Carrickmacross
Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The population was 5,745 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a castle buil ...
,
County Monaghan
County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...
,
the son of
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
TD and physician
Rory O'Hanlon and Teresa (née Ward).
He is the third of six children, and has three brothers and two sisters.
O'Hanlon was schooled in
Blackrock College in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and graduated, in 1987, from the
National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin (now
Dublin City University
Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...
), with a degree in
communication studies
Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...
.
Career
Together with
Kevin Gildea and
Barry Murphy, O'Hanlon founded the
International Comedy Cellar, upstairs in the
International Bar on Dublin's South
Wicklow Street.
Dublin had no comedy scene at the time. As a stand up, O'Hanlon won the
Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 1994. For a time he was the presenter of ''The Stand Up Show''.
O'Hanlon was cast as
Father Dougal McGuire in ''
Father Ted
''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...
'' (1995–1998). During filming, O'Hanlon went to buy shoes. Still being in costume, the seller thought he was a real priest and offered the footwear for free. In 1995 he received the Top TV Comedy Newcomer at the
British Comedy Awards for this role. In 1995, he appeared (as Father Dougal) in a
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
ident ("Hello, you're watching ... television"), and during
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
on BBC1. This was followed by the award-winning short comedy film ''
Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll''. In a 2019 interview, O'Hanlon admitted that he had attempted to distance himself from ''Father Ted'' once the show had finished.
O'Hanlon moved into straight acting alongside
Emma Fielding and
Beth Goddard in the
ITV comedy-drama ''Big Bad World'', which aired for two series in summer 1999 and winter 2001.
He also played a minor role in ''
The Butcher Boy'' as Joe's (Francie's best friend) father, and appeared in an episode of the original ''
Whose Line is it Anyway?''.
In 2000, O'Hanlon starred in the comedy series ''
My Hero'', in which he played a very naive superhero from the planet Ultron.
His character juggled world-saving heroics with life in suburbia. He stayed in the role until the first episode of series 6 in July 2006, when he was replaced by
James Dreyfus during the same episode.
O'Hanlon also provided the voice of the lead character in the three Christmas television cartoon specials of ''
Robbie the Reindeer''. He appeared in the 2005
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
sitcom ''
Blessed'', written by
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...
; at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, it was publicly slated by
Jonathan Ross, albeit in jest. Towards the end of 2005, he played an eccentric Scottish character, Coconut Tam, in the family based film, ''
The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby''. He has also appeared on radio, including an appearance on ''
Quote... Unquote'' on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
on 18 July 2011. Appropriately, one of his questions concerned a quotation from ''Father Ted''. In 2015, he appeared as incompetent angel Smallbone in the sitcom ''The Best Laid Plans'', on the same channel.
In 2006, O'Hanlon wrote and presented an
RTÉ
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
television series called ''Leagues Apart'', which saw him investigate the biggest and most passionate football rivalries in a number of European countries. Included were Roma vs Lazio in Italy, Barcelona vs Real Madrid in Spain, and Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. He followed this with another RTÉ show, ''So You Want To Be Taoiseach?'' in 2007. It was a political series in which O'Hanlon gave tongue-in-cheek advice on how to go about becoming
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 nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
of Ireland.
He appeared in the ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' episode "
Gridlock
Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill. The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...
", broadcast on 14 April 2007, in which he played a catlike creature named Thomas Kincade Brannigan. O'Hanlon appears in series 3 of the TV show ''
Skins'',
playing Naomi Campbell (
Lily Loveless)'s politics teacher named Kieran, who attempted to kiss her. He then went on to form a relationship with Naomi's mother (
Olivia Colman). O'Hanlon plays the lead role in Irish comedy television programme ''
Val Falvey, TD'' on
RTÉ One. In 2012, he performed in the
Edinburgh Fringe.
In February 2011, O'Hanlon returned to the
Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928.
History Beginnings
The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...
, Dublin starring in the Irish premiere of Christopher Hampton's translation of Yasmina Reza's ''
God of Carnage'', alongside
Maura Tierney. Later that year, he appeared in the comedy panel show ''
Argumental''.
O'Hanlon has written a novel, ''
The Talk of the Town'' (known in the United States as ''Knick Knack Paddy Whack''), which was published in 1998. The novel is about a teenage boy, Patrick Scully, and his friends.
In February 2015, he officially launched the 2015 Sky
Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, which took place in
Kilkenny
Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
from 28 May to 1 June. In 2015 he played the role of Peter the Milkman in the
Sky One sitcom ''
After Hours''.
On 2 February 2017, it was announced he would play the lead role in the BBC crime drama ''
Death in Paradise'' taking the role of DI Jack Mooney following
Kris Marshall's departure the same day. He announced his intention to leave the series in early 2020 and was replaced by
Ralf Little. Starting in 2024, he has reprised the role in spin-off series ''
Return to Paradise''.
On 25 November 2021, it was announced that he would participate in series 13 of ''
Taskmaster''. He finished in 4th place ahead of
Judi Love.
In 2023, he played Uncle Jack in the
National Theatre's production of ''
Dancing at Lughnasa
''Dancing at Lughnasa'' is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal, Ireland in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator. He re ...
'' by
Brian Friel, alongside
Siobhan McSweeney and
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.
In January 2024, he presented his first Irish language show, ''Inis na nIontas'', on
TG4, exploring the islands around the coast of Ireland.
Personal life
O'Hanlon met his wife Melanie as a teenager. They have three children. He is a supporter of
Leeds United.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards
References
External links
*
*
Ardal O'Hanlon on comedycv.co.ukArdal O'Hanlon in Melbourne at The Australian Ireland Fund charity event
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohanlon, Ardal
1965 births
Living people
20th-century Irish comedians
21st-century Irish comedians
Alumni of Dublin City University
Irish humorists
Irish male comedians
Irish male stage actors
Irish male film actors
Irish male television actors
Irish male voice actors
Irish television presenters
20th-century Irish novelists
Irish stand-up comedians
People educated at Blackrock College
People from Carrickmacross
Irish male novelists
Actors from County Monaghan
20th-century Irish male writers