Irish television possesses a character as distinctive as the island itself—shaped by a complex history, deep literary traditions, and a culture that values storytelling above almost everything else. From RTÉ’s founding in 1961 to today’s internationally acclaimed productions, Irish television has evolved from modest beginnings into a significant creative force.
Irish television operates across two jurisdictions: the Republic with RTÉ, TG4 (Irish-language), and Virgin Media Television, and Northern Ireland served primarily by BBC Northern Ireland and UTV. This political division has itself provided material for some of Ireland’s most significant television, as have the broader themes of emigration, religion, rural life, and rapid social change.
What distinguishes Irish television is a combination of literary sensibility, dark humor, and emotional authenticity. Irish drama often explores difficult subjects—political violence, clerical abuse, historical trauma—with unflinching honesty, while Irish comedy finds laughter in even the darkest circumstances. The landscape, from Dublin’s Georgian streets to the wild Atlantic coast, provides visual distinctiveness that marks Irish production immediately.
Here are 25 television shows that represent the best of Irish television from both sides of the border.
1. Father Ted (1995-1998)
Network: Channel 4/RTÉ
Seasons: 3
Starring: Dermot Morgan, Ardal O’Hanlon, Frank Kelly, Pauline McLynn
Setting: Craggy Island
Three priests and their housekeeper on a remote island shouldn’t have been this funny, yet Father Ted became one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. Dermot Morgan’s Ted, perpetually scheming for advancement, Ardal O’Hanlon’s dim Dougal, Frank Kelly’s feral Father Jack, and Pauline McLynn’s tea-obsessed Mrs. Doyle created comedy perfection. Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews’s scripts found absurdity in religious life without being mean about faith itself. “That would be an ecumenical matter” entered the language.
2. Normal People (2020)
Network: BBC Three/RTÉ
Episodes: 12
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Mescal
Setting: County Sligo and Dublin
Sally Rooney’s novel became an intimate examination of two young people whose connection endures through years of miscommunication. Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones delivered breakthrough performances, their chemistry palpable through scenes of remarkable emotional and physical intimacy. Shot in Sligo and Dublin, the show captured something true about contemporary Irish life while telling a universal love story.
3. Derry Girls (2018-2022)
Network: Channel 4
Seasons: 3
Starring: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Dylan Llewellyn
Setting: 1990s Derry
Lisa McGee’s coming-of-age comedy set during the Troubles found universal teenage experience amid political upheaval. Erin, Clare, Michelle, Orla, and honorary “wee English fella” James navigated school, boys, and bombs with self-absorption only teenagers can manage. The show balanced period specificity with timeless comedy, making viewers laugh while caring deeply about characters living through history.
4. Love/Hate (2010-2014)
Network: RTÉ One
Seasons: 5
Starring: Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gillen, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Ruth Negga
Setting: Dublin
Stuart Carolan’s gangster drama portrayed Dublin’s criminal underworld with visceral intensity. The show tracked gang warfare and personal betrayals across five seasons, becoming the most-watched drama in Irish television history. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor’s Nidge became an iconic villain while the show launched careers including Ruth Negga’s.
5. The Fall (2013-2016)
Network: BBC Two/RTÉ One
Seasons: 3
Starring: Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan
Setting: Belfast
Allan Cubitt’s psychological thriller subverted serial killer conventions by revealing the murderer from the start. Gillian Anderson’s DSI Stella Gibson hunted Jamie Dornan’s disturbingly ordinary Paul Spector through Belfast. The show used the city’s post-Troubles atmosphere while examining violence against women with intelligence and restraint.
6. Ballykissangel (1996-2001)
Network: BBC One
Seasons: 6
Starring: Stephen Tompkinson, Dervla Kirwan, Tony Doyle
Setting: County Wicklow
This drama about an English priest in an Irish village charmed audiences with its blend of gentle comedy and romantic tension. Stephen Tompkinson’s Father Clifford and Dervla Kirwan’s publican Assumpta created will-they-won’t-they chemistry complicated by his vows. The show presented an idealized Ireland that international audiences found irresistible.
7. Glenroe (1983-2001)
Network: RTÉ One
Episodes: 1,000+
Setting: County Wicklow
For 18 years, this rural drama was essential Sunday night viewing in Ireland. Following life in a fictional Wicklow community, Glenroe addressed Irish social issues from emigration to the Celtic Tiger while building beloved characters. The show ended with one of Irish television’s most-watched finales.
8. The Late Late Show (1962-present)
Network: RTÉ One
Episodes: 2,500+
Hosts: Gay Byrne (1962-1999), Pat Kenny (1999-2009), Ryan Tubridy (2009-2023), Patrick Kielty (2023-present)
The world’s longest-running chat show became an Irish institution under Gay Byrne, tackling subjects—contraception, homosexuality, clerical abuse—that transformed Irish society. The Late Late Show reflected and shaped Ireland’s social evolution, providing a forum for debates that couldn’t happen elsewhere in conservative Ireland.
9. Ros na Rún (1996-present)
Network: TG4
Episodes: 2,000+
Setting: Connemara
Language: Irish
Ireland’s Irish-language soap opera has chronicled life in a fictional Connemara village for nearly three decades. The show provides essential Irish-language content while addressing universal themes through a specifically Gaeltacht lens. For Irish speakers and learners, Ros na Rún serves the community function that English-language soaps serve elsewhere.
10. Reeling in the Years (1999-present)
Network: RTÉ One
Format: Documentary/Archive
Subject: Irish history year by year
This format—each episode covering one year through RTÉ archive footage and popular music—became a phenomenon, its familiar structure providing accessible history lessons. Reeling in the Years created definitive records of Irish decades, with episodes rewatched repeatedly. The format has been imitated worldwide.
11. The Young Offenders (2018-2022)
Network: BBC Three/RTÉ
Seasons: 4
Starring: Alex Murphy, Chris Walley, Hilary Rose
Setting: Cork
This comedy about two delinquent Cork teenagers began as a film before expanding into a series. Conor and Jock’s escapades captured Cork’s character while finding humor in characters society might dismiss. The show’s warmth distinguished it from purely cynical comedy.
12. Fair City (1989-present)
Network: RTÉ One
Episodes: 3,000+
Setting: Dublin
Ireland’s main urban soap has followed life in the fictional Dublin suburb of Carrigstown for over three decades. Fair City addresses Irish social issues within its continuing drama format, providing a distinctively Irish soap experience for audiences who find British soaps culturally distant.
13. Paths to Freedom (2000)
Network: RTÉ Two
Episodes: 6
Starring: Michael McElhatton, Brendan Coyle
Format: Mockumentary
This mockumentary followed two men released from prison on the same day—one middle-class, one working-class—navigating reentry into Celtic Tiger Ireland. Michael McElhatton’s manipulative Raymond and Brendan Coyle’s bewildered Rats created dark comedy about class and justice.
14. Pure Mule (2005)
Network: RTÉ Two
Episodes: 4
Starring: Charlene McKenna, Peter McDonald, Andrea Irvine
Setting: Irish Midlands
Eugene O’Brien’s drama captured Celtic Tiger excess in small-town Ireland. Young people in the Midlands dealt with drugs, money, and ambition while the older generation watched in confusion. The show offered a darker view of Ireland’s boom than comfortable narratives preferred.
15. Bloodlands (2021-present)
Network: BBC One
Seasons: 2+
Starring: James Nesbitt, Lorcan Cranitch
Setting: Northern Ireland
James Nesbitt’s DCI Tom Brannick investigates crimes connected to Northern Ireland’s violent past in this thriller. The show uses the legacy of the Troubles—disappeared victims, former paramilitaries—as backdrop for contemporary mystery.
16. The Dry (2022-present)
Network: Britbox/ITV
Seasons: 2+
Starring: Roisin Gallagher, Siobhán Cullen, Pom Boyd
Setting: Dublin
This comedy about a woman returning to Dublin after getting sober finds humor in recovery while exploring family dysfunction. The show addresses Irish drinking culture with honesty while delivering genuine comedy.
17. Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope (2016-2018)
Network: RTÉ Two
Seasons: 2
Starring: Seána Kerslake, Nika McGuigan
Setting: Dublin
This drama followed two Cork women in Dublin whose friendship strains under the weight of addiction and ambition. The show portrayed young Irish women’s lives with unflinching honesty, tackling subjects from cocaine use to career pressure.
18. Smother (2021-present)
Network: RTÉ One/BBC
Seasons: 2+
Starring: Dervla Kirwan, Gemma-Leah Devereux
Setting: Clare
This thriller set in the Cliffs of Moher area explored family secrets following a suspicious death. The Clare coastline provided stunning backdrop while family dynamics drove compelling mystery.
19. Mrs. Brown’s Boys (2011-present)
Network: BBC One/RTÉ One
Seasons: 4+
Starring: Brendan O’Carroll
Setting: Dublin
Brendan O’Carroll’s cross-dressing matriarch Agnes Brown has divided audiences but achieved enormous popularity. The broad comedy and live audience appeal have made Mrs. Brown’s Boys a Christmas ratings winner, whatever critics think.
20. Give My Head Peace (1998-2007, 2019)
Network: BBC Northern Ireland
Seasons: 14
Starring: Tim McGarry, Damon Quinn, Martin Reid
Setting: Belfast
This sitcom about two families from opposite sides of Belfast’s sectarian divide found comedy in Northern Ireland’s divisions. The show demonstrated that even the Troubles could be comedy material when handled with intelligence and local knowledge.
21. An Klondike/Dominion Creek (2015-2017)
Network: TG4
Seasons: 3
Starring: Owen McDonnell, Dara Devaney, Ian Toner
Setting: Yukon Gold Rush
Language: Irish (with English version)
This Irish-language western followed three Connemara brothers seeking fortune in the Yukon Gold Rush. The show demonstrated Irish-language television could produce ambitious drama, while the English-language version (Dominion Creek) reached international audiences.
22. Moone Boy (2012-2015)
Network: Sky One
Seasons: 3
Starring: David Rawle, Chris O’Dowd, Deirdre O’Kane
Setting: 1990s Boyle, County Roscommon
Chris O’Dowd created and starred in this semi-autobiographical comedy about a boy with an imaginary friend in 1980s-90s Ireland. O’Dowd played the adult imaginary companion, while the show captured Irish small-town childhood with warmth and humor.
23. The Tudors (2007-2010)
Network: Showtime/TV3
Seasons: 4
Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Natalie Dormer
Setting: Tudor England (filmed in Ireland)
While depicting English history, this Irish-Canadian co-production filmed extensively in Ireland and starred Irish actors prominently. The show demonstrated Ireland’s capacity for large-scale historical production while launching careers.
24. Bad Sisters (2022-present)
Network: Apple TV+
Seasons: 2+
Starring: Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Eve Hewson
Setting: Dublin
Sharon Horgan’s dark comedy about sisters trying to murder their abusive brother-in-law became an international hit. The show balanced genuine darkness about domestic abuse with pitch-black humor, while its Irish setting and cast brought authenticity.
25. Line of Duty (2012-2021)
Network: BBC One (filmed in Belfast)
Seasons: 6
Note: While set in a fictional English city, largely filmed in Belfast
Though Jed Mercurio’s drama was set in England, its production in Belfast supported Northern Irish television infrastructure and employed local crew and actors. The show’s success demonstrated Northern Ireland’s capacity for major drama production.
Conclusion
Irish television has evolved remarkably from RTÉ’s modest 1961 beginnings to today’s internationally competitive productions. The small market has forced creativity and efficiency, producing shows that punch well above their weight. From Father Ted’s absurdist comedy to Normal People’s intimate drama, Irish television demonstrates that compelling stories matter more than massive budgets.
What distinguishes Irish television is its combination of literary sensibility, dark humor, and emotional honesty. Ireland’s storytelling tradition translates naturally to television, while the country’s rapid social transformation provides endless material. Shows from The Late Late Show to Love/Hate have both reflected and shaped Irish society.
The industry’s recent successes—Normal People, Derry Girls, Bad Sisters—have raised Ireland’s international profile while proving Irish stories appeal to global audiences. Irish actors from Saoirse Ronan to Paul Mescal, Irish writers from Sally Rooney to Lisa McGee, and Irish production companies are achieving recognition that would have been unimaginable a generation ago.
For Anglophiles drawn to the rich tapestry of television from the British Isles, Irish television offers essential viewing. Whether drawn to dark comedy, contemporary drama, or historical epic, Ireland produces television that rewards attention with distinctive perspectives and stories that couldn’t come from anywhere else.
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