FAQ

Father Ted Crilly, a cunning, but, hapless middle-aged priest has been exiled to Craggy Island, an island off the coast of Ireland populated by it's eccentric, quirky and mentally unstable townspeople by the abusive and short-tempered Bishop Len Brennan (Who has a deep hatred for Ted) for stealing children's charity money. On Craggy Island, poor Ted struggles to keep the faith and to be happy as he tries to keep two other exiled priests: The young idiotic and unintelligent Father Dougal McGuire (Who irritates Ted with his brainlessness) and the evil, elderly, violent and drunk Father Jack Hackett (Who constantly abuses Ted) who Ted resides with at the parochial house out of trouble and tries to bring order to the chaos and insanity. Ted, Dougal and Jack are not alone on Craggy Island and they are joined by their loyal and dedicated housekeeper Mrs. Doyle and Father Ted finds himself on all sorts of misadventures as he deals with church business and competes with his arch nemesis, the rotten exiled priest Father Dick Byrne who resides on the nearby Rugged Island.

For a comedy series it actually had a huge effect on the society of the Irish Republic and is considered one of the cornerstones of the Shamrock Awakening movement. It was the first series to poke fun at the Roman Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland and its' domination of the population, something which was revolutionary and hugely controversial amongst the establishment at the time. So much so that political reformers were later referred to as the Father Ted generation.

Amazingly enough yes. The episode 'The Passion of St Tibulus' is based on the scandal surrounding Irish Bishop Desmond Casey who fathered an illegitimate child by his housekeeper. 'A Song for Europe' is based on the fact that in the 1990s Southern Ireland constantly won the Eurovision song contest and eventually had to withdraw from the competition as they could no longer afford to continually host it as a result. 'Are you right there Father Ted?' where a priest is seen sheltering a Nazi war criminal is based on the History Channel's contemporary documentary 'Ireland's Nazis' which revealed that the Irish Free State had concealed and supported fugitive Nazis after the Second World War. In 'Rock-a-Hula Ted' the outspoken feminist pop singer who visits Craggy Island is clearly based on eccentric Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor. The Mainland could be based around Richard Wilson being associated with his catchphrase.