My father was driven, active and always busy. We didn’t see that much of him, although he never went far away or stayed overnight anywhere. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
While I try to retain the slightly odd perspective and some of the innocence, it’s really liberating to be able to talk/rant about all the stuff that bothers me. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
Irish people are still very prickly about Catholic Church. Despite all the scandals and cover-ups that have rocked the church, you can only push it so far. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
There is something restless and curious about the Irish. Like everybody else, we want to make money and make our way in the world but it’s not the be all and end all. We also want to have fun, we want to make friends, make connections, share stories. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
When you grow up in a border area of Ireland, people are very wary and cagy and keep their head down at all times. Don’t speak unless it’s absolutely essential, and don’t give anything away. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
It’s quite telling that the really big comedians – like John Bishop from Liverpool, Kevin Bridges from Glasgow, Peter Kay from Bolton – stand out with their strong regional accents. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
People love authenticity in comedy and, coming from a region, you get a very strong sense of place. They can place you straight away, so they can relax. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
Getting up in front of the toughest crowds, you know, playing pubs in South Armagh – where people didn’t necessarily even know what stand-up comedy was – you had to force yourself to do it. It went against every instinct in your body, but you did it anyway. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
In terms of being typecast, if you do something like Father Ted that infiltrates the public’s imagination to the extent that it did, I think realistically you’re not going to be asked to do something radically different from that very often. But it’s not a problem. Ardal O'Hanlon Read Quote
