Ardal O'Hanlon

Early life

O'Hanlon was born in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, the son of Fianna Fáil 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 educated in Blackrock College in Dublin. He graduated in 1987 from the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin, (now Dublin City University) with a degree in communication studies.

Career

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 comic, O'Hanlon won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 1994. and was for a time the presenter of The Stand Up Show.

O'Hanlon was cast as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted (1995–1998), which he said was his "first proper job in television". 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. He and Dermot Morgan (Father Ted) often did their own stunts, and he recalled that on one occasion they were dragged through a field behind a tractor. 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 ident ("Hello, you're watching ... television"), and during Comic Relief on BBC1. This was followed by the award-winning short comedy film Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll.

In a 2019 interview, O'Hanlon said he had attempted to distance himself from Father Ted once the show had finished. He 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 had 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 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 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 sitcom Blessed, written by Ben Elton, which was publicly slated by Jonathan Ross, albeit in jest, at the 2005 British Comedy Awards. Towards the end of 2005, O'Hanlon 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 on 18 July 2011, where one of his questions concerned a quotation from Father Ted. In 2015 he appeared on the same channel as incompetent angel Smallbone in the sitcom The Best Laid Plans.

In 2006, O'Hanlon wrote and presented an RTÉ television series called Leagues Apart, in which he investigated the biggest and most passionate football rivalries in several European countries. Included were Roma vs Lazio in Italy, Barcelona vs Real Madrid in Spain, and Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce in Turkey. He followed this with another RTÉ show, So You Want To Be Taoiseach? in 2007, a political series in which he gave tongue-in-cheek advice on how to go about becoming Taoiseach of Ireland.

O'Hanlon appeared in a Doctor Who episode "Gridlock", broadcast on 14 April 2007, in which he played a catlike creature named Thomas Kincade Brannigan. He appeared in series 3 of the TV show Skins playing Kieran, Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless)'s politics teacher, who attempts to kiss her, and forms a relationship with Naomi's mother (Olivia Colman). O'Hanlon played the lead role in the Irish comedy television programme Val Falvey, TD on RTÉ One. In February 2011 he returned to the Gate Theatre, 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. In 2012, he performed in the Edinburgh Fringe

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. His second novel, "Brouhaha", a darkly comic murder mystery set in the Irish border country, was published in 2022. In February 2015 he launched the 2015 Sky Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, which took place in Kilkenny from 28 May to 1 June. In 2015 he played the role of Peter the Milkman in the Sky One sitcom After Hours. In February 2017 it was announced that 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. 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 a spin-off series, Return to Paradise.

On 25 November 2021, it was announced that O'Hanlon 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 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. In 2025 he starred in the video for the single Invisible Thread by The Divine Comedy.

Personal life

O'Hanlon met his wife Melanie as a teenager. They have a son who lives in Houston, Texas, and two daughters. O'Hanlon is a supporter of Leeds United and a club tennis player.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

References

1. Christie, Janet. (11 Nov 2019). "Ardal O'Hanlon: I had to distance myself from Father Ted after it finished".
2. (27 December 2013). "Ardal O'Hanlon: My family values". [[The Guardian]].
3. Freyne, Patrick. "Ardal O'Hanlon: 'I was always this weird, watchful kind of kid'". The Irish Times.
4. John Wright. (16 November 2025). "A Life in the Day".
5. (18 May 2020). "Ardal O'Hanlon Interview Father Ted Death in Paradise".
6. John Wright. (16 November 2025). "A Life in the Day".
7. "9783612650702: Talk of the Town. - O'Hanlon, Ardal: 361265070X - AbeBooks".
8. Masters, Tim. (22 March 2007). "Fans mad for Doctor's new companion". BBC News.
9. (26 February 2015). "Ardal O'Hanlan launches this year's Cats Laughs as the festival comes of age". evoke.ie.
10. Palmer, Katie. (27 January 2020). "Death in Paradise: When is Ralf Little's first episode?".
11. (25 November 2021). "Taskmaster will return in 2022".
12. "Dancing at Lughnasa {{!}} National Theatre".
13. (2023-12-19). "Ardal O'Hanlon to present his first Irish language show".
14. (3 September 2025). "The Divine Comedy release new single 'Invisible Thread' + music video featuring Ardal O'Hanlon".
15. John Wright. (16 November 2025). "A Life in the Day".
16. (7 May 2012). "Ardal O'Hanlon: Stand up for a life well lived". Irish Independent.
17. (3 August 2003). "My team: Ardal O'Hanlon". The Guardian.
18. John Wright. (16 November 2025). "A Life in the Day".
19. simon_duddy (simon_duddy@vnu.co.uk). (1 October 1998). "Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll (1998)". IMDb.
20. (1 March 2003). "York Independent Film Festival".
21. "BBC – Top of the Pops 2 – Trivia". bbc.co.uk.
22. (16 January 2020). "Ardal O'Hanlon joins Irish treasure hunters' new show".
23. Kleinman, Sylvie. (2022). "Ardal O'Hanlon: Tomb raider".