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The Mass appeal of Ardal

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Ardal O'Hanlon

by Olaf Tyaransen

Ardal O’Hanlon only spent a total of about eight months of his lengthy career acting in Father Ted, but it’s for his role as the hapless Fr. Dougal McGuire that he inarguably remains best known. He’s not complaining about it, mind, but the now 49-year-old, Monaghan-born, comic still hasn’t gone to TedFest.

“I’ve never been, no,” he admits. “But I do this joke, which is kind of a rip-off. I say that I went to TedFest and when I was there I entered into a Father Dougal lookalike competition… and I only came third! It’s kind of a joke, but it’s something that really did happen to Maurice Gibb who, as you probably know, was a big Father Ted fan.”

Indeed, the late Bee Gee was such a fan of the now classic sitcom that he was reportedly buried with a complete box set. “I have that on good authority from Robin Gibb’s wife. She told me that story about him entering into the Maurice Gibb lookalike competition in Miami and only coming third. It’s just another example of how quickly people forget.

I would never be tempted to go to TedFest, to be honest with you, for a couple of reasons,” he continues. “First of all, I don’t know what I could contribute to it. I think I’d be a disappointment to the real diehard fans because I’m not really Father Dougal, that was just a character. Secondly, I always felt it was really important to move on as quickly as possible, even though that’s what a lot of people know me for, which is fine. To keep your sanity and everything else, you have to look ahead and not dwell on the past.”

Post-Father Ted, the happily married father-of-three has kept himself incredibly busy. Something of a renaissance man, O’Hanlon is an occasional guest on UK comedy shows (Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, etc.), has appeared in several films and TV shows (Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll, My Hero, The Butcher Boy), and published a well-received novel (The Talk of the Town).

Stand=up remains his first love, however. Since founding Ireland’s first comedy club, The Comedy Cellar (situated above Dublin’s International Bar), alongside Barry Murphy and Kevin Gildea in the early ‘90s, the award-winning stand-up has continued to make paying punters laugh all over the world.

Even so, he maintains that there’s something special about Irish audiences. “I think you could describe Irish audiences as being generally more ‘over-friendly’. They feel more part of the show than a typical English audience. When you go around England, audiences tend to be very conventional and know their place; they sit there and enjoy the show and react according to what amuses them. In Ireland, I think it’s just more casual. The whole approach to comedy has developed in a slightly different way.

“There’s more interaction between performer and audience. The audience is more vocal. There’s a touch of restlessness about an Irish audience. The attention span wouldn’t be as good as elsewhere.”

Given this, he tends to favour a looser approach to his performances on Irish soil. “I would definitely approach a gig in Ireland slightly differently than I would in the UK,” he says. “You’re more on your toes in Ireland. You kind of have to be more lively, more on the front foot. You mightn’t do material as ‘crafted’ as you would in the UK. I think there’s much more appreciation for a good one-liner over there. People like Milton Jones and Tim Vine might not work as well in Ireland as they would in the UK.”

Where does he stand on hecklers? “I have no real issue with them,” he shrugs. “It’s not as big a deal as some people make out. The actual classic heckle followed by classic putdown isn’t really a big thing. What you might get is a disruptive influence that you might have to stamp on and step out of your persona for a moment or two. It’s just never really been a huge deal in my experience. You’d certainly welcome interaction. You ask questions and you want to engage to some degree. At the same time you don’t want the show to be disrupted.

“There’s different kinds of comedy, as you know yourself. There are a lot of performers whose entire stock and trade is banter with the audience and then there are others – and I would classify myself as part of this group – where you develop your material, you write it out, you hone it, you revise it, you’re deliberate, and you have some semblance of structure to the show. You want to stick to that as much as possible, but you have to be very flexible. You play to the audience in front of you. You can’t play to the imaginary audience in your head.”

What kind of show will he be bringing to the Comedy Carnival in Galway?

“Well I’ve never really had titles for my shows. It’s hard enough to come up with jokes, never mind fucking titles! It’s kind of a work in progress, really. I’ve been trying to develop a new show over the last six months with a view to touring it next year. There’s a lot of new material but no real particular themes, except maybe a slight ‘ ageing’ theme in it. It’s mostly just jokes and funny twists on old themes.”

Speaking of ageing, O’Hanlon will turn 50 just a few weeks before he comes to Galway. Will that birthday be a big deal to him?

“Not really. I think there’s a natural introspection when you approach milestones like that even though you don’t feel any different or look significantly different. I think societal convention dictates that you have a look inwards and you decide where you’re at in terms of your life and your career and everything. So, yeah, I suppose there has been a bit of that, but no major conclusions as of yet.”

So no impending midlife crisis then?

“I hate terms like ‘midlife crisis’,” he sighs. “I just think they’re really, really pathetic. I was always an old fella, from the age of 20, so I probably had a midlife crisis around the age of 25 or something. I got it out of my system quite early. But you know, I probably have gone down that road a little bit in terms of doing things I wouldn’t have done 10, 20 years ago, like hiking, rafting and stuff like that, which is really stupid. So I kind of have strayed into that territory a little bit, thinking life is running out and I should do things that I haven’t done.”

So what’s left on Ardal O’Hanlon’s bucket list?

“I actually do stuff about this in my show and I’m finding it really difficult to come up with things, whether it’s due a lack of imagination or not, I don’t know. It’s not as if I’ve done everything. I quite like lying around a lot of the time, as well. A lot of people want to swim with a dolphin and they want to get a tattoo. I want to tattoo a dolphin. That would be the last thing on my bucket list… but apparently you’re not allowed to do that.”

Ardal plays The Spiegeltent, Eyre Square on Wednesday October 21st. See here for more details.

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Folk duo launch What Will Be Will Be

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Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce.

Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a  blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.

The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.

It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.

Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.

People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.

The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.

The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.

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All roads lead to Dunmore as town tunes up County Fleadh

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Most of the competitions for young musicians will take place this Saturday in Dunmore Community School. All the competitions are open to the public.

Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.

It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.

The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023.  Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.

Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.

Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.

On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.

Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.

For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.

 

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Piano concert rescheduled for Tuesday

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Pianist Cédric Pescia.

Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.

This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.

This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as  ‘language and movement at the same time’.

Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31.  These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.

■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.

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