Ardal O'Hanlon is an Irish actor and stand-up comedian best known for playing Father Douglas McGuire in the much-loved vicar sitcom Father Ted, and George Sunday in BBC One's My Hero, a sitcom about a superhero who, despite finding human beings' way of living a complete mystery, endeavours to lead a regular suburban existence.
Biography
O'Hanlon was born and raised in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, the son of politician and doctor Rory O'Hanlon and Teresa Ward. He was educated at Blackrock College in Dublin and graduated in 1987 from the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin (now Dublin City University) with a degree in Communications Studies.
After leaving university, O'Hanlon decided to set up the International Comedy Cellar in Dublin, because at the time the city had no comedy scene to speak of. This was located in the upstairs portion of the International Bar on Dublin's South Wicklow Street, and O'Hanlon soon achieved considerable success, winning the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 1994 and hosting The Stand Up Show for a time.
As his stock continued to rise, he was spotted by comedy writer Graham Linehan, who later cast him as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted (1995-1998), the role for which, to this day, he is best known. In 1995 he was awarded the Top TV Comedy Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards for this role, and also appeared in the award-winning short comedy film Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll.
After moving into dramatic acting in the ITV comedy-drama Big Bad World, O'Hanlon starred in an episode of the original Whose Line Is It Anyway? and, in the year 2000, starred as the main character in comedy series My Hero, in which he played a superhero from the planet Ultron. He would remain in this role until 2006, where he was replaced mid-episode by James Dreyfus.
In 2005 he played main protagonist Gary Chandler in the BBC One sitcom Blessed, written by Ben Elton, about a young couple struggling to raise two small children.
Moving into the 2010s, O'Hanlon has appeared on several television panel shows such as That Sunday Night Show, Dave's One Night Stand, and Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask, and also played Eammon in one episode of the sitcom Derry Girls. In 2015 he also began playing the role of Peter the Milkman in the Sky One sitcom After Hours, and in that same year he officially launched the 2015 Sky Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, which takes place in Kilkenny from 28 May - 1 June.
Alongside these positions in the comedy world, O'Hanlon has also featured in the Doctor Who episode "Gridlock", in 2007, and in series 3 of the TV show Skins, playing a politics teacher named Kieran
O'Hanlon was the subject of an episode of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired on 6 October 2008. The investigation revealed interesting facts about his paternal grandfather, Michael O'Hanlon, who had joined the IRA during the Irish War of Independence, and also discovered that he is a close relative on his mother's side of Peter Fenelon Collier.
- Gender
- Male
- Nationality
- Ireland
- BAFTA Television Awards 1999 - Best Comedy Performance: Nominee
- British Comedy Awards 1998 - Best TV Comedy Actor: Nominee
- British Comedy Awards 1996 - Best TV Comedy Actor: Nominee
- British Comedy Awards 1996 - Best Comedy Entertainment Personality: Nominee
- British Comedy Awards 1995 - Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist: Winner
- Born
- Friday 8th October 1965 (55 years-old)
Awards
Known for
Credits
Year | Production | Role |
---|---|---|
2020 | Live At The Apollo - The One About...
|
Guest |
2019 | Live At The Apollo - Series 15 | Host / Presenter |
2019 | Derry Girls - Series 2
|
Eammon |
2019 | Ardal O'Hanlon: The Showing Off Must Go On | Self |
2017 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 5
|
Guest |
2016 | The Berries Cancelled | Bruce |
2015 | The Football's On - Series 3
|
Guest |
2015 | After Hours | Peter Hannigan |
2015 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 2
|
Guest |
2015 | The Best Laid Plans | Smallbone |
2014 | Greatest Ever Sitcoms | Self |
2013 | London Irish | Da |
2013 | Ardal O'Hanlon | Self |
2013 | Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask - Series 2
|
Self |
2013 | The Matt Lucas Awards - Series 2
|
Guest |
2012 | Channel 4's 30 Greatest Comedy Shows | Self |
2012 | What's So Funny? - Series 3
|
Guest |
2012 | That Sunday Night Show - Series 3
|
Guest |
2011 | Argumental - Series 4
|
Guest |
2011 | Dave's One Night Stand - Series 3 | Host / Presenter |
2011 | Jennifer Saunders: Laughing At The 90s | Self |
2011 | A League Of Their Own - Series 3
|
Guest |
2011 | Comedy Kings - Best Of Just For Laughs
|
Guest |
2011 | Small, Far Away - The World Of Father Ted | Self |
2010 | Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow - Series 2
|
Self |
2010 | Ardal O'Hanlon | Self |
2010 | A League Of Their Own - Series 1
|
Guest |
2010 | I've Never Seen Star Wars - Series 3
|
Guest |
2009 | Argumental - Series 2
|
Guest |
2008 | Alan Carr's Comedy Outings
|
Self (Archive Material) |
2007 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 1
|
Guest |
2007 | The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups | Self |
2005 | Blessed | Gary Chandler |
2005 | My Hero - Series 5 | George Sunday |
2004 | Live At The Apollo - Jack Dee Live At The Apollo Series 1
|
Guest |
2004 | Comedy Connections - Series 2
|
Self |
2004 | Britain's Best Sitcom
|
Guest |
2003 | My Hero - Series 4 | George Sunday |
2002 | My Hero - Series 3 | George Sunday |
2001 | My Hero - Series 2 | George Sunday |
2000 | My Hero - Series 1 | George Sunday |
1998 | Father Ted - Series 3 | Father Dougal McGuire |
1996 | Shooting Stars - Series 2
|
Guest |
1996 | Father Ted - Series 2 | Father Dougal McGuire |
1995 | Father Ted - Series 1 | Father Dougal McGuire |
Non-comedy TV and film credits might be found here:
Ardal O'Hanlon on IMDb