Those four words, one of them a distinctively Irish swear (and much milder than it looks to American eyes) make up nearly all the dialogue of Father J

‘Father Ted’ poked fun at Catholic Ireland, but only an audience steeped in faith would appreciate it

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2021-07-24 09:30:04

Those four words, one of them a distinctively Irish swear (and much milder than it looks to American eyes) make up nearly all the dialogue of Father Jack Hackett, a grumpy alcoholic priest who fills out the collared trio in the classic sitcom “Father Ted.”

Running for three seasons, from 1995 to 1998 on Britain’s Channel 4, “Father Ted” stars three frankly very bad priests, exiled for various wrongdoings by their bishop to the miserable (fictional) Craggy Island. Poking gentle fun at the church at a time when cracks were beginning to appear in Catholic Ireland, “Father Ted” can be seen as both a relic of an Irish moment and a humorous, but serious, argument against the confessional state.

“Father Ted” can be seen as both a relic of an Irish moment and a humorous, but serious, argument against the confessional state.

Fathers Ted Crilly (Dermot Morgan), Dougal McGuire (Ardal O’Hanlon) and Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly) argue, embarrass themselves and get into various secular, and only occasionally religious, hijinks throughout the show. Dougal mistakes “Papa don’t preach” for a line from the Our Father and excitedly asks Ted, following an outpouring of marital gossip about a parishioner, when the fellow’s next confession is. The trio competes with a parallel crew of terrible priests on the (also-fictional) Rugged Island, where Ted and his longtime feuding partner Father Dick Byrne turn Lent into a “giving things up competition.”