General knowledge quiz hosted by Claire Byrne in which contestants face a series of rounds, with winners of the heats progressing in the tournament structure. Each show features three contestants, who face a series of rounds before one is elimnated, with the final pair facing a quickfire decider to determine who goes through to the next stage.
A weekly drama serial telling the lives of the people who live in the Wicklow village of Glenroe. A spin-off from Bracken – a short-lived RTÉ drama itself spun off from The Riordans. The series, which started in 1983, quickly shot to the top of the Irish TV charts. The show ended in 2001.
In the 1840s, a catastrophic famine brought about the decimation of Ireland’s poor and the exodus of millions from the island. This major, ground-breaking documentary, narrated by Liam Neeson, explores the famine’s international origins and development in Europe, Britain and Ireland and charts its long-term legacy as it plays out for much of the century that follows. Today the Irish famine is recognised as the worst humanitarian disaster of the 19th Century but what is less recognised is that the crisis impacted far beyond Ireland’s shores. The story of the Blight pathogen that killed the potato crop, starts in the Andes of South America and then reaches into the heart of northern Europe where the collapse of potato crops causes the deaths of 100,000 people adding further fuel to social tensions that lead to Europe’s year of revolutions in 1848.
On the Beat provides an inside look at the daily lives of serving Gardaí in Ireland, following officers on duty and highlighting challenges and issues in the policing of districts in Waterford, Longford and Dundalk.
Follow the staff of Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel as they uphold exacting 5-star standards of service during the hotel's busiest season.
Donal Skehan sets off on a food-filled road trip around Ireland, ticking off some culinary hotspots on his foodie bucket list.
Sex & Sensibility is an RTÉ television series which reflects on changing attitudes to sex in Ireland. The four-part series was presented by Simon Delaney. Directed by Imogen Murphy, it was filmed in April and May 2008 on location in Dublin. It was broadcast in June and July 2008. Features included some commentary from Bill O'Herlihy, Mary O'Rourke, Michael McNiff, Claire Tully, John Kelleher and night club owners Valeria Roe and Maurice Boland. The series reflected on the changes that had taken place in Ireland since the 1960s, an era when the sexual revolution had not yet reached the shores of the island. It showed how television had played a major part in "loosening everyone up" and altered Irish society "from a gloomy 'Irish Taliban'-style theocracy to the nation of fun-loving sex maniacs we are today". Terry Prone demonstrated her view that soaps, rather than "dusty old current affairs programmes", had been central to social change. The Riordans caused scandal when one of the characters, named Maggie, went on the pill. The "contraceptive train" to Belfast was also focused on, evoking memories of an era when the devices were illegal in the Republic of Ireland, prompting people to travel to Northern Ireland to stock up on their contraceptive needs. Also featured was The Late Late Show and the uproar it caused when it gave airtime to a group of lesbian nuns, Bill Hughes, who spoke about the underground gay scene in Ireland, Senator David Norris having his sexuality called into question when he was asked if he was "sick" by a TV presenter, the Leeson Street clubbing scene in its early years and Toni the Exotic Dancer, a housewife from Tallaght, Dublin who flashed her ample bosom for the crowds who thronged the urban pubs after mass. Video of protesters with portable Virgin Mary statues at work outside the RTÉ studios were also shown.
Marty Morrissey and Liz Gillis uncover the work of Ireland’s photographers. Focusing on a different archive, they travel the country, uncovering the stories behind the pictures.
The true story of an epic hunt to bring one of Ireland’s most notorious fugitives to justice.
Clear History is a new comedy panel show fronted by Kevin McGahern, with team captains Joanne McNally and Colin Murphy, which will rewrite the past in the name of comedy. Weekly guests will be asked to put comically cringey moments from their personal histories on public display. Opposing teams will re-live iconic moments from the nation’s history as well as their own personal embarrassments, hoping to make them much funnier the second time around. The teams will also take a hilarious dive into Ireland’s colourful past, selecting unforgettable and regrettable moments that could do with being cleared from history. In addition, the series will give members of the public an opportunity to have their own mortifying moments ‘cleared from history’ as they share hilarious tales with the teams by video.
An ambitious new 3-part series that offers a vision of a new Irish City for 2050. Presented by Carla O’Brien and Dr. Lorraine Mancey.
Ear to the Ground is a weekly television programme broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One on Thursday evenings at 19:00. The show consists of reports about various countryside, rural environmental issues. It is currently in its sixteenth season and is produced by Independent Pictures. Ear to the Ground is presented by Ella McSweeney, Darragh McCullough and Helen Carroll. Previous presenters include Maeve Dineen, who left after the fifteenth season and the long-running Mairead McGuinness, who has since become a Member of the European Parliament for Fine Gael. The show is repeated on RTÉ One after the lunchtime news each Sunday.
Sports Stadium was an Irish television sport programme on Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Broadcast between 1973 and 1997, it was RTÉ's flagship sports programme and one of its longest-running shows. It ran in a variety of slots, but in its final years aired on RTÉ Two on Saturdays between 1:00pm–6:00pm. Its first presenter was Brendan O'Reilly who lasted for fourteen years. Other presenters during the show's run included Liam Nolan, Fred Cogley, Michael Lyster, Peter Collins and finally Tracy Piggott. The format of the show was very similar to the BBC's Grandstand or ITV's World of Sport, and indeed Grandstand's racing coverage was often simulcast on the show. The earlier part of each show would feature a mixture of racing and recorded highlights of other sports. The centrepiece of the afternoon for many years was a live 3:00pm Football League Division One game, which would be followed by the classified football results. Coverage of the All-Ireland League was also featured on the show. For much of its life, the show's theme music was the distinctive keyboard riff from the Europe song "The Final Countdown". The original recording was used in the 1980s, but a re-arranged version was used during the 1990s.
Author Marian Keyes and screenwriter Stefanie Preissner dig in to The Walsh Sisters RTÉ TV series with cast and crew, exploring the laughs, drama and heartbreak in every episode.
Kathryn Thomas looks at the almost overnight emergence of weight loss medications and explores their huge impact.
Broadcaster and gay activist Bill Hughes documents his friendship with the radio and TV star, revealing the story of his life and his death from an Aids-related illness in 1987.
The Brendan Grace Show is an Irish variety show presented by Brendan Grace. The studio-based show aired on Friday nights between 29 October and 10 December 1982.
An intimate portrait of a river and the people it meets on its way to the sea. The six-part documentary series captures the lives and stories of a diverse group of people who are unified by one thing, the river Liffey.
Consuming Passions is an Irish television series broadcast on RTÉ One. Produced by Wildfire Films, it serves as summer filler for the station and two series have thus far been produced. The series examines various obscure obsessions which people have, ranging from cuddling reptiles to piloting light aircraft, beekeeping, living rockabilly, dancing the tango, truck-driving, birds of prey, horse whispering and sailing. The show run until second season.
Callan Kicks the Years is a six-part TV series unlike any comedy ever made in Ireland, romping through the 100 years since the 1921 Treaty using sketches and satirical documentary. The series will kick Dev’s grim legacy, the 60s showbands versus feminism era, the twin 80s crazes of Haughey and moving statues, Jackie’s Army, the Bertie Boom through to the Hangover of recession, in a way only comedy can. The most controversial periods of Irish history stripped down for a kicking? There may be calls to Liveline. Talk to Joe.
