Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon (born 8 October, 1965 at Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland) is a comedian and actor, best known for his role as Father Dougal McGuire in the hit comedy television series Father Ted. He is the son of Rory O'Hanlon, a well-known Irish politician and doctor, and has five siblings.
O'Hanlon was schooled in Blackrock College in Dublin and graduated, in 1987, from the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin (now Dublin City University) in Communications Studies. He started out as a stand-up comedian, and was spotted by Graham Linehan, who was to cast him in Father Ted. In 1997, he appeared (as Father Dougal) in a Channel 4 ident, and during Comic Relief on BBC1. This was followed by the more serious Big Bad World.
In 2000, O'Hanlon starred in the comedy series, My Hero, in which he played a superhero who was naive to Earth and juggled his world-saving duties with the crises of suburban living. He stayed in the role until early 2005 and was replaced by James Dreyfus for series 6 in 2006.
He also provided the voice of the lead character in two Christmas television cartoon specials of Robbie the Reindeer. He appeared in the 2005 BBC One sitcom Blessed, written by Ben Elton; at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, it was publicly slated by Jonathan Ross, albeit in jest.
Beyond the world of television, O'Hanlon is an accomplished writer, and has written a novel, The Talk Of The Town (known in the United States as Knick Knack Paddy Whack), which was published in 1998. He is a massive football fan, and is a proud supporter of the 2006 European champions F.C. Barcelona, as well as English side Leeds United and Scottish champions Celtic FC.
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