The power of its simplicity,
humour and light drama made ‘The Riordans’, Ireland’s favourite family, and a
ratings success on RTE television for 15 years throughout the 60’s and 70’s.
The trials and tribulations of Tom (the late John Cowley) and Mary
Riordan (the late Moira Deady) and their sometimes troublesome offspring,
Benjy, (Tom Hickey) Michael (the late Chris O’Neill) and Jude (Rebecca
Wilkinson) in the fictitious village of Leestown, Co. Kilkenny, was an
important part of the week for the Irish at a time when there was only one
television station in the land. At this
time, most people weren’t recieving the British stations and the only satellites
people talked about was in NASA.
For 30 minutes each week the nation could switch on to Leestown and
switch off their problems of the Oil Crisis of the 70’s and the idea of money
belts being tightened.
Rural Ireland could always identify with the family being the centre of
a community or a business or farm and that is exactly what the theme of ‘The
Riordans’ was, a family living and
working on their farm in rural Ireland.
Streets emptied and no one uttered a sound when all black and white
sets in the country were turned on to watch ‘The Riordans’. Punters in pubs stayed silent for that half-hour because they would be glued to the set to see characters,
very like themselves, drinking and socialising in Mickey Mac’s pub.
The friends and neighbours of the Riordan family in Leestown added an
extra dimension to the drama.
Viewers in pubs, homes, hospitals and community centres sat together
and watched the courtship of Benjy and Maggie (played by Biddy White Lennon)
and listened to the hilarious tales told by the village gossip Minnie Brennan
(played brilliantly by the late Annie D’Alton).
Minnie once uttered a description of
the youngest Riordan son, Michael, to express the fact that he wasn’t
overweight. “There is more skin on a tinker’s stick after a fight than there is on Michael Riordan!”
Humour was a big part of ‘The Riordans’ drama series just like it is
with today’s UK soap opera, ‘Coronation Street’.
Television in Ireland was new when ‘The Riordans’ began in the
mid-sixties and there wasn’t any other regular rural Ireland drama series on the air.
The good and bad of farming life was part of the theme of the
series. Tom Riordan could be identified with by many middle-aged farmers trying to make a
living on a small farm, while his wife Mary became a figure that was identified by
farmers wives throughout the length and breath of Ireland.
The theme of love was as central to ‘The Riordans’ as was farming. Benjy and Maggie’s courtship lasted a number
of years letting people wonder if marriage would ever happen. Eamon Maher, played
by Joe Pilkington, was a settled traveller who lived with his sister Delia and his uncle, Francey in Leestown. Eamon was one of the programmes favourite characters and his many love affairs were
discussed throughout Ireland.
Fr. Sheehy (played by the late Tony Doyle) was always on hand to give a
sympathetic ear to his Leestown parishoners and he played the part to
perfection. However Ireland’s favourite priest hit controversy (at a time when
Irish priests were not hitting controversy) in the early 1970’s when he
sympathised with Maggie when she told him she was on the pill. Letters of protest poured into RTE, but the
much loved Fr. Sheehy and Maggie weathered the storm and remained viewers
favourites.
Benjy and Maggie’s wedding was one of the most popular episodes of the series, but some of the sadder episodes also got high viewing figures, like in
1978, when Young Brendan was bit by a dog and rushed to hospital suffering from a
suspected rabies infection. Viewers were on the edge of their seats watching the child’s
trauma and were relieved to see him get the all clear.
Tom Hickey left the series at the end of the fourteenth season and his
portrayal of Benjy Riordan was sadly missed.
Benjy was written out by leaving the farm and going away to be a lay
missionary in the Third World.
A new man was needed to help with the farm work, so Pat Barry, a sheep
farmer from the Wicklow mountains came to live with the Riordan family. Gabriel Byrne, in his first screen role,
played Pat.
Another big change hit ‘The Riordans’ in its fifteenth season when it
was screened for one hour every week. However
this was to be its final year and the last episode was screened in May 1979.
Irish viewers were disappointed at the loss of ‘The Riordans’ from
their screens, so RTE responded by screening in January 1980 a six part follow-up series
called ‘Bracken’.
‘Bracken’ was created by Wesley Burrowes who had also written for ‘The
Riordans’.
The new drama concerned Pat Barry returning to his Wicklow home to farm
his late father’s land. ‘Bracken’ starred
Gabriel Byrne, Niall Toibin, Joe Lynch, Mick Lally and Hollywood veteran Dana Wynter.
‘Bracken’ was a smash hit with Irish viewers and another six episodes
were planned, but were not screened until January 1982.
It was realised there was a major gap in the RTE drama schedule as a
result of ‘The
Riordans’ cancellation, so plans were put in place for a new rural
drama.
Wesley Burrowes started to write a new series with the working title of
‘The Blow-Ins’, but it was changed to ‘Glenroe’, with Joe Lynch and Mick Lally
reprising their ‘Bracken’ roles of Dinny and Miley Byrne.
John Cowley turned up in ‘Glenroe’ playing a judge and Moira Deady
played the hilarious role of the travelling woman, Nellie Connors in several
episodes.
