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THIS WEEK SAW the last of the Irish hopes for Love Island 2026 dashed as Sean ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald was dumped from the villa alongside his partner Lola.
As a nation, we have a mixed record on the show. Some Irish have lasted just a couple of days while others have gone on to have big careers in TV and social media afterwards.
As we often do as a nation, the Irish on Love Island have punched above their weight though, which is even more impressive when you consider that people in the Republic of Ireland still can’t vote for their favourites.
Here is a breakdown of the Irish triumphs and defeats on Love Island UK.
It looked like it was going to be a good year for Irish hopes in the villa, but in the end both GAA star Sean ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Dublin influencer Charleen Murphy went out with a fizzle instead of a bang.
Fitzy had the best chance of going far, having entered the show as a member of the original line-up and being in a strong couple with Lola from the beginning.
But it wasn’t to be as the British public increasingly soured on the pair, especially on Lola as she increasingly got into arguments with the other girls in the villa over Fitzy’s antics in Casa Amor.
In the end Fitzy and Lola volunteered to go home after falling into the bottom three couples in the public vote.
Charleen’s Love Island journey was much shorter. She came in as a Casa Amor bombshell, sent in to test the boys’ existing connections.
Though she did book herself a place in the main villa after 21-year-old Kavan Murphy chose to partner up with her, this pairing was short-lived as Kavan and previous partner Jasmine rekindled within a few days.
Charleen was then left single and subsequently dumped from the villa.
There was one other Irish person on Love Island this year: Kildare woman Victoria Onanusi.
Watchers of the show would be forgiven for forgetting about her time in the villa: she lasted a mere five days before being dumped alongside her partner Ope Sowande.
Victoria, who works as a personal assistant and a model, was collateral damage in Ope’s dumping as the couple were eliminated after controversy with his behaviour towards fellow islander Angelista.
Victoria chose Ope to couple up with, stealing him from Angelista. The pair were subsequently dumped after being voted least compatible by the other couples.
If we were to rank the seasons of Love Island UK based on the success of the Irish contestants, 2019 is the show’s emerald jewel.
Most notably, this was the first time Longford woman Maura Higgins would appear on our screens and her star power was almost immediately obvious.
Maura entered as a bombshell on day 10 and had quite the journey. She was part of a number of different couples over the course of her time in the villa, including being paired with Tom Walker and Curtis Pritchard.
During her time in the villa Maura was lauded for prompting positive conversations around sex and sexuality and for taking no nonsense from the boys.
People may remember the infamous argument she had with Tom after she overheard him saying “it’ll be interesting to see if she’s all mouth or not” when they were picked to spend a private night in the Hideaway.
Maura’s response to this comment is still touted among fans today as one of the most iconic moments in Love Island history and one of the best examples of a woman standing up for herself on the show.
She refused to go to Hideaway with Tom saying it was a “dickhead comment” and telling him he “should have been a gentleman” when he tried to blame the other boys for making the comment.
Tom’s defence was made weaker by the fact that cameras had captured his entire exchange with the boys – including him making the comment
After a bumpy journey for the Irish woman, she placed fourth overall with Curtis. She has since gone on to a hugely successful career, including hosting the weekly roundup show for Love Island US, competing on the US version of The Traitors and walking red carpets as a global star.
Though Maura became the star in 2019, an Irish man actually won the whole show that year.
Rugby sevens player Greg O’Shea went into the villa in the final week and coupled up with fan favourite Amber Rose Gill.
Despite being added to the show well into its run, the 7s player went all the way to the final and took home the 50k alongside Amber, who herself had a very bumpy stint in the villa.
Though many fans say that Amber carried her couple to victory, securing the votes as a result of how badly she had been treated by her previous partner, we can still claim this as an Irish win.
A less well-remembered Irish islander that year was Dubliner Yewande Biala. She entered as an original cast member and actually made it pretty far in the show, only being dumped on day 22.
In a stacked cast that also featured Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, Yewande’s stint is less well known, but as Irish contestants go, she made it pretty far.
Over the course of the show’s 11-year run there have been several Irish contestants that have made names for themselves, even if they didn’t make it all the way to the end.
Last year saw the first all-Irish couple on the show in rugby player Conor Phillips and influencer Megan Forte Clarke.
The pair were with several other contestants over the course of their runs and Megan was even dumped from the island and brought back in as a bombshell late into the show’s 2025 run.
It wasn’t Ireland’s year again as the pair were eliminated just days before the final, but the two are still together and recently moved into an apartment in London.
Other notable Irish contestants over the years have included Catherine Agbaje who appeared on the show’s tenth season in 2023 and made it all the way to day 38 before being dumped.
She appeared on the show again for an all-stars season in 2025.
Ronan Keating’s son Jack also appeared on the show, first unsuccessfully as a Casa Amor bombshell and later on this year’s all-stars season.
Jack’s all stars run was more successful with him entering as an original cast member and being dumped close to the final on day 26.
Many of the other Irish hopefuls over the years have been confined to the no-man’s-land of Casa Amor.
Bombshells sent in who were unsuccessful in trying to tempt boys and girls away from their existing couples or those who made it back to the main villa, only to be quickly eliminated like Charleen was.
Most of these, including people like Jack Keating in his first run, end up with little to no screen time and are gone almost as quickly as they arrived.
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