A STAPLE OF Irish television programming, Fair City can be a point of contention among audiences.

There are plenty who view it with firm indifference, as an extension of a wider disinterest in soaps. Then there are those who follow it closely: I count myself and my friends among this cohort, which also features a large swathe of grandparents. The final group, and I’m breaking the fourth wall here for a second, will swiftly make their vitriol for the show known in the comments.

Despite the mixed feelings, Fair City is a longstanding comfort in Irish life. The show passively embedded itself in my consciousness, through its old theme song, during long boring evenings spent in my grandparents’ house as a child.

Little could come between my granda and his soaps.

Occasionally, he unplugged the landline so nobody could disturb his evening with Fair City, Eastenders, Emmerdale and Corrie, causing great concern for my family regarding their elderly father who didn’t answer the phone.

On those evenings, the faces of Paul, Niamh, Dolores, Hughie, Leo and the early 2000s cast seared into my mind. By the time my Junior Cert rolled around, I was using the weekly omnibus to fuel my pre-study procrastination. This inadvertently grew into a genuine fondness for the show.

It’s great craic and, honestly, quite self-aware. I look forward to catching up each week and seeing how the writers are tackling the big social issues and talking points of today. Recent storylines include e-scooter gangs, dodgy boxes, and the perils of buying Electric Picnic tickets from strangers online.

But Fair City is no joke.

Often, you’ll hear people talk about international celebrities who got their start in soaps. There’s Margot Robbie and Kylie Minogue whose careers kicked off with Aussie soap Neighbours. Dannii Minogue got her start on rival soap Home and Away. American soap opera All My Children shaped a heap of celebs, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kathy Bates, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Amanda Seyfried, among many others.

Yet, it’s rare that anybody talks about Fair City shaping our actors.

The heavyweights

In my eyes, Ger Ryan is a complete superstar. I have recently rewatched RTÉ’s Raw, Roddy Doyle’s Family and two great mid-2000s mini-series that Ryan features in: Prosperity and Stardust.

All of these shows satisfy the innate Irish compulsion to seek out media that offers a brief glimpse of a familiar street, landmark or pub. Throughout her career, Ryan has received two Royal Television Society Awards, an IFTA and has been in a selection of Irish staples: The Commitments, The Van, War of the Buttons, and Intermission. Where did it all start for her? Fair City.

Speaking of those on Roddy Doyle’s roster, Carrigstown is currently being graced by Tina Kellegher, who currently plays the formidable Ger Lynch. If you haven’t seen her work as a hardened matriarch in Fair City, you may best remember her as Sharon Curley from The Snapper. Kellegher also acted alongside Ger Ryan in the 2002 TV movie, Sinners, which had another phenomenal cast, featuring Ruth McCabe, Gary Lydon and Bronagh Gallagher.

Throughout her career, Kellegher has contributed to Normal People, In The Name of The Father, and Ballykissangel. Similarly, her on-screen sister, the brilliant Neilí Conroy, plays Sharon Collins. Conroy has her fair share of big moments in productions like The Van, Family and Love/Hate.

Another brilliant actor who spent time on the set at Donnybrook studios is Carrie Crowley. Crowley rose to prominence in the 1990s with gigs doing everything from hosting Eurovision to starring in The Morbegs. In the 2010s, she spent five years in Carrigstown, coinciding with her role in Vikings, before winning an IFTA in the Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin.

Then we’ve got Daryl McCormack, whose career began in Fair City back in 2015. Like Crowley, he also worked on Vikings, as well as Peaky Blinders, Bad Sisters and recently, Twisters. In the latter, he acted alongside Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell. Among his accolades are a BAFTA nomination and a Trophée Chopard (which recognises young and emerging talent at the Cannes Film Festival). He’s also billed to play Mr. Bingley in the upcoming TV series of Pride and Prejudice, where he’ll work alongside Olivia Colman and Fiona Shaw (two actors who’d top my personal dream dinner party line-up).

Only scratching the surface

It would not be difficult to do a deep dive that reveals serious acting credentials for many other Fair City stars, past and present.

In lieu of that potential PhD that I’d like to write, a quick list of big names who’ve spent time in Carrigstown includes Barry Keoghan, Aisling Bea and Keith Duffy. Then we have another Morbergs star, Tara Flynn, who has a very successful body of work spanning comedy and activism.

There’s no way that everyone could fit into this rundown, but a final actor who is immediately recognisable to everyone who studied Cáca Milis for the Leaving Cert is Charlotte Bradley. Known as the stone-cold woman on the train who ruthlessly kills Brendan Gleeson, Bradley has also appeared in Father Ted and Veronica Guerin.

That’s not even to mention the icons within the show.

Carol. Nikki. Sasha. Gwen. Lily (played by newcomer, and former Corrie star, Beverly Callard). The list goes on and on, across decades of actors.

For all of the scoffing that people may engage in, Fair City has been incubating and churning out some of our best actors for nearly 40 years. I’ll never hear a bad word said about it.