'It's about living the Craggy Island dream': Inis Mór ready for another TedFest

James Cox

Inis Mór in the Aran Islands is set to "open a portal to a lateral universe" as it transforms into Craggy Island for the annual TedFest next month.

Father Ted is an iconic show with its characters and catchphrases known across nearly every household in Ireland.

Back in 2007, a group of fans decided to pay homage to Father Ted with a festival on Inis Mór, and it has grown from strength to strength since.

TedFest founder Peter Philips told BreakingNews.ie: "Once a year we open a portal to a lateral universe, and stand back in amazement at what comes through the portal. It's been going since 2007, it's a bizarre event, and we're very proud of it."

Recalling the origins of TedFest, Mr Philips said it was expected to be a "one-off, self-indulgent weekend" before it took off.

"The premise we had at the very start is the premise we've still got; it's the opposite of one of those cheesy TV conventions where everybody sits in a hotel and watches re-runs and people queue for hours to get a selfie... we've always said 'it's about living the Craggy Island dream'. That's what TedFest is all about."

While it has become a well-known event in Ireland, Mr Phillips is modest about TedFest and said it is "embarrasingly simple to organise because it's made up by the people who come to it".

"You've got to be a particular type of lunatic to fight your way out to the Aran Islands at that time of year and then dress as a ship, or a priest or a milkman," he added.

Mr Philips said elements are added to freshen up TedFest each year, but one element the organiser are particularly proud of is the music stage.

Popular annual events include 'Ted's Got Talent', "which we can honestly claim to have had in place before Simon Cowell came up with Britain's God Talent... it's basically for people without talent", and the 'Craggy Cup', "a five-a-side priests vs nuns football match on the beach".

Mr Philips explained that the Craggy Cup originated after a row between Inis Mór and fellow Aran Island Inisheer.

The organisers originally chose Inis Mór for TedFest "because we knew someone with a pub out there to be honest".

While the majority of Father Ted was filmed in Co Clare, the Plassey shipwreck in Inisheer features in the opening credits.

For this reason, locals on the island argued that they should host TedFest. After the late Gerry Ryan highlighted TedFest on his radio programme, it was decided that the issue would be resolved with a five-a-side football match.

"It ended up on the Six O'Clock News about this 'war' in the Aran Islands. We settled it with a five-a-side football match. I was on the radio with Gerry, and we decided winner takes all Inisheer v Inis Mór... the winner gets TedFest forever.

"Then Paddy Power got involved and stirred it up again, they brought John Aldridge and Tony Cascarino out to manage the teams. They kicked seven bells out of each other and Inis Mór won, which we were happy with because we'd got to know the pub by then."

The event sees every tourist bed in Inis Mór filled for a weekend, with 350-400 attendees each year.

Mr Philips feels the iconic nature of Father Ted is shown in the fact that many of the people who attend are too young to remember when the show first aired.

"The average age at TedFest is probably 30ish, people too young to remember it when it first came out.. you get older people too, but I'd say that is the demographic.

"Father Ted intrigues me, and I can say this with some neutrality being Welsh, Father Ted in Ireland goes way beyond a TV show. In Wales we love Gavin and Stacey, in England you have Only Fools And Horses, Fawlty Towers, but Father Ted is sort of in the Irish DNA.

"You could make the case it really did play a part in repositioning the relationship between Ireland and the Catholic Church. There were other factors, the Celtic Tiger economy... Jack Charlton with the football, Father Ted not cruelly satirising the Irish church, but just turning a mirror on the absurdities of the Catholic Church."

He added: "It's the busiest weekend of the year on Inis Mór. Occasionally you get tourists there in early March, sometimes Scandinavian or American, and they get off the boat and see priests and nuns playing football on the beach and people going around on segways dressed as Darth Vader."

Another popular event is the Pat Mustard lip sync battle, based on the popular character from Father Ted.

Family members of the late Dermot Morgan, who played Father Ted, have been involved in TedFest over the years.

"We didn't do it deliberately, but the first year we did TedFest we wanted Craggy Island weather, the bad weather makes it, so we ended up doing it the last weekend of February.

"Then we realised February 28th was the anniversary of Dermot Morgan's passing, and his family were quite involved. I haven't seen Rob, one of his sons, for a few years, but he came a few times and even refereed the football match. Fiona, Dermot's partner, came out the first couple of years too.

"I used to talk to his sons Rob and Don... and Fiona, and they all said he would have been very proud of this and loved it.

"Frank Kelly's death was February 28th, 2016, during TedFest as well so there were tributes to him that year."

TedFest takes place from Thursday, March 2nd - Sunday, March 5th and tickets are now on sale at www.tedfest.org