Holding out for a hero screens Dec 22nd @9pm RTE 2
Holding out for a Hero
Following the award-winning success of his previous historical TV shows “There's Something about Patrick” and “The Only Viking in the Village”, Neil Delamere is back with more hilarious fadó fadó shenanigans.
Irish history has a cast of millions of characters who inhabited the island over the centuries, but every now and then one lad or lady sticks out as truly heroic. Someone we’d all like to dress up as, run around brandishing weapons like and hang out of boat masts to emulate – well one of us would. It’s time for Neil Delamere to take on Ireland’s Heroes. From the legendary warrior Cúchulainn to the pirate queen Gráinne Mhaol, in this 4 part series, Neil wants to get inside their skin and see if he has what it takes to be a modern day Irish Hero. Spoiler alert: He doesn’t.
Over the course of four rip-roaring hours, Neil fills us in on the true stories behind four of his favourite Irish heroes. He'll learn to fight like the ferocious Cúchulainn, recreate Red Hugh O'Donnell's daring escape by abseiling off the roof of Dublin Castle, taste some 16th Century “delicacies” enjoyed by Gráinne Mhaol and attempt to pass the ancient warrior tests endured by Fionn MacCumhaill and the Fianna, all in the name of refreshing our memory about some of Ireland's most notable heroes.
Each episode will also see him take to the Vicar St stage for a stand-up history lesson with a difference while some of the country's finest comic talent perform comedy sketches from our heroes' lives that you definitely won't have seen in your school history books.
Programme 4 – Gráinne Mhaol
The pirate queen of Connaught was called the ‘most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland’ by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Henry Sidney, back in the 16th century, she was a fearless leader by land and sea, a political pragmatist, a rebel, a ruthless plunderer, a mercenary and a matriarch. She makes Neil look like a huge wuss. So naturally, he wants to know how she did it.
In order to find out, Neil decides to follow the guidance of a band of angry pirates by taking to the sea in a replica 16th Century galley, he experiences first-hand just how hardy she would have to have been – although he doesn't go as far as giving birth on board, like she supposedly did. He also gets to taste a few 16th Century “delicacies” that Gráinne might have enjoyed while dining in her many castles – castrated cockerel anyone? How about a slice of Umble Pie?
At Rockfleet Castle in Co Mayo, Neil hears the story of how Gráinne divorced her husband by shouting “I dismiss you” from the rooftop – the Brehon Law equivalent of throwing black bags full of his stuff onto the lawn and a handy way to ensure she kept the castle. Neil decides that Brehon law isn't quite his thing after he's cast out to sea in just a cow hide in one of the more bizarre punishments of the time.
Through Neil's unique brand of stand-up and sketches starring the immense comedy talent of Foil Arms and Hog, and Tara Flynn, we reimagine scenes from Gráinne's life including the supposed meeting that took place between a fiery-tempered Irish chieftain and Queen Elizabeth I, two grand old Dames in their 60's, both of whom broke the mould.