John Bishop's Ireland

Episode 1

In episode one, John goes to watch the All Ireland Gaelic football final. Like an Irish Super Bowl, it’s a match that sees over half the country crowd around the TV in pubs and living rooms for the culmination of a competition involving all of the 32 counties in the north and south. Since winning in 1951, Mayo has lost the final seven times which many put down to a curse – Is this the year they will finally lift the curse? Next, John travels on to Cork, where he goes to the local university for a lecturer on Folk law and fairies and meets a fisherman, who like him, has met the Queen.

Episode 2

In episode two, John visits Lisdoonvarna, where he meets Ireland’s last traditional matchmaker, Willie Dalyand and his world famous magic book, at a 200-year-old festival. He then travels to Knock, where he meets Father Richard Gibbons, and finds out why, despite having a population of just 972, it annually hosts more than 1.5 million visitors who travel from all over the globe.

Episode 3

John travels to the TG4 TV studios to meet the team at the Irish-speaking weather channel. Next, he visits the town of Westport, where one pub stands out as the mecca of music. The owner is Matt Malloy of the six-time Grammy Award-winning Irish super group, The Chieftains. In Derry he interviews Stuart Moore about the Apprentice boys, and his travels continue to Museum of Free Derry – where he meets information officer John Kelly, who has a very personal attachment to Bloody Sunday.

Episode 4