Killinaskully

Killinaskully was an Irish television comedy which details the bizarre goings-on in a fictitious Irish village called Killinaskully located in the hills of Ireland. It was actually filmed on location in the villages of Killoscully and Ballinahinch in County Tipperary, the title being a fusion of these two placenames. The show’s humour comes from the unusual characterisations of traditional, stereotypical rural Irish folk. The show was chiefly written by the comedian, Pat Shortt, who also performed many of his own roles. It has spawned its own themed holiday in farm accommodation in the Slieve Felim mountain range region, within walking distance of the village used for filming the series. In an allusion to the popular song released by Pat Shortt, visitors are given a complimentary “Jumbo Breakfast Roll” upon their arrival. Killinaskully was produced by Shortt’s own company and has been broadcast by RTÉ as part of their Sunday night schedule since 2004. The first three series are available on DVD and VHS and have since been released in box set format. The show is currently in its fifth and final series, having begun transmission on 28 September 2008. It ceased on 2 November 2008, although the traditional special at Christmas time aired as normal the following month; in 2008 there were two such specials. Despite having a weekly audience of 800,000, Shortt has stated that this was the final series as he wishes to concentrate on the development of a new show with a new style, characters and storyline. Nevertheless, RTÉ continue to rerun the series as summer filler.