Kilcoole In All Its Glenroe Glory

Welcome to TV Paradise…

ightly regarded as one of RTE’s finest creations, and the brainchild of the late, great Wesley Burrowes, Glenroe ran from 1983 to 2001 – and it put Kilcoole on the map, to be sure, to be sure.

Burrowes – who passed away at his Bray home on December 31st, 2015 – created Glenroe as a spin-off from Bracken (which, in turn, was a spin-off from The Riordans), and he recognised the potency of mixing rural family drama with slapstick comedy to create one of Ireland’s most popular soaps.

From wily old farmer Dinny Byrne (played by wily old Joe Lynch) and his sweetly gobdawn son Miley (Mick Lally), the creation of a Ross & Rachel storyline for the latter with Mary McEvoy’s Biddy, along with the contrast of working class rubbing shoulders and banging heads with the gentrified set (as exemplified by Emmet Bergin’s Dick Moran) meant there was something for the whole family to shout about.

As for Kilcoole, which provided RTE with the location for the hit TV show, becoming known as Glenroe did wonders for business. Suddenly, there were tourists. Going to Kilcoole.

Get up the yard!

You can see Kilcoole in the midst of all its TV fame and tourist glory on the video below, with just about every business managing to incorporate the Glenroe name into their titles. I’m just surprised the Saint Miley of Holy God RC Church didn’t ‘stick…

And when you’re finished, check out Glenroe: The Early Years, when the show started out as Glendarragh.