Derry Girls educated me more about recent Irish history than anything I learnt from anything else on TV or newspapers. Regards from Australia.

I am a Canadian man and found Derry Girls to be the best television I have watched in quite some time. It was the funniest show I have seen forever. I laughed out loud so much!! The writing was spectacular and I am so glad I took a chance on it! I would be amiss without mentioning the actors. Thank you.

Ive only seen my (northern Ireland) father cry a few times in my life, but when we watched the finale of Derry Girls he was weeping. Such a brilliant show, and so accurate to the life experiences of those who lived through the troubles

I think Siobhan would be happy to know that my, buff, masculine history teacher tried to convince our entire class to watch derry girls because he loves the show so much

I served in NI. When I went there I was completely ignorant of our history of colonialism and apartheid in Ireland, and the line from the higher-ups was we were there to protect the protestant community. What I saw shocked me. Abuse of power by officials was a daily occurrence. Random violence perpetrated on members of the nationalist community was the subject of jokes, competitions and prizes at the end of a tour. I returned to uni to study History and Politics when I finished. Our ignorance is not accidental. It is well-considered, well-executed and absolutely necessary in order to keep control of the lower-orders in the UK. How can an A-Level History student get to the end of 16 odd years of school and know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the history of our own country? The fact that we practiced how to be an Empire with our first colony in Ireland; that we carried out genocides, economic terrorism and ideological 'othering' for hundreds of years WHILE IT WAS PART OF THE UK. Spin us a line about Glorious Revolutions, exceptionalism, Rule Britania, the beneficent Empire, Stiff upper-lip, Spitfires... We'll eat it up and doff the cap to a billionaire family who, on gaining power, swear to uphold the protestant ascendancy. Forced ignorance is a tool of control. But we seem to be willing to go along...

We need a sister Michael show. I am ready for this. Make it so.

In all my years at school we did not spend one minute on Irish history, but for that matter we did no Scottish or Welsh history.

I watched Derry Girls for the first time this past weekend and blazed through the whole thing in 2 days and then went back to rewatch some bits. I LOVED it and as a person from the U.S. i was learning so much and googling terms and history like crazy. I was like "I didnt know this even existed a day ago, how am I crying about it now?" EXCELLENT storytelling and a brilliant way to approach important history. And Sister Michael was my favorite character, hands down.

To hear people within the UK excuse their ignorance about Northern Ireland and the Troubles with stuff like “I don’t know anything about Lithuania either” is just mind boggling. It’s not a foreign country. It’s the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is literally what makes the UK still the UK!

People don’t believe me sometimes when I say we don’t learn about Ireland at school. I went through 13 years of school in Scotland (2000-2013) and we did not mention Ireland even one time. And I took History as one of my subjects.

I’m shocked that children in England are not taught the history of all the countries in the UK. But perhaps it helps to explain a lot. For what it’s worth, I grew up in Cork, Ireland and we studied world history, European history and Irish history. Along the way we learnt a lot about British history. Because no man (or woman) is an island.

Derry Girls is the modern day Father Ted we needed.

Sister Michael was not a mad woman. She was completely logical and honest. Brilliant character

"not the most difficult role I have played" Reminds me of how Jane Lynch said that "you don't have to dig too deep to find the Sue Sylvester in me".

loved the scene when Sr. Mike appeared to be just praying, but then the TV comes into view and it is obvious that she is praying for her football team's victory.

My favorite show on Netflix I cannot get enough of it I don't know how many times I've rewatched it so happy to finally see the second season.

We are sad to see it end as ot was a great wee show. Good on you Siobhan we enjoyed your character.

I'm a Derry girl transplanted in NYC now (work). I'm also old enough to remember more of the whole sectarian conflicting carry on as Sister Michael called it, and if I get asked one more f*cking time if my family was in the IRA ... HONESTLY the lack of education on NI is just shocking stuff! It turns my head 100%!!!

The British education system doesnt teach why the UK has a land boarder, why one day its longest river shrank and its biggest city shrank, that it had a civil war in contemporary times. Because that doesnt matter to daily life, but it has time to learn about every time henry the 8th got lucky. How can people live through brexit and say they dont need to know this stuff. If your "island nation" actually has a landboarder shouldnt you know that.

I'm from NZ and just love this show - my oldest brother at 65 also loves it and we chatted and giggled about it the last time we got together. Going to miss Sister Michael and the entire team

One of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched the first two seasons several times, the third only once. So far. New York Irish Catholic family. Went to Catholic school, even people without those experiences will love this show. I’ve lived in Massachusetts for most of my life now and there are many people with Irish heritage. Our former Boston Mayor, Martin Walsh grew up with immigrant parents who spoke Irish as their first language and he spoke it at home. Lots of respect for former Maine Sen George Mitchell who helped broker the Good Friday agreement in 1998

We are from England , Bath , Bristol originally , went to Canada when we were 20 , worked and toured all over North America and ended up in Australia . We went back to the UK back in the 1980's via Japan . The trip was to meet a group of half sisters that I had never met , two of whom lived in Northern Ireland . The "troubles " were still ongoing . We had no idea having basically lived much of our lives away from Europe . Leaving Japan , which is very homogenous and flying into Belfast with its red, white and blue on one side of a road and green and orange one the other was a surprise to say the least. We were educated very quickly !! by my long lost relatives .

The finale was perfect. And sad cause we didn’t want it to end.

Derry Girls is just the best ! great writing cast and real humor

Of course people all over the world love this show. And growing up Catholic here in Canada and going to catholic schools full of nuns, Sister Michael rings SO true for me personally.

Sister Michael is definitely my favorite. Love this ridiculous yet pertinent show. I’m totally ignorant about Northern Ireland and appreciate the included historical aspect. 🇺🇸

Thanks for sharing the actor's name. Putting a face and name to the tremendous talent and insight and humor.

Wow, amazing interview about an amazing show! I love Derry Girls!!! Siobhán McSweeney made some powerful statements. It is time to decolonize!

Sister Michael reminded me of a nun who taught at the school I went to, Sister Asumpter. She was 6 foot tall built like a brick privy, broad Irish accent and when she walked down the corridoor you got out of her way or she would walk right over you. Sister Asumpter was Sister Michael but without the milk of human kindness.

I have watched this series 3 times and never tire of the humour, amazing characters and family unity in the story. I want to visit Derry now and hopefully will do in the net future. Love from Cape Town South Africa❤❤❤❤❤

My wife and I live across the pond. We found Derry Girls on one of the cable channels and jumped at the chance to watch it was because it was filmed in Ireland (we had traveled there in 2018 and actually went to Derry although we did not get to see too much because the tail end of a hurricane was hitting while we were there....even Bushmills was closed down that day). We LOVED it. It was hysterical. We wish that Americans could produce a show as thoughtful and funny as this. We will watch it again and laugh again till we cry. Thank you so much for this treasure.

We learnt about northern Ireland in my school but it was very fleeting, I don't even think it was something that was meant to be covered at all. If I remember correctly I think our teacher just decided to talk to us a little bit about it due to their being a reference to bloody Sunday in a book we were going through and we at the time, didn't know anything about Bloody Sunday.

Sister Michael had all the best lines.

I loved this it was such a time capsule, so many things that made me feel nostalgic, even the tuck shop. I live in Scotland and grew up in the same time period so so much was familiar. But we were hyper-sheltered from what was going on in Northern Ireland. We weren't taught about it, maybe because there would have been more uproar maybe they didn't want to frighten us, maybe because Scottish children would have been inclined to side with the Irish since we share celtic heritage and a history of scrapping with the English (religion aside, we were busy falling out with it altogether anyway) XD. Yup, I was oblivious that this was happening growing up and yes I'm questioning why that was acceptable given Ireland is just next door :(

Here in Denmark - I also sometimes feel the ignorance, when it comes to the Faroe Islands and especially Greenland. They are both autonomous countries within the Danish Realm - "Rigsfællesskabet".

Caught first 4 episodes in Oz a week back on KZfaq - Sis Michael's welcome 2 the new girls was memorable!

I love them all but...Sister Micheal and Colm 😮 keep me in stitches

I too teared up in the GFA episode - just very touching.

I'm really sad that Derry Girls show will be ending and I'm so disappointed that,this show besides one of the funniest show I have seen,I am sad that,living in the US I can't watch Derry Girls when I want.

People barely learn any history full stop, but it’s very true if you’re British you have to educate yourself on Irish history.

I like the Irish, those in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. I’d like to see the two united one day, speaking as an Englishman. I only hope it can be done peacefully.

Great interview!

My time in England we only touched on the Troubles once, it was a brief PowerPoint because we were reading a book set then. This was when we were young too and then never again. This show taught me more than my classroom ever did

Cant talk about kids nowadays but when I studied history in the north of England it did include Ireland, north and south, not so much the Troubles but the causes of it.(from the late 19th century when it was still all part of UK and the partition) Saying that not every school did that, they concentrated on different periods of history. Romans, medieval etc. And also other countries history. Theres so much of it you cannot learn everything.

Back in 2016 I (I'm a Welshman, my surname arrived at Swansea Docks in 1820) I was genuinely horrified that NI was just swept to one side in all the Brexit debates when it was obvious that the Northern Ireland situation, shaped by the GFA was going to be a massive problem down the line. It seemed that not one single Brexiteer in the media gave a damn about the welfare and safety of the Northern Irish people.

I am from Florida, and have nothing but love for this series, it was a perfect ending but man was I sad about not seeing anymore episodes of these strong characters. What a perfect cast!

Sister Michael is hands down my fave character from derry girls!

Im a yank in Florida and I cried every season!!! I had no idea what went on there. I graduated school in 2001 so im around their age, the music, the crazy emotions, I remember it all. 🥰🥰😃😃

It’s because the English schools don’t teach about the history in Ireland. I remember with the show Victoria the English people themselves were shocked to hear about what happened to the Irish people during the potato famine. The schools don’t teach them about it. You have to blame the government for that. I only knew about it because my family is from Scotland ( and Ireland- but not my immediate family) and the potato famine affected them also but not in the horrific way it affected Ireland.

I love Sr. Michael!!!!

Even in the US we went over what happened in Ireland, it wasn't super in depth I'll admit but we generally know what happened.

All we used to hear about NI was bombs. So I was surprised as a child to hear that a Pakistani friend of ours regularly went to Belfast Market to open his stall selling knitwear. Made me realise that life goes on and it was not much different from the north west. We missed out on a lot.

THIS SHOW HAS EARNED AN OSCAR!!!!

The word is Disinterest rather than Ignorance.

For feks sake! Sister Michael is definitely the most hilarious character. Siobhan is awesome. I really enjoyed hearing from her. Well done, so it was

If you think English schools are bad, American schools are even worse. I learned so much from Derry Girls. Laughed and cried, as well.

The finale re the Good Friday agreement made me cry and to the beautiful voice of Dolores OR

"OK, Colom" is now a phrase in our house for when someone is rambling. Excellent show.

I have to be honest, having being born in 1997 and growing up in England, the complete absence of education and awareness on the conflict in Ireland throughout both public education and the wider cultural zeitgeist, in hindsight I find absolutely shocking and frankly disgusting. I feel an imense amount of guilt over my own ignorance of not only the conflict but Irish history as a whole. It's insane to me it has taken this long for a popular show to actually engage and focus on the troubles in such an authentic and real way. I feel absolutely obligated to fix my own ignorance around it and its because of Derry Girls I've had that realisation. It's a really amazing show and I hope other people will have a similar revelation. Also, if anyone can recommend any particular voices, authors or media that can provide greater insight into this, I would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

Met Siobhan at 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. We well she took a pic of us. Lovely woman. And Bono was nowhere to be found. Funny that.

I vaguely remember in the 60's (yes I know it's going back awhile, but anyway) when the Troubles really began be noticed in England - we were completely ignorant of what had been going on there. And of course it got worse, as time went by. To give you an idea of what I mean - in London for example at that time you never ever saw armed police walking the streets. If there were armed police needed for something completely out of the ordinary, it would be very punctual and obviously their arms would be kept in a secure place at a police station. Suddenly in the newspapers, they announced that the 'B Specials' were going to be disbanded. We had absolutely no idea that they existed, who they were, what they were supposed to do, nothing at all. They were protestant armed police, who kept their arms at home with them. When Heath sent in the army, the front page of 'Private Eye' was 'Tanks for the Memory'. I remember an interview with the then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland - O'Niall I think his name was - he unashamedly said the most disparaging things about the Catholics on national radio. I was brought up as a Catholic in England, we were part of main-stream society, I had never never heard anything like that before. Later on when I was working in London, I kept coming across young men of my age or older men who had come to London because their lives were under threat. I could go on......

Lovely person, brilliant actor. The show in amazing, truly in all respects.

Northern Ireland is a jewel. It’s stunning and the people are wonderful.

Go on Sionbhan!

Love!

When talking about modern Ireland one thing that needs to be mentioned was how a Protestant Irish Parliament successfully gained independence for Ireland between 1782 and 1800, during which time Catholics got most of their rights back, with most Irish people of different faiths uniting under the ideologies of either constitutionalism or Republicanism, with both in favour of varying degrees of Irish sovereignty/autonomy and increased personal rights. This independence ended when a failed Republican Revolution in 1798 led British prime minister William Pitt to intimidate and bribe the Irish Parliament into merging the Kingdom Ireland into the UK after an initial Union vote failed. Ireland’s Parliament was forced to merge with The British one (though the courts and civil service of Ireland remained separate, but nominally subject to Westminster from now on). People on both sides seem to have completely forgotten this chapter in Irish history, because Protestants and Catholics fighting together for an independent Irish Kingdom doesn’t fit anyone’s narrative, and yet it had a major impact on the island. Unionism, Republicanism and Constitutionalism all originate from the original Irish volunteers that used the opportunity of the American Revolution distracting Britain to revolt in 1782. This heralded the independence and has shaped all aspects of Irish politics, ever since..

On holiday in tenerriffe 6 years ago, some Spanish guy was picking teams to play pool ball. He says anyone from England here to which most of the young lads shout out yeah. Then he said anyone from Ireland to which I shout out yeah. Then the Spanish guy said now are you Irish or Irish Irish. I thought to myself ffs? and said I guess I'm Irish Irish then 🤔. Then one of the very young English lads with clearly no understanding of Ireland and a disaproved look on his face said 'same fing' 😑. It annoyed me at the time, but realise its simply a lack of education about Irelands history is to blame here in Britain, not that young English lads ignorance.

I loved history in school and spent lots of my time outside of school studying it because I've always passionate about it. My dad is from Belfast, though I was born in the UK, I've always had a very keen interest in the history of the North. However, I choose not to do A-level history because for the first time in my life, it was going to cover the Troubles and the teacher taking the class was the son of a solider who died in Northern Ireland before he ever got to meet his son. This class was the first time any of my classmates had ever heard anything about Northern Ireland and they were taught by a teacher who ended up being very biased, though I can't blame the teacher for this bias as he is only human, but he shouldn't have been teaching that module. I had always been made fun of at school for being half Irish, as my name clearly marked me out as being different so I couldn't just blend in. After people had started taking the class I got extra abuse from others, more than I did when I was younger, because now they had extra ammunition, and a teacher who encouraged a warped view of history. It was an opportunity for them to understand other people who live in the same country as them but the actual take away they got was a caricature of the people of Northern Ireland. What should be taught is the humanity of people on all sides of the conflict, how everyone suffered and lost something as a result of the conflict. What Siobhán said just bought all the above back, which I had forgotten, but felt like sharing.

the DeLorean was amazing.

Siobhan McSweeney is a genius.

I’m in the States and I make sure my children know about Irish history, not because we are of Irish heritage, but because it is a past, and current and ongoing, injustice of a powerful country occupying another country. I will never understand why the world does not stand up and tell England that they can no longer occupy Ireland.

I really enjoy Irish wit, being 48% Irish. Loved this show.

I had a nun much like Sister Michael in 6th grade in California. She made me laugh so hard, although in 6th grade I did not laugh. Maybe Sister Michael had more heart and soul than my teacher. So funny. Thank you Sister Michael.

Me encantó ese “olé” cuando marcó la selección irlandesa de fútbol 😂

Spoken like a true West of Ireland woman, lol fair play to her.

Irish Scottish and Welsh history should be taught in Engglish schools. It's a disgrace it isn't.

Orla’s character was my favorite character but I think it is because I am attracted to women like Orla’s character in real life. You know, like, random, off the cuff artsie independent types or whatever. And Sister Michael is my second favorite character on the show. But again that’s just me. The whole show is obviously brilliant.

Having attended a parochial school in the US, Sister Michael's character his a little too close to home for me. Nonetheless, I would love to see you in other roles, as I respect you as a brilliant actor.

I liked it too! Is there going to be anymore - or is it over?

Everything I learned about the history of the whole of the uk came after school. Otherwise in England there’s glory in the imperial history, which as someone from Indian descent, lacked a certain something. That is, the other side of the story. It’s the same with Scotland, Ireland and Wales: histories that are essential when looking at the whole picture. If England shafted you all, and STILL cannot admit to the truth, us ex-colonies have no chance.

As a teacher I can't understand why it's not in the curriculum but a host of long dead Kings are. That being said, thank heavens as no matter what sentence was the first line of the module there'd be utterly endless arguments from all sides about how outrageous it was.

Sister George Michael, to give her her full title!

I'm English and I feel like every country wants us to learn and understand about them but I don't have the time or the energy I like Ireland but I don't want to learn as much as she'd like me to, I doubt she's Interested in what's happening where I live

I'm American never taught that much about British history,self-taught.

James was hands down my favourite character. I can relate to him being an English kid growing up in a Celtic country (Wales in my case) as not being a whole lot of fun. You do get blamed for pretty much everything. I was told at 5 by other kids in my school, that Thatcher was my fault.

The late Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, used to say that “the eyes of the world were upon us”, since moving to Canada from Derry, and speaking to people here, John was wrong, most people looked away.

Since I moved to England: these people haven't heard of the UVF and think the IRA did more in England than NI.

It's not so much 'ignorance' concerning Northern Ireland that upsets me so much (as I used to live in Israel and I came across a lot of ignorance about there), but it is the ONE-SIDEDNESS from within and without that upsets me more, and it can be in support of either side, but it exists.

The best ever

Never seen it I live in the UK

Best show in yonks

Just taught about British history King George 3rd was a truant in school. I learned later he was one of the better British Kings,once again learned on my own.

Just came back from a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland including Derry. Have also watched DG and seen the mural. Derry made a strong impression on me with its murals and troubled history. Still they do all they can to make the city a nice and welcoming place today. I can strongly recommend it. As a Danish history buff, I have never understood why the British havent handed over Northern Ireland to the Irish a long time ago. It has given them nothing but problems in recent times and it is the decent thing to do in this day and age. I guess it´s a matter of pride for the English - otherwise I don´t understand... After WW1 Denmark was offered to get back all of Slesvig from Germany, which we had lost in 1864. We said no thanks, since we did not want to rule over people who didn´t want to be Danish. Instead we held a referendum. Northern Slesvig voted to come back to Denmark and Southern Slevig to stay in Germany and that solution has lasted since 1920. I wonder what the result would be in Northern Ireland today if they took a vote ?

The DeLorean comes from Detroit, Michigan lol

In the US most people (including a lot of Irish-descendants) think Ireland is an island next to "the UK and Scotland" where everyone drinks, fights then does their hail marys at church. Also leprechauns. They also think the IRA is the "Irish mafia" 🤣

All the characters on the show were so great. But I liked Sister George Michael the best.

I didn't watch Derry girls because the girls weren't from Derry so my Dad, who is from Derry, didn't watch it. So neither did I.

I dont focus too much on the goings on in Ireland as I'm not a politician and cannot change them or allow them freedom from westminister. Its wild to me that the protestants want anything to do with the UK.

Its only the Good Friday Agreement to Nationalists, to Unionists its the Belfast agreement.

I once met a girl from the UK who didn't know Northern Ireland was a part of the UK. Literally had no idea that Ireland was a divided island.