Ballylenon

Ballylenon
Genre	Sitcom
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Syndicates	BBC Radio 4 Extra
Starring	T P McKenna; Margaret D'Arcy; Stella McCusker; Aine McCartney; John Hewitt; Gerard Murphy; Roma Tomelty; Kevin Flood;
Announcer	Corrie Corfield
Written by	Christopher Fitz-Simon
Directed by	Eoin O'Callaghan; Peter Kavanagh;
Original release	8 June 1994 –; 2 March 2011
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	42
Audio format	Stereo
Website	Programme website

Ballylenon is a radio situation comedy set in a small village in County Donegal in Ireland in the 1950s. The six series totalling 30 half-hour episodes were originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 1994 until 1999. The series was written by Christopher Fitz‑Simon, and it starred T P McKenna, Stella McCusker and Margaret D'Arcy. A seventh and eighth series were broadcast in 2009 and 2010. Music arranged and performed by Stephanie Hughes (Michael Harrison in Series 7 and 8).

The Daily Telegraph's radio columnist Gillian Reynolds cheered at the show's 1995 return, calling it "neat, witty, and perfect", and called the 1999 season "the perfect haven just now from all the mud, blood and studs everywhere else." In The Guardian, Elisabeth Mahoney found the writing in the show's 2009 season to be "a delicious mix of gentle and sharp, vividly bringing to life the rhythms of speech and social interaction in this Irish village setting".

In 2020, BBC Audio made the complete show, all eight series, available as an audiobook.

Cast

Regular cast

Phonsie Doherty – T P McKenna (Series 1–6), Gerard Murphy (Series 7–8)
Muriel McConkey – Margaret D'Arcy
Vera McConkey – Stella McCusker
Vivienne Boal/Hawthorne – Aine McCartney
Stumpy Bonner – Gerard McSorley
Guard Bernie Gallagher – John Hewitt (Series 1–6), Frankie McCafferty (Series 7–8)
Rev Samuel Hawthorne – Gerard Murphy (Series 1–6), Miche Doherty (Series 7), Dermot Crowley (Series 8)

Recurring cast

Josie Doherty – Ciara McKeown (Series 3), Cathy White (Series 4 and 5), Ali White (Series 6)
Aubrey Frawley – Dominic Letts (Series 1), Matthew Addis (Series 7), Chris McHallem (Series 8)
Packy McGoldrick – Charlie Bonnar (Series 3 and 5), Tim Loane (Series 4)
Peg Sweeney – Anna Manahan, Marcella Riordan (Series 5)

Guest cast

Polly Acton – Joanna Munro
Terry Black – Mark Lambert
Mr Boylan – Derek Bailey
Consuela Dooley – Cathy Belton
Eamonn Doyle – Patrick Fitzsymons
Jonathan Ffrench O'Dowd – Wesley Murphy
Primrose Ffrench O'Dowd, Eithne Ni Phartalain – Marcella Riordan
Canon Friel, O'Brollachain – Kevin Flood
Mr Mawhinney – Harry Towb
Monsignor McFadden – Niall Cusack
Father O'Flatley – John Guiney
Daniel O’Searcaigh – James Greene
Bohunkus Smith – BJ Hogg
RL Watson – Roma Tomelty

References

1 2 Reynolds, Gillian (16 June 1998). "On Radio: A delightful escape from all this mud and studs". The Daily Telegraph. p. 19. Retrieved 13 June 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Gillian Reynolds' Choice: Ballylenon". The Daily Telegraph. 8 July 1995. p. 212. Retrieved 13 June 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Mahoney, Elisabeth (26 November 2009). "Ballylenon". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 June 2025.