Ros na Rún

Ros na Rún
Genre Soap opera
Directed by Déirdre Ní Fhlatharta, Tommy Ó Fatharta, Cóilín Ó Scolaí
Country of origin Ireland
Original language(s) Irish(English subtitles)
No. of seasons 20
No. of episodes 1,000 (as of 31 December 2009)
Production
Producer(s) Cóilín Ó Scolaí
Location(s) Spiddal, County Galway
Editor(s) Gert Thomas
Running time 25 minutes approx.
Production company(s) Tyrone Productions
EO Teilifís
Release
Original network TG4
Picture format 16:9 (SDTV)
Original release 3 November 1996 – present
(20 years, 46 days)
Chronology
Related shows Na Rúin
External links
Website
Production website

Ros na Rún is a long-running Irish soap opera produced for the Irish language television channel, TG4. It was originally broadcast on RTÉ One in the early 1990s before the existence of TG4. It now broadcasts for 35 weeks of the year, airing 2 episodes each week from September to May. The programme is set in a fictional village called Ros Na Rún, located outside Galway, and near Spiddal, and centres on the domestic and professional lives of its residents. It is modelled on an average village in the West of Ireland but with its own distinct personality – diverse population that share secrets, romances, friendships etc. While the core community has remained the same, the look and feel of Ros Na Rún has changed and evolved over the years to incorporate the changing face of rural Ireland. It has established a place not only in the hearts and minds of the Irish speaking public, but also the wider Irish audience.

Ros na Rún has been praised for its tackling of realistic and socially challenging storylines, which got it dubbed ‘The Wild West‘. It has dealt with many different storylines, including domestic violence, infidelity, theft, arson, abortion, homosexuality, adoption, murder, rape, drugs, teen pregnancy and paedophilia. Every Summer, while Ros na Rún takes a four-month break, TG4 airs re-runs of previous Ros na Rún episodes: series three is scheduled to start on TG4 weekdays at 2pm from 23 July. The show began its sixteenth season in September 2011, and finished in May 2012. Ros na Rún's seventeenth season began Tuesday, 2 September. Ros na Rún airs in Ireland and the United States and formerly in Scotland.[1]

Show history

Ros na Rún was originally transmitted on RTÉ One and later transferred to the Irish-language station TG4, when it opened in October 1996. Ros na Rún first aired on the night of 3 November 1996. The episode filmed scenes in Galway, Dublin and London. The title plays on the double meaning of the Irish word rún, which has a basic meaning of 'secret' but also has a long history as a term of endearment, similar to "honey", "sweetheart", or "darling". Ros can mean either "a wood or wooded headland" or "a headland or promontory", so the title can mean either "Wood/Headland of the Secrets" or "Wood/Headland of the Sweethearts".

Ros na Rún is also shown on WYBE public television in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and was shown on UK terrestrial Freeview Scottish Gaelic channel TeleG with Scottish Gaelic subtitling until the channel closed in 2011.

One of the show's greatest strengths is that while it has a frank approach to tough subject matters, it also features a strong comedic element. Ros na Rún celebrates the lighter side of village life with scenes of domestic squabbles, practical jokes and competitive one-upmanship between siblings, friends and lovers providing plenty of comic relief. The show balances humour with a sensitive approach to serious themes, making it a hit with viewers.

Season 1

Jack Padraic dies without leaving a will. His relatives become locked in a battle to take control of his house, his nephew Jack Hayes from London arrives first followed by his niece Rita O'Connor and her family (her husband Paddy and their children Eimear and Jason). Rita returns to Ros na Rún from Dublin. Londoner Jack is first generation Irish from an Irish speaking background. On the death of their close uncle they both decide to move into the house once promised to them each. Rita and her family are forced to move into the local B&B, she is ready for a fight to push Jack back to London. In an effort to embrace Jack, Rita sets up camp across the road. Jack left his partner Tom in London, while the O'Connor's returned their keys to the corporation. Tom joins Jack later in the series. The O'Connor's find it difficult settling with Jason running home to Dublin. A search soon begins around Ros Na Rún.

The Chocolate Factory (Mil Ri) is under pressure and unable to sell their products. Mr. (Chris) Barrett has all but disappeared leaving the factory manager (Sean) under the impressions that the company is about to close. Chris's plan does not work out stop the closer of the factory. Micheál leaves his job in the factory to return to fishing with Mil Rí receptionist Síle wants to join him on the sea, however he gives the job to Seamus. Mil Rí is soon to close.

Liam Ó Conghaile sets his sights on becoming an Actor as film production increase in Ireland. Only to be left cleaning the set. Liam's Grandmother Sarah looks for a job in Tigh Thaidhg (the local pub), robbing her daughter's (Máire) fresh brown bread to impress her new employer. Freddy Victor is a new English film producer in the area, who local radio report Caitriona is looking to interview. Liam's father (Peadar) wishes to return home from an illegal state in New York without a job. Sarah intercepts the calls from her son-in-law and does not let him speak with Máire.

Colin O'Cathain returns from Leeds to his brother Seamus. Colin plays the role of an old Irish ex-pat who realises that he isn't "very happy" in England, while his brother Seamus plays the part of an older retired bachelor in rural Ireland.

Season 17

In its 17th year, Ros na Rún's storylines continue with local wrangling, gossip, love-stories that blossom and some that fade as well as all the wit and banter that is the daily stuff of social activity in shops, clubs and cafés throughout the country. This season's dramatic storylines continue with themes of love, lust, family troubles, murder, lies, secrets and affairs

This season will feature rape, murder and family reunions as well as new love between old friends, sexy newcomers and affairs of the heart are among a host of real life issues. A previously unknown twin sister whom arrives out of the blue to cause havoc and a stalker who returns to haunt a man on the eve of his wedding. Publican Tadhg and his son try to cover up a murder and Tina does her best to get Dara back from Caitríona. Ros na Rún continually raises the bar for innovative and realistic storylines.

Series Producer Déirdre Ní Fhlatharta believes "This is the most exciting series yet. There is such a great diversity of storylines and a real development of the characters. There is an amazing team working on the series, and their dedication to the show reflects this. This season will be a mixture of character driven stories."

Characters and settings

'Ros na Rún' retains many of the characters from the show's inception. The inhabitants of the village are usually best known by their first names.

The Irish language

All conversations and scenes in the soap take place in the Irish language. Most of the actors/actresses in the show are native Irish speakers. The dialect used in the show is mostly Connacht Irish, although there are characters from County Donegal (where Ulster Irish is spoken) played by Gavin Ó Fearraigh and Niall Mac Eamharcaigh. Munster Irish is spoken by An tAthair David (Father David). The series producer is Cóilín Ó Scolaí.

Spin-offs

Na Rúin

On 13 September 2011 TG4 launched a new 10 part online series titled, Na Rúin (The Secrets). The mini-series took on the theme of mystery, when 16-year-old Ciara goes missing from The Teaghlach (a halfway house for troubled teenagers in Ros Na Rún) all hell breaks loose. Soon would be rap star Lorcán finds himself in the frame for her murder, despite his protests of his innocence. The viewer had to read Rachel's, her roommate, and Lorcán's blogs as well as watch video diaries detailing the thoughts of each character about the disappearance to solve the mystery. Many of the regular cast members of Ros Na Rún appeared in the internet mini-series.[2]

Viewing figures and critics

Ros na Rún is TG4's flagship Irish Language drama. Programmes on the station such as Glór Tíre, an Jig Rig and Cogar constantly outperform Ros na Rún.[3] The AGB Nielsen rating for TG4's top 10 programmes from September to December 2011 show that the drama regularly fails to make the top ten programmes on the station, on average the show gets 30,000 viewers across all episodes including the repeat omnibus edition.

It is difficult to assess the critical response to Ros na Rún as the drama is rarely reviewed in the national media in Ireland, and it proves difficult to find reviews of the drama, a similar situation to many soap operas in many countries.

In a short piece on British actor's Stephen Fry's cameo appearance in Ros na Rún, Michael O'Doherty in The Evening Hearld gave a glimpse of the his antipathy towards the drama. Commenting on Fry's appearance, O'Doherty stated, "His part was a brief one, but garnered more column inches for the soap than any other episode".[4]

Show facts

Satire

In 2005, John Finn, Kathryn Morris and Jeremy Ratchford from Cold Case appeared in a satirical promo for both Cold Case and Ros na Rún for TG4. The commercial won a Gold Medal in the "Best Drama Promos" category of the 2007 Sharks International Advertising Awards Festival of Ireland (Sharks Awards).[6] The promotion features both John Finn and Kathryn Morris in character interrogating a murder suspect from TG4 soap Ros na Rún played by Peadar Cox who refuses to speak in English, both detectives then begin talking in Irish much to the surprise of Jeremy Ratchford's character, the promo tied in with a murder investigation in Ros na Rún.[7] TG4 also ran a similar promo for Nip/Tuck, where Seamus is seen cycling through the country side supporting a brand new pair of breasts.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Charlie and Boland, Rosita. "Stephen Fry to cameo in TG4 soap". The Irish Times. 17 November 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.naruin.ie/
  3. ↑ http://www.tg4.ie/leir/luch.asp Archived 26 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ http://www.herald.ie/opinion/michael-odoherty-fry-shows-why-irish-language-flops-27974896.html
  5. ↑ "Ros na Rún celebrates 1,000th show". RTÉ.
  6. ↑ "Corporate – Awards". TG4. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "Cold Case meets Ros Na Rún". YouTube/TG4. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
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