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Dublin: 12 °C Saturday 25 May, 2013

6 vintage Fair City stars… where are they now?

Remember Kay McCoy? And Jimmy Doyle? Never forget.

EARLIER THIS WEEK a strangely familiar face popped up in the new Renault commercial.

“Where do we know this lad from?” we pondered.



Here at TheJournal.ie Towers we racked our brains:

He was a policeman in Fair City I do believe.
Are we mixing him up with this guy?
Don’t think he was a policeman, he worked in the little computer company they ran in somone’s living room I think.

BINGO!

Now that we have David Heap – aka Donal Maher from Fair City – placed, it’s time to have a nose around for some more of Carrigstown’s finest who’ve moved on to greener pastures:

6 vintage Fair City stars… where are they now?
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  • Donal Maher

    Donal Maher, as we've already seen, worked in the computer company The Blue Dolphin. He had a relationship with Nicola but ultimately fell in love with her sister Philippa. Actor David Heap is now in the new Renault ad. He's also recently appeared on stage in Hamlet, Dracula and Macbeth.
  • Kay McCoy

    Kay was the sour-faced publican who ran McCoy's pub with an iron fist. She was married to Noel, and then to Malachy, who had an affair with Sue. Kay's adopted son Lorcan died, and she almost lost stepson Stephen to a cult. She left Carrigstown to live in Spain to get away from it all. Kay was played by actress Sheila McWade, who now lives in Belfast and works as a writer and an actress.
  • Hughie Phelan

    Hughie and the Phelan family were one of the staples of Fair City for years... there was Hughie's wife Natalie, his mother Eunice and his brother Christy. Hughie worked in the pizza parlour and the pub for a while. Joe Hanley, who played Hughie, also played the part of Arkham Thug #2 in Batman Begins, which is fairly impressive. He was also in Adam and Paul, Agnes Browne and more recently in the stage version of the Shawshank Redemption.
  • Nicola Prendergast

    Claudia Carroll, the actress who played Nicola called her "the horrible old cow everyone loved to hate". Nicola was married to Paul, who had several affairs, including one with Helen Doyle. Nicola got back at him by sleeping with our old pal Donal Maher. Nicola survived breast cancer and Paul getting off with her friend Niamh before leaving Carrigstown in 2006. Claudia Carroll, who played Nicola, is now a bestselling author. Her latest book is called A Very Accidental Love Story.
  • Pizza Action

    See, there's Hughie in the pizza place, which was called Pizza Action if the tshirts are to be believed. Image: Fair City Fans/Facebook
  • Barry O'Hanlon

    Barry O'Hanlon started off in Carrigstown as a teacher who got off with his student Niamh. The pair were supposed to marry, but she went off with his mate Paul. After battling depression he became a journalist and then the editor of the local newspaper, before becoming a barman. He left Fair City in 2011 for jail after accidentally killing his friend. Pat Nolan played Barry O'Hanlon and since leaving last year he's become and acting coach and has taken several small acting jobs. He no longer has the beard.
  • Jimmy Doyle

    The second oldest of the Doyle children (the Doyle's owned the shop, remember?), Jimmy was a mechanic who first married Dolores Molloy's daughter Lorraine. When she died he had an affair with Ali Foley which broke up his second marriage to Robin. Then he moved to Australia, joining his brother Darren and youngest sister Louise. Nowadays that actor David Mitchell lives in America. In 2005 he won RTÉ's Your a Star Charity Special. Image: RTÉ

Did you know?

Marty Whelan, Larry Gogan, Shane McGowan, The Saw Doctors and Maeve Binchy all appeared on Fair City.

New product placement rules sees Fair City gets a Spar>

Glenroe was “an embarrassment” to RTÉ, says Biddy>

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