The popular TV show Father Ted follows the misadventures of three Catholic priests that live on an island off the west coast of Ireland. During the show, we are told that the priests were banished to Craggy Island because of some of their previous “indiscretions”. For example, in one episode, we are told that Father Dougal McGuire was exiled because of an incident in Blackrock, which left the lives of several people ‘irreparably damaged’. Dougal, in an attempt to defend himself, explains that those people ‘were only nuns’.
‘That money was just resting in my account!’
The main character of the show, Father Ted Crilly, was exiled because of an incident called ‘that Lourdes thing’, in which he allegedly stole charity money that was supposed to fund a poor child’s pilgrimage. According to Bishop “Len” Brennan, Ted took the charity money and immediately flew off to Las Vegas. Whenever the incident is brought up, Ted is quick to claim that the money was just “resting” in his bank account.
Wexford
Although we are never told outright where Father Ted was based before ‘that Lourdes thing’ occurred, it is insinuated that he had been serving in Wexford Town. In one episode, during a conversation with Father Hernandez, Ted claims that he sometimes misses the “buzz of working in the big city”. Hernandez, who is noticeably amused by Ted’s statement, immediately quips back with:
‘You were in Wexford, weren’t you?’
