1. Miley's cheating ways on Glenroe
Despite being set in rural Ireland, where not whole lot seemed to happen, Glenroe became one the biggest shows on Irish television. Sunday nights at 8.30pm were eagerly anticipated, though the closing sequence filled us with dread – it meant Monday was just around the corner.
Without a doubt, the most shocking moment in Glenroe’s history was when Miley Byrne did the dirty on his poor wife Biddy with none other than her very own cousin.
Miley and Fidelma’s tryst in the hay bales of the sleepy Wicklow village will go down in history as one of Irish television’s most scandalous moments.
Remember this?
2. The 'almost' gay kiss on Fair City
The jaws of many an Irishman and woman across Ireland hit the floor back in 1996 when the daring writers of Fair City included – shock horror – a gay kiss.
Back then homosexuality had only been legal in Ireland for three years so it was a landmark moment in Irish television.
Liam and Eoghan had a brief moment of passion in what was (almost) the first ever gay kiss on Irish television. Unfortunately, the pair got interrupted before they could officially lock lips – but despite that gap of air between their faces, this moment changed how Ireland represented LGBT people on television forever.
3. The actual gay kiss on Ros na Rún
Here’s where the rivalry kicks in – there has always been some disagreement over whether Ros na Rún, the Irish language soap on TG4, or Fair City on RTÉ got in their first with an on-screen gay kiss.
Both happened in 1996 – and while Fair City’s scene came first, Ros na Rún’s characters actually kissed.
Some, however, accredit Fair City’s forward thinking as the first representation of a homosexual relationship on Irish television.
Nevertheless, Tom and Owen shared a tender moment in Connemara which hit headlines across Ireland.
4. Bad guy Billy Meehan's bitter end on Fair City
Long before the days of Love/Hate, there was another gangster on our television screens in the form of Billy Meehan. Oh, how we hated that blaggard.
The criminal came storming into the suburb of Carrigstown in the mid-1990s and lasted a frustratingly long time before he exited in a spectacular fashion.
His long-suffering wife Carol suffered many beatings at his hands but unlucky for Billy, Carol’s son Lorcan had enough. On one of Billy’s more vicious assaults on his wife, his stepson decided it was high time he got his comeuppance and decided to batter him with a golf club.
A grim end to a grim soap opera character – but one that had us enthralled from beginning to end.
5. The married woman and the priest on Ballykissangel
The brilliant Dervla Kirwan played firecracker Assumpta Fitzgerald in the BBC series Ballykissangel and there was tangible tension from the beginning between her Irish character and rookie English priest, Father Peter Clifford, played by Stephen Tompkinson.
Everyone who watched (all 14 million of us) were torn - did we want to see Assumpta and Father Pete united? Or were they better apart?
What made the will-they-won't-they storyline even more tantalising is that Kirwan and Tompkimnson were a couple off screen while making the show. It was axed after six years, after a hugely successful run.
6. The dramatic death of O'Dowd in Ros na Rún
Both Fair City and Ros na Rún also featured a universally despised gangster in some of their major storylines.
Poor twin sisters Róise and Ríona de Búrca have been through the mill on more than one occasion. Who could forget when Ríona married notorious criminal O’Dowd?
Things escalated when O’Dowd almost killed his wife in the dead of night, only for Róise to come and save the day.
Hitting him over the head with a metal rod, Róise helped Ríona to safety – while O’Dowd’s first wife Tina emerged from the shadows and finished the job, unbeknownst the the de Búrcas.
Sadly, their brother Donncha turned up to help his sisters – but a little too late. Upon finding O’Dowd’s dead body, he assumed his sisters had done the deed and decided to take the blame.
He ended up being arrested for his brother-in-law’s death but committed suicide before the trial.
