Talking Derry Girls

It’s that week between Christmas and New Year and the TDGs have a bit of a treat for you. During the @DerryHalloween event they chatted to two great Derry writers and storytellers - Ken McCormack and Madeline McCully. Between them they have written many books about Derry, ghost stories and local folklore as well as history. Only a few of their tales were included in the Hallowe’en e...

Amelia Earhart - One of the world’s most famous aviators, American heroine and icon - is actually a Derry Girl! When she broke the world record as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932 she landed unexpectedly in Gallagher’s field in Ballyarnett, on the outskirts of the city. She was surprised. The rest of the world was surprised, as the plan was to land in Paris. ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and one Derry Girls favourite is busy stocking up on presents for Protestants. The iconic Derry Man talks all things Dennis, putting the fizz into Holy Communion and just how difficult it is to live in the shadow of his super talented and successful "cousin”…  Will the TDG's be a match for the force of nature and his 10p mixes or will they be s...

The TDG's are now back in their separate homelands after an extended Hallowe'en visit to Derry. Any rumours that their stay had anything at all to do with Derry Girls filming in the City last week are merely speculation.  Ask No Questions…is both a request and the title of Derry Writer Claire Allan's latest novel. Claire has a true Derry Girl pedigree - all of her books are set in the Ci...

Be Afraid : A Very Scary Talking Derry Girls Extra Special!  Spared to roam the streets of Derry for another day the girls are back - haunting the bookshelves and walls of Little Acorns Bookstore. Hallowe'en is here and they are there, spooky tales unfold, costumes are completed faces are painted and surprises are lurking in every dark hole.  One Derry Girls inspired costume comes all th...

The Talking Derry Girls are back home for Hallowe’en. They have taken over the Jenni Doherty’s Little Acorns Bookstore and broken into the very fabric and hollows of The Walls to bring you a flavour of how the Hallowe’en Festival takes over the place. In part 1 of this weekend extravaganza (it’s long, you may need a break in the middle) folks they know and don’t know drop by for a chat a...

Derry City Centre isn’t that big but there are parts of it Jeanie has never been to. The TDGs visit The Fountain which is right up next to THE WALLS and is historic for many reasons including being the last remaining Protestant housing estate in the City. Jeanie and Pauline meet up with Derry/Londonderry stalwart Jeanette Warke - who has been a youth and community worker there for almost 50 y...

Series 3 of Derry Girls is in production and TDG's are building up our potential. We have already performed an audition piece for Lisa McGee - who could forget our stage presence as part of the set in Tara Lynne O’Neill's Rough Girls ( Episode 23 - if you missed it…). Now we are an event! The Very Scary Talking Derry Girls are to be part of Derry's Spooktacular Hallowe’en celebrations. Hallow...

As promised in episode 18 the TDG's made it to the opening night of Tara Lynne O’Neill's Rough Girls at Belfast's Lyric Theatre.  We met up the morning after the big night before and we are all buzzing… It’s the first time the 3 of us have done an interview together… in the same room at the same time with a real live guest… we are just a teeny bit giddy.  The play revolves around the unt...

An Irish Times number 1 best seller in it's first week of publication Séamas O’Reilly's memoir is a true Derry story. Did ye hear Mammy died? may not be the cheeriest title ever given to a book…but it is set in 90's Derry. Lisa McGee’s Derry. Derry Girls Derry. The dark humour is to the forefront in a story that is both heartbreaking and choke on your tea hilarious in the turn...

Whether you call it the Derry Air, The Londonderry Air or most likely Danny Boy the TDG's theme song is very dear to our hearts - so when Derry singer/songwriter actor and all round credit to his Ma Damian McGinty agreed to sing it for us we were beyond lurred. Maybe if Damian is new to your - all things Derry - radar you might want to click on the first link below and do a crash course...

The sun is shining on Derry's "spectacular" Walls and the TDG's are on the loose with their microphone soaking up the atmosphere and making new pals. Derry folk are always up for a chat and a bit of craic. A couple of brothers prove that everybody really does know everybody in Derry and remind the girls that Derry has a very rich history when it comes to overseas forces. Army, Navy and Air Forces...

The TDGs are now well and truly waterlogged as their visit to Derry continues. Where better to shelter from the downpour than their favourite Derry Bookshop? What wonders await them? In these brand new premises. Amongst the straining shelves they encounter Jenni Doherty - owner, curator and as Derry a girl as her Donegal roots will allow - I wonder if she's read any good books lately… Je...

The TDGs all love their Ma's - as well they should. But they all have a favourite surrogate Ma, the ultimate Derry Ma - none other than Ma Mary Quinn - actor Tara Lynne O'Neill. She's the first Derry Girls cast member to join Pauline, Jeanie and Marie-Louise for a chat. There was much excitement, secrets shared and long lost memories unearthed - be warned - big bowls and half loads will be discuss...

Continuing their visit to Derry, Pauline, Jeanie and Marie Louise embrace the true spirit of the tourist and book themselves onto a Derry Girls walking tour of the city. They were let loose on the streets of their hometown under the ever patient eye of their tour guide Charlene McCrossan who did her very best to keep order. It was raining, a lot, and they had loads of equipment and cables to keep...

The latest addition to Derry's wall art is a mural of the Dalai Lama pictured with the man he calls the Derry Lama - local man Richard Moore. Richard's story is so incredible that as they say in Derry - you couldn't make it up. Blinded by a soldier's bullet on his way home from school aged 10, Richard has gone on to befriend and ultimately forgive the man who shot him. Almost 50 years and a whole...

In August 2020 the TDG's packed up their suncream, umbrellas, bikinis and windcheaters and headed home to Derry. It was during those heady days when it looked like the world was getting back to normal. Derry was buzzing and Pauline, Jeanie and Marie Louise took to the streets - armed with masks and microphones on some very long socially distanced poles they accosted locals and visitors alike. Some...

The one about Erin’s Diary! Guess what everyone we know is getting for Christmas this year? Once upon a time a young writer from Derry was in a foreign land, it was a strange time for a sickness had befallen the earth, but she found refuge in a church, there were no statues, stations of the cross but a table and chair and a pen and paper (or a laptop maybe with wifi and an endless supply...

Derry Girls writer and creator Lisa McGee joins the Girls and tells them why she is "obsessed" with the podcast. She describes it as "hilarious", "THE best thing" and explains why she "was annoyed that she (sic) hadn't heard it before writing Series 3". Lisa also has some suggestions about what Pauline, Jeanie and Marie Louise can cover in the podcast while we wait impatiently for Series 3. 2...

We're discussing: Derry Girls / Series 2 / Ep6 / 'The President' We are at the end of the beginning and President Bill Clinton is on his way to Derry. One of our three Derry Girls had an invitation to meet the man himself. One had passed the security checks to get close to him and the other was in a car park at the back of Derry's Guildhall. It's history in the making and stirs up some e...

We're discussing: Derry Girls / Series 2 / Ep5 / 'The Prom' Our own 3 Derry Girls delve into the murky, messy, fragile world of teenage friendship. Derry's Doctor Who connections are explored - could the Doctor be a Derry Girl? Pauline, Jeanie and Marie Louise reminisce about their own Prom dates and how nuns armed with rulers measured out a decent distance during the slow dances.&n...

We're discussing: Derry Girls / Series 2 / Ep4 / 'The Curse' A bit like life itself, there are more questions than answers in this week's episode. How hilarious are your scones? Pauline has a recipe and you may need a big bowl. Has anyone ever actually done Rock the Boat at an Irish wedding? (Before the Derry Girls made it a thing?) Would you know a hallion from a scallion?  Are the...

We're discussing: Derry Girls / Series 2 / Ep3 / 'The Concert' Whatever we said whatever we did we probably meant it. Pauline, Jeanie and Marie-Louise come clean about their own teenage misdemeanours - some of which happened when they were old enough to know better. How far did they go to meet their heroes and would they have booed Led Zeppelin off the stage for playing their new song? T...

We're discussing: Derry Girls / Series 2 / Ep2 / 'Ms De Bruin and the Child of Prague' Pauline, Jeanie and Marie Louise wonder if one of them could be the "Craic Killer." They discuss the history and devotion given to the "enchanting piece of religious art" that is the Child of Prague and what happens if you "Seize The Day" and nothing happens? What if the best version of yourself isn't that...

We're discussing: Derry Girls / Series 2 / Episode 1 / 'Across the Barricade' The gang are off on a cross community peace trip...but when it comes down to it are we really all that different? Maybe not. Pauline, Jeanie and Marie-Louise discuss the art of borrowing and how Derry band, The Undertones, owe a big debt to the late Nobel Prize Winner John Hume. They reminisce ab...