Characters / Derry Girls

The Girls

In General

• Custom Uniform: Although this was attempted with little success by Erin and Clare at the start of their fifth year, it happens accidentally to the entire group in a later episode after their shirts are turned pink in the wash. After Clare comes out in Season 1, each member of the group is almost always seen wearing an identical rainbow pin.
• Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Michelle is the Cynic, Clare is the Optimistic, Orla is the Apathetic; and James and Erin swap the Realist and Conflicted depending on the situation.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • Sanguine: Michelle, an impulsive Hard-Drinking Party Girl who pursues sex, alcohol, and whatever is fun in the moment.
  • Choleric: Erin, who is passionate and goal-oriented, but also arrogant and desperate for fame and attention.
  • Melancholic: Clare, a Nervous Wreck who is the most concerned with morality and obeying authority.
  • Phlegmatic: Orla, The Quiet One who is usually off in her own world, but still goes along with what the others are doing since she’s "easily led".
  • Eclectic: James, who is usually the Only Sane Man, but prone to freaking out about aspects of life in Northern Ireland that he is not used to.
• Friendship Moment:
  • In the last episode of the first season when they all get up and go and dance on stage with Orla, who is being laughed at for doing step aerobics in a talent competition.
  • Also in the last episode of series 2, when James decides to stay in Derry and they all run to him and have a Group Hug.
  • In episode 6 of series 3, they wait for Clare in the hospital, after her dad suffered from an aneurysm; and when Clare comes out, she starts sobbing as she confirms that her dad passed away. They immediately have a Group Hug to comfort her (Orla covers the entire group with her massive swan wings).
• Generation Xerox: All the girls take after their respective mothers, who were very similar to them when they were main cast's age as shown in "The Reunion". Mary was very passionate and determined to enjoy the school dance with the boys, Sarah (who hasn't actually changed all that much) was pretty oblivious to things much to the annoyance of her sister, Geraldine was almost constantly nervous and awkward, and Deirdre was the rebel of the group and even had a foreign cousin named Rob. Interestingly, the role of James is divided into two characters: Rob, who is Dierdre's Canadian cousin and doesn't get any respect from the others, and Janette Joyce, mother of the groups rival Jenny, who was actually the fifth member of the group.
• Hidden Depths: Despite usually being failures at whatever they try, the girls do a surprisingly good rendition of "Who Do You Think You Are?" while dressed as The Spice Girls for Father Peter's "Stars In Their Eyes" competition and seemed the clear winners until Erin stopped mid performance due to thinking her mother was having an affair.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Clare and James are the Nice, Michelle is the Mean, and Erin and Orla are the In-Between. Although James is initially removed from the group dynamics, he develops into the Nice along with Clare. Erin has a tendency to pepper her (usually) well-meaning intentions with moments of selfishness. Michelle has foul-mouthed tendencies and shameless nature.
• Post-Stress Overeating: The whole gang does this when told to re-write a class assignment in one evening.
• This Loser Is You: Forget about your average teen drama. These are one of the most realistic teenagers portrayal: they are awkward, self-centred, heavily dependent on their parents and sexually inexperienced, and despite the Dawson Casting, they convincingly look like teenagers. Chances are that your teenage years looked more like them rather than the guys in Beverly Hills, 90210.
• True Companions: They won't normally show it but they're fiercely loyal to each other when push comes to shove. (See Friendship Moment above).

Erin Quinn

Erin Josephine Quinn

Played By: Saoirse-Monica Jackson

"Look, I wanted to be an individual but my ma wouldn't let me."

A Protagonist Shall Lead Them of Derry Girls. Erin is passionate, ambitious, and opinionated, but also vain, self-righteous, and overly concerned with how she is regarded by others. Her dark sense of humour and sarcastic nature often get her in trouble with authority figures.

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• Attention Whore: Erin constantly seeks out attention and validation from others. When Mary commits to starting a university course, Erin is aghast, because this will take away the attention she would have received as the first person in her family to go to university.
• Author Avatar: The creator, Lisa McGee, grew up in Derry in the 90s and had this to say:
  Lisa McGee: I was sort of like Erin, the main character in the show. I was involved in a lot of drama clubs and thought I was better than I actually was. So of all the characters, I was probably the most like her. Probably a bit annoying!
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Sometimes throws fits when she doesn't get her way.
• Clashing Cousins: With Orla. Although Orla doesn't seem to have a problem with Erin, Erin is frequently frustrated by Orla's Cloudcuckoolander antics.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Played for Laughs in the second episode, where she idly rants that she needs to trade up to better friends to her current friends.
• Girls Like Musicians: Erin's crush David is in a band and also works as a DJ. Erin clearly thinks this is very impressive and tries to act cooler around him.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: As shown when Erin attempts to assert her individuality by means of wearing a denim jacket to school instead of the school-mandated blazer, her mother believes in meting out discipline by means of the wooden spoon. Erin's face at the mention of the implement says it all.
• Hooked Up Afterwards: Word of God confirms that James and Erin do end up together, but at least 15 years after when they're in their thirties.
• Hypocrite: One of her defining character traits. See Politically Incorrect Hero below.
• I Just Want to Be Special: And she's not the least bit picky about what kind of "special" it need be. Erin will pounce on any chance to become famous, popular, desired, or sophisticated.
• Insane Troll Logic: She's manic and neurotic, so it's not surprising that she finds herself mired in this quite a lot.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Can come across as domineering and abusive, but she ultimately does care for her cousin and friends.
• Large Ham: Her facial expressions alone make her one of these.
• Like Parent, Like Spouse: Erin is implied to have feelings for James, who is sensible and kind but pushed around relentlessly by his peers, exactly like her dad.
• Most Writers Are Writers: She considers herself to be a budding author/journalist, keeps a diary, and serves as the editor of her school's paper for a short while.
• Only Sane Man: To Orla, especially. She's always bringing Orla down to earth. When she insists she saw a cheetah on the beach in Ireland:
  Erin: Ay, that was a greyhound, Orla.
• Pet the Dog: While she’s not above making jokes at his expense from time to time, she’s more kind towards James than the other characters.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Erin thinks of herself as worldly and progressive, and wants to be politically correct. She makes an effort to say the right things about Protestants, doesn't call Travellers "gypsies", corrects people when they call Katya "Russian" (she's Ukrainian), and is eager to publish a news story about a lesbian. But much of this is only surface-level: She will quickly jump to xenophobic stereotypes about both Ukrainians and Travellers, has a poor initial reaction to Clare coming out to her, and gets into a fight with the Protestants at Friends Across The Barricade.
• Small Name, Big Ego: She’s a bit too impressed with her own writing, as Miss de Brún is quick to point out.
• The Voice of a Generation: Subverted. The opening monologues at the start of each season make it clear that she’d like to be this, but she’s just an awkward and rather pretentious teenager who overestimates her own wisdom, maturity, and writing abilities.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Clare calls Erin out for her revulsion when Clare comes out to her. Erin was happy to out someone to "tell their story," but not willing to deal with it being her friend.
  • Likewise, pretty much everyone has this reaction to Erin calling Katya a prostitute in front of everyone.

Clare Devlin

Clare Clare Devlin

"I am not a craic-killer!"

Played By: Nicola Coughlan

Erin's best friend, and a bit of a worrywart. She is very intimidated by authority figures and as a result is often the voice of reason the group. However, she is so prone to hysterics and exaggeration that she usually makes any given situation worse.

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• Book Smart: Clare is the most academically inclined of the girls, but don’t trust her to make a smart decision under pressure.
• Bookworm: She goes on a camping trip with Erin's family so she could read Moby-Dick in quiet, since there was a parade in the neighborhood.
• The Cassandra: Always warns the rest of the group that their antics will land them in trouble. Though she is rarely listened to, she is nearly always right.
• Demoted to Extra: Clare's role had to be cut down somewhat in the third series due to filming overlapping with Bridgerton. Notably in "Stranger on a Train", she accidentally gets left behind at the train station. In the series finale, she and her mother have moved to another town after her father died (because Derry reminded her mother too much of her father).
• Ditzy Genius: Clare is very intelligent and well read but she can also be very naive and ditzy at times.
• Freudian Excuse: Clare's high-strung nature and obsession with good grades is implied to be from her mother Geraldine's hard to meet standards.
• Gayngst: Admits in episode 6 she's had some frustrations being in the closet and sent an anonymous letter to the editor about it. When it's published she gains enough confidence to come out to Erin and is hurt by Erin's rebuffing of her.
• Geek Physiques: Downplayed, but Clare is pretty round and the most geeky, well-read Derry Girl.
• Generation Xerox: Clare's mother Geraldine is every bit the neurotic brown-noser her daughter is.
• Good with Numbers: An interaction with Dennis the shopkeeper in which she almost instantly determines how long it would take to pay off 16 quid in installments suggests as much.
  Erin: How about we give you the 1.76, and we pay the rest off in installments?
  Clare: Yeah, which would be, what, 3.56 over four weeks.
  Dennis: Jesus, check out Rain Wain.
• Informed Attribute: We don't really see Clare display her supposedly exceptional book-smarts. However, she does show her intelligence by way of being the only one in the group who actually uses her common sense. (James is often up there with her, but him thinking that shredded scones can be safely flushed down a toilet because of GoodFellas puts things in perspective.)
• Meaningful Name: Her name, Clare, means "clear" or "bright." Despite being a Nervous Wreck, she does consistently have a (relatively) clear mind, especially compared to her friends.
• Moral Guardians: To some extent. She's the most rule-abiding of the group and is horrified whenever Michelle brings up sex or drugs.
  Clare: Drugs are for mugs, folks!
  Michelle: Congratulations, Clare. That may be the dickiest sentence that anyone's ever said.
• Nervous Wreck: Clare goes to pieces whenever something even slightly stressful happens.
  Erin: Everything makes you nervous, Clare. You're a walking cack-attack.
• Nobody Likes a Tattletale: After the girls are falsely accused of bullying, Clare tells the others to stick together and say nothing, because they have no proof. Gilligan Cut to her wholly blaming Michelle and saying that she's innocent, to which Sister Michael replies:
  Sister Michael: Well, I think it's safe to say we all just lost a bit of respect for you there, Clare.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Jenny Joyce figures out that Clare is drunk when Clare starts spouting off Your Mom insults in a deeper voice than her normal squeaky pitch.
• Repetitive Name: According to Lisa McGee's Twitter, her middle name is also Clare. She was named after both her grandmothers, who happened to have the same name.
• Soapbox Sadie: Always rallying around a cause. Lampshaded by Michelle.
  Michelle: Fuck me. Not the Africans again.
• The Stool Pigeon: Whenever the girls do something they shouldn't, Clare is the most likely to rat everyone out at the slightest sign of pressure. Like when the girls are falsely accused of bullying.
• Straight Gay: Insofar as she doesn't conform to any of the cliché lesbian archetypes in fiction - she isn't a Butch Lesbian, she isn't a Lipstick Lesbian, she isn't sassy or confident or classy or man-hating or any other trait lesbians usually tend to display on screen; instead she's short, chubby, neurotic and insecure.

Michelle Mallon

Michelle Louise Patricia Pio Mallon

"Slainte, motherfuckas!"

Played By: Jamie-Lee O'Donnell

One of Erin's best friends, Michelle is the wild child of the group whose troublemaking tendencies often get her and her friends into trouble. She is shown to have a very keen interest in sex, drugs, and alcohol, and shows almost no respect to any figures of authority, including her own mother.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Towards Artem, the 'big, Russian ride.' At least, until she discovers that 'Artem' is actually Clive, 'a wee Prod from Belfast', at which point he becomes much less appealing to her. (She seems to fancy Orangemen, though.)
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Michelle frequently makes highly questionable and impulsive decisions while drunk off Pernod.
• Alliterative Name: Michelle Mallon.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A platonic and familial example, Michelle admits she genuinely likes James (who she has given nothing but abuse the entire series) in the series 2 finale.
• Berserk Button: James talking. Any time he says nearly anything, she immediately becomes annoyed and snaps at him.
• Clashing Cousins: She generally has a Big Sister Bully type dynamic with James. Although James doesn't seem to have a problem with Michelle, Michelle forever speaks of her utter loathing for James.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The series finale reveals that her brother Niall is in prison for murdering a man and she hasn't been allowed to see him in years, which has profoundly affected her.
• Didn't Think This Through: A recurring problem with her plans.
• Flipping the Bird: Her favourite non-verbal epithet.
• The Gadfly: Especially to James.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: She's the most volatile and short-tempered of the group, especially around James.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: It's not unusual for Michelle to be completely plastered in the middle of the day.
  Michelle: Sláinte motherfuckers!
• The Hedonist: Seeks out sex, drugs, and alcohol without regard for the consequences.
• Hidden Depths: When Clare's dad is admitted into the hospital after suffering from an aneurysm, Erin and James don't understand what an aneurysm means, but Michelle is the only one that knows that it's not good. This medical knowledge was probably contributed to by her mother being a nurse.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: And how. Aside from alcohol, her favourite topic is sex. She even composed a haiku for her poetry class (or what she thinks is a haiku).
  Michelle: "I think boys are really class. Especially the ones who have a nice ass."
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Arguably the worst out of the Derry Girls, being crass, rebellious and a bully to James, but she is good at heart.
• The Lad-ette: Hard-drinking, swears a lot, and more than sexually assertive.
• Lady Swearsalot: She swears more than all of the other characters combined.
  Michelle: 'Motherfuckers', it's my new thing.
• Overly Long Name: Michelle Louise Patricia Pio Mallon.
• Pet the Dog: As disappointed and annoyed as she is when it turns out that "Artem" is in fact Clive from Belfast, she nevertheless makes a phone call to help him get home.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Frequently insults James for being gay (despite his constant denials) and initially sides with Erin after her falling-out with Clare.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: In season 2, she makes a few dumb comments. She tells Erin that Belfast can't be far away from where they are because Northen Ireland is tiny on a map, doesn't believe that "bide" is a real word and when James says that he thinks staying in Derry has caused him to develop Stockholm Syndrome, she says in response that he's never been to Switzerland.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In the second season, she is less abrasive and rude to James and even hugs him when he returns to Derry.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: The most obvious example, being extremely aggressive and amoral.
• Urban Legend Love Life: Michelle is boy-crazy Hormone-Addled Teenager, always popping off with whatever dirty thought just crossed her mind. She frames herself as the most worldly and experienced of her friends, and approaches boys in a sexually assertive way. That said, Michelle's attempts to get with guys that are never actually shown to succeed. It's open to interpretation whether Michelle's claims are true, or if she just talks big game and her love life isn't really much different from that of her friends.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: In a one-sided way. Michelle is snarky and mean to all of her friends most of the time (especially James) but she does love them all really.

Orla McCool

Orla Josephine McCool

"I love my wee fingers."

Played By: Louisa Harland

Erin's maternal cousin, a complete Cloudcuckoolander. She is very detached and quiet, and unlike her friends, doesn't care what anyone else thinks of her. Together with her mother, she spends a lot of her time at Erin's house and often amuses herself by invading Erin's privacy for fun.

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• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Her father. He's never seen or mentioned, and as far as can be seen, her mother seems to have raised her as a single parent. Given the setting, Orla would be expected to have her father's surname if Sarah were ever married, or even if the father acknowledged a child, implying an unknown father and/or some pretty unpleasant backstory. That might be the reason that Joe's such a Boyfriend-Blocking Dad.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Though they are cousins and Orla is only slightly younger than Erin, this does to some extent describe Erin and Orla's dynamic, as Erin is constantly embarrassed by and ashamed of Orla's unrepentant oddness.
• Awesome Mc Cool Name: Subverted. While she's literally named McCool, her entire name isn't that impressive.
• Big Eater: As shown at Jenny's welcoming party for the Children of Chernobyl, she just can't keep away from the chocolate fountain. She also ordered a very large amount of food when the family went to the chip shop for dinner, and dived straight into the buffet in the VIP lounge at Fatboy Slim's concert. She is often seen snacking in the background of different scenes.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Frequently. She and her mother, Sarah, have this in common as they will likely suggest extremely illegal or impossible things seriously.
• Clashing Cousins: With Erin. Although Orla doesn't seem to have a problem with Erin, Erin is frequently frustrated by Orla's antics.
• Clothing Reflects Personality: Orla has been shown to sleep in a onesie, and she acts a lot younger than her actual age.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She is naive, dreamy, and not exactly all there, to say the least.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Whilst Erin claims that Orla has Delusional Personality Disorder in one episode and her being "not all there, brain-wise", if one would could consider how she normally misses many social cues (taking things literally, not understanding sarcastic remarks), covering her ears when the girls shout or fight (indicating sensory issues), having particular interests in subjects like drawing, monkeys and step aerobics and doing generally well in exams, gaining the same high grades as her cousin; many could assume that she is on some part of the autistic spectrum.
• Eccentric Artist: She loves to draw and, as shown when she draws a dog for her English class, is pretty good at it.
• Funny Background Event: When the girls get in trouble, her reactions are usually the source of this.
• Genius Ditz: Despite seeming to be quite dull, Orla is really good when it comes to exams, achieving the same results in her GCSEs as Erin.
  Sister Michael: Orla just does really well at exams, despite the fact she obviously, you know... is subnormal.
• Huge Schoolgirl: Orla is very tall and she's fifteen.
• Naïve Everygirl: At the age of 15, she still thinks that saying 'fuck' will make God cry, and that this causes terrible rain. Sister Michael tells her she needs to know something. Of course, that would totally explain why Ireland is so rainy, especially with Michelle's new obsession with the word 'motherfucker'.
• No Sense of Personal Space:
  • She thinks it's perfectly acceptable to use Erin's diary for a book report, and has no objections to the suggestion that the next thing she'll be stealing is Erin's underwear, instead voicing her support for the notion.
  • In Series 2 Episode 1, she walks in on Erin taking a bath and, after her cousin orders her to close the door, shuts it from the inside. She does eventually leave, but only when explicitly asked to do so.
• Only One Finds It Fun: Orla rocking out to Jenny Joyce's acapella group during assembly is a Running Gag.
• Outdoorsy Gal: It's practically an Informed Attribute, but Orla is described as being very at home in nature. Camping is one of the few subjects she gets totally serious about.
• Platonic Life-Partners: She has this relationship with James.
• Quirky Curls: She has a head full of springy curls and is very quirky.
• Sweet Tooth: She can often be seen eating sweets or lollipops in the background. Any time she has access to lots of treats at once, she's quick to grab handfuls and stuff her face.
• Vocal Evolution: Her voice has gotten more breathy and higher-pitched over the course of the series.

James Maguire

James Z. Maguire

"Well, how do things work here? How do they work!? Will one of you please explain it to me?"

Played By: Dylan Llewellyn

Michelle's English cousin who's come to live with her family while his mother goes through a divorce. Due to his English accent and rather non-masculine appearance and mannerisms, he is forced to attend the same all-girls school as the others for his own safety. Like Clare, he's one of the nicer and more reasonable members of the group, but since he's in the minority as a boy and an Englishman, nobody ever listens to him.

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• Abusive Parents: James's mother abandons him in the first episode of the series, and it's implied that she is often quite neglectful towards him. When his mother finally appears at the end of Season 2, this trope is played weirdly seriously. It is mentioned that at one point he had a loving stepdad, but his mother divorced him and now he's no longer in the picture.
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: His biological father. James' mum and stepdad are both mentioned, but his biological father is never seen or mentioned. It was established in the first episode that James' mother had originally traveled to England with the intention of getting an abortion (but didn't), implying that James' father was never in the picture to begin with.
• Ambiguously Bi: Most characters accuse James of being gay, and while he denies it and took a liking to Katya, James's Hot for Preacher moment with Father Peter seems to indicate he fancies men as well. Though he tries to play it off as admiration, James's reaction is about the same as Erin, Michelle, and Orla. When Clare comes out, James sympathizes with her, Michelle accuses him of doing so out of empathy rather than sympathy.
• Audience Surrogate: For viewers less familiar with the intricacies of Northern Ireland.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A platonic example when Michelle, who has given him nothing but abuse for the entire series, admits she genuinely likes him.
  James: [on moving back to London] I have to do this.
  Michelle: But I don't want you to.
• But Not Too Foreign: Although he was born and raised in England (and is never made to forget it), his mother is Irish. Played for Laughs in Series 3, when Border Patrol stops their group's van and is told that while James is English, he has an Irish family.
  James: [Michelle]'s my cousin.
  Soldier: Oh right. Not properly English then.
  James: I can't win!
• Butt-Monkey: Everyone, absolutely everyone dunks on James. Be it for being English, a man, or being gay.
• Character Catchphrase: In series 1, when anyone refers to him as being gay, James will inevitably fire back with, "I'm not gay!" There's less of this in series 2 (possibly because of Clare coming out).
• Clashing Cousins: With Michelle. Although James doesn't seem to have a problem with Michelle, Michelle makes no effort to disguise her utter loathing for James.
• Custom Uniform: Happens accidentally in a later episode after the entire gang's shirts are turned pink in the wash. The fact that the school doesn't insist he wear a skirt probably counts too, as well as being a rare (offscreen) act of mercy from Sister Michael.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: In his first appearance, his looks are commented upon by Erin as being "effeminate", and shortly after, he is mistaken by Jenny as being a girl with a "bold" (particularly short) haircut, which Michelle corrects her on. Mae also thinks he's a girl with a "fucked up accent."
• Fee Fi Faux Pas: He manages to insult the owner of the fish and chip shop with his rant about how disgusting and greasy the food is.
• Fish out of Water: Is both the only boy at the girls' school, and the only English pupil in an Irish school. He's somewhat at a loss as to how politics in Derry work, culminating in a rant about why the characters don't simply call the police when they discover someone stowing away in the boot of their car when crossing the border.
  James: Will someone please explain it to me? Because sometimes, I feel like I've gone through the fucking looking glass!!!
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Although his continual insistence that he's not gay doesn't count (those moments being prompted by other characters believing him to be gay), there are a couple of moments where he tries to affirm his heterosexuality unprompted. Most notably, when the gang are printing a story about one of the students being gay, James is adamant in his support, but also states that it's not him.
  James: I support gays, even though I myself am not actually gay!
  • In Series 2 Episode 1, James is excited at the prospect of making some male friends from the Protestant boys' school; so much so that he frequently invokes this trope. Whether he's trying to get ahead of his schoolmates' insistence on perpetuating the rumour that he's gay, or he simply has so few male friends that he genuinely thinks they all talk like this (i.e. '90s 'lad' culture) is uncertain.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: In the first episode, he's been effectively abandoned in Derry by his mother to be raised by his aunt and uncle, while she returns to London without him. His aunt has to tell him about this after his mother has already gone back to London without even wishing him goodbye. Of course, it's all Played for Laughs. Then we meet his mother, and it's suddenly Played for Drama.
• Hooked Up Afterwards: Word of God confirms that James and Erin do end up together, but at least 15 years after when they're in their thirties.
• I Have Many Names: Thanks to Michelle, "ball-ache," "dick-face," "dick-weed," and "wank-features." He also answers to "the wee English fella" and "the wee Limey".
• Informed Attribute: His effeminacy. Although he is comfortable with occasionally wearing clothes or makeup considered feminine, such as wearing eyeliner in season 2 and dressing as Posh Spice for a charity performance in Season 3, he's really not so feminine in his speech, behaviour, or manner of dressing, much less to the point that it should stand out or lead to multiple characters mistaking him for a girl. This is probably intentional, as the boys his age shown (or even some girls his age outside the leads, who themselves can be fairly idiosyncratic kids) don't seem to think of him as feminine. The Protestant boys he tries to befriend in season 2 easily buy his exaggerated impression of what a British lad is like, mistaking him for misogynistic rather than gay.
• Make-Out Kids: Briefly with Katya, one of the Children of Chernobyl, who, much to the girls' confusion, finds him attractive. She plants one on him upon first meeting him, much to James' own confusion, but he later refers to her as his 'girlfriend' and reciprocates her advances as they make out in public, much to Jenny's disgust.
• Missing Mom: As of the first episode, his mother has effectively left him in Derry to be raised by her sister and her husband, his aunt and uncle, while she leaves to return to London with no word on when or even if she'll be coming back to/for him. To make matters worse, she had only just moved back to Derry with him after living in London for approximately 15-16 years... and then didn't even tell him herself that she was moving back without him, leaving him to hear it from his aunt. Ouch.
• Mistaken for Gay: In the first season, frequently. According to James himself, he's 'not gay', but nearly everyone else refers to him as such. However, by the final season this Running Gag is almost completely gone — although he does still get mistaken for a girl sometimes. In episode 2 of the final season, though, Michelle does say that she thought James' driving instructor, a man, was just "some creep" who picked him up every day from school. When he asks why none of them intervened, she said James seemed "happy enough."
• Nephewism: As of the first episode of the series, he has been effectively left in Derry to live with his aunt and uncle and his cousin, Michelle, while his mother returns to London without him with no word on when or even if she'll be coming back to/for him. The reason for his mother's abandonment of him is unknown, but he was unaware that she had returned to London without him, having to hear it from his aunt, and only after he had asked her of his mother's whereabouts, at that. After we meet his mother in the series 2 finale, it's possible it was out of pure selfishness.
• The One Guy: Is the only male of the eponymous 'Derry Girls.' Along with this, although he was set to attend the local boys' school, he is instead sent to the local girls' school for fear of what the other boys would do to him on account of him being English. He is not only the only boy to attend the girls' school in its current time, but in its entire history.
• One-Letter Name: His middle name is just the letter Z. According to Word of God, his mother thought that "James Z" sounded fancy but couldn’t think of a name beginning with Z so just went with the initial.
• One of the Girls: James is permitted to sleep over with his all female friends in episodes 1.06 and 3.03. This is allowed because James is treated as sexless. He's frequently regarded as gay, even though he's not. He's also commonly degraded as so unattractive no girl would want him, even though that's not true either. One way or another, those around James insistently and persistently regard him as sexless. One of the reasons James and Erin cannot get together is because that would mean acknowledging James as a sexual being, which would break the façade that allows him to be to included in their group of friends the way he is.
• Only Sane Man: Not that he gets any credit for it, but James is ultimately the only level-headed one out of the entire group, frequently pointing out all of the flaws in the rest of the gang's (usually Michelle's) zany schemes.
• Parental Abandonment: In the first episode, his mother leaves him in Derry to be raised by his aunt and uncle while she returns to London without him with no word on when or even if she'll be coming back to/for him. She does, but only to use him as manual labour for her adhesive label (not stickers!) business. On the other hand, his father has seemingly never been a part of his life, with it being mentioned that his mother had originally traveled to London to get an abortion (but instead decided against it), implying that, for one reason or another, he was never in the picture to begin with. He mentions at one point that he did have a stepdad who genuinely cared for him, but he seems to no longer be around.
• Platonic Life-Partners: His friendship with Orla counts as this, considering the fact that she treats him well compared to the others.
• Precision F-Strike: On the rare occasions he gets angry at the girls.
• Queer People Are Funny: The girls relentlessy make fun of James' (supposed) gayness; far moreso than of the actual gay Clare.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Is shown experimenting with or wearing makeup, refers to himself as a "Derry Girl", and isn't afraid to dress up in drag for a talent show.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Although it wasn't because of a 'sin', per se, the mistreatment that James regularly receives from his cousin, Michelle (and, as is later seen, his aunt and Michelle's mother, Deirdre), for being English can be traced back to his mother. His mother had originally traveled to England to get an abortion, but instead decided to move there permanently and in turn have James there, rendering him English by birth and raising; had she instead decided to return to Derry and have James there, he would have been Irish, and thus would have never been looked down upon by Michelle and her mother for being English.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: While still a Nice Guy and the Butt-Monkey of the group, he has grown more assertive and snarky in Season 2, presumably growing onto them.
• Twofer Token Minority: Is the only English male to be found among the otherwise Irish female mains, along with being only one of a handful of recurring males, and the only English person period.

Erin & Orla's Family

Mary Quinn

Mary Quinn

"Don't say 'knickers' in front of your father. He can't cope."

Played by: Tara Lynne O'Neill

Erin's mother.

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• Age Insecurity: It's mentioned that Mary has celebrated her 33rd birthday several times. In season 3, when she says she's still in her thirties, Gerry points out that it's only by a year or so.
• Apron Matron: Although still pretty young, Mary tends to be too caustic and critical to be a Mama Bear.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The "responsible" to Sarah's "foolish."
• Generation Xerox: Despite her frustrations with Erin, flashbacks (and Mary's aunt) tell us that Mary was every bit as prone to disruptive antics as a child — and even in present day, she and Sarah get into plenty of messes.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: She and her sister Sarah are very close, and on multiple occasions in Season 3, they put aside their respective partners to dance together.
• Hysterical Woman: Nowhere near as much as Sarah, but still, frequently prone to meltdowns.
• I Wished You Were Dead: Does this to her aunt and causes a lot of trouble with it.
• Mama Bear: She tries to be civil to her Jerkass aunt…until she insults her daughter and niece.
• Mistaken for Cheating: In Season 3. She's actually going back to university.
• My Beloved Smother: To Erin, especially when she bans her from going to a Take That concert because of an escaped bear.
• Only Sane Man: Certainly considers herself this, though at her best she shares the role with her husband. Mary only comes accross as sane because Sarah is her sister.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Is prone to this, from thinking that Macaulay Culkin is some protestant lad Erin met at Friends Across the Barricade to referring to Fatboy Slim as Slimboy Fat.
• Power Hair: She gains a very 90s short haircut in season 2.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The "red" to both Sarah and Gerry's "blue", at different times.
• Team Mom: A flashback to her teenage years reveals she was this to her friend group, judging from the fact she brought home made sandwiches to the school disco in case one of them got hungry.

Gerry Quinn

Gerry Quinn

"I have a set of balls, thank you very much."

Played by: Tommy Tiernan

Erin's dad, from down south.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: Reacts this way, with a smile, when he sees the girls on television at Take That while his wife is furious.
• Butt-Monkey: The Quinns all scapegoat him for everything, especially Granda Joe, even when they agree on a topic. Especially if they agree.
• Characterization Marches On: In the first episode, he believes that the girls killed the nun supervising their detention. This heavily contrasts his Only Sane Man personality in later episodes.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments. Considering he's the only sane person in his family, it's not surprising.
  Gerry: JFK spoke to Colm? Christ, that man didn't have much luck, did he?
• Henpecked Husband: To Mary, who bullies him and ignores any helpful suggestions he puts forward.
• invokedMis-blamed: Joe constantly blames him for things that aren't his fault, including things that have literally no relation to Gerry.
• Nice Guy: Gerry is very kind to everyone, except if he's been forced to cook at a funeral.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: He and his father in law have never gotten along.
  Joe: Why don't you just leave my Mary alone?
  Gerry: Because we've been married for 17 years, Joe. We have two children. And because we're in love with each other.
• Only Sane Man: Frequently, especially in 1.05 when they're leaving before the parade and everybody else is behaving completely ridiculously. He's also the only one who doesn't lose their mind about the polar bear that escaped from Belfast zoo, and the only one to point out that Joe's scheme to track down Bill Clinton during his visit to Derry was absolutely ridiculous.
• Strong Family Resemblance: His daughter Erin looks more like him, especially around the eyes, than like her mother.

Joe McCool

Granda Joe

"Compromise?!? I'll compromise you through that window."

Played by: Ian McElhinney

Erin and Orla's maternal grandfather, Mary and Sarah's dad.

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• All Men Are Perverts: He disapproves of James sleeping over at Erin's on the basis that being a boy.
  Joe: Look, I know the fella's gay, but gay or not, he's still a fella. There's still a good chance that he's a rapist. I mean no offense, son.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad / Twerp Sweating: Played for Laughs. Joe has two adult daughters and two teenage granddaughters, and disapproves of any men going near any of them. Even if the guy in question is his daughter's husband of 17 years. Even if he thinks the guy in question is gay. The Fridge Logic of it is that whatever happened with Orla's missing father probably had a hand in shaping this outlook.
• Cool Old Guy: He's pretty charming and gets along well with almost everyone but Gerry. He even makes friends with the Ukrainian foreign exchange student, to the point where she sticks up for him in front of his daughters.
• Doting Grandparent: He's very kind to Erin and Orla, and even goes as Orla's date to the prom because he's "her favorite fella." He's holding his third granddaughter, baby Anna, in his arms as often as not.
• Obnoxious In-Laws:
  • Joe never stops slagging off his son-in-law Gerry, continuously gives him the Twerp Sweating treatment as if he's some punk trying to date his daughter, rather than her husband of 17 years. Gerry endures it with the patience of a saint.
  • In 2.04, it's implied Joe received similar treatment from his own in-laws.
    Bridie: Still a prick, I see, Joe. Christ knows what our Marie ever saw in you, God rest her soul.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • When he comforts Gerry in the S1 finale after the bombing.
  • The girls also realise that he's stoned (after unknowingly eating one of Michelle's hash scones) when he compliments Gerry on cooking for Bridie's wake. Even Michelle is slightly horrified.
• Papa Wolf: When Bridie (his late wife's sister) goes off on a tirade against Mary, saying that she is such a disappointment to her mother, he becomes outraged and attempts to rise up to her defence, but Mary tells him not to dignify that with a response.
• Pet the Dog: Along with Erin, he’s more kinder to James than the other characters are.
• Racist Grandma: Gender-flipped, but he has lots of...thoughts on the English and most other races.
• There Are No Coincidences: He tends towards this kind of thinking, especially when it presents an opportunity to blame Gerry. In the official book Erin's Diary, Joe believes that a friend's death was somehow caused by her attending a Beatles concert more than 30 years previously.

Sarah McCool

Aunt Sarah

Played by: Kathy Kiera Clarke

"I am psychic, Erin. I did a course. I got a certificate."

Orla's mother and Mary's sister.

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• AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: Sarah has a mild Verbal Tic that frequently causes her do this.
• Chatty Hairdresser: Downplayed, but she is chatty and she works as a hairdresser.
• Cloudcuckoolander: And how. Certainly as much as Orla, if not more so. Frequently lampshaded by every other member of the family.
• The Ditz: Where to begin? She very sincerely tells Mary about being psychic, despite the fact that she knows the "shrieks" she hears are in fact their next door neighbour. When Ciaran presents her with a ring and asks her if she'd do him the honor of accepting it, it somehow doesn't occur to Sarah that he's actually proposing to her; she's as surprised as Gerry and Mary when they get an engagement notice in the mail, and then her chief concern is that she'll have to give Ciaran back the ring.
• Doting Parent: Certainly the mother who is most vocal about supporting Orla, as seen when she's praising Orla's "gift" for step exercise.
• Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Sarah is markedly concerned with her appearance, while her daughter Orla most decidedly isn't. Unlike most examples of this trope, they have a very close and loving relationship.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The "foolish" to Mary's "responsible."
• In the Blood: Like Orla, she's extremely naive and impressionable.
• It's All About Me: She has a habit of trying to draw attention to herself at the most inopportune moments, such as trying to gain sympathy upon someone else's death.
• Proud Beauty: An Informed Attribute. We're told no-one can resist her, but her pride is self-apparent; even a bombing won't stop her getting to the beautician.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: Sarah always speaks in the same soft, airy voice, even when she claims to be stressed out or furious.

Colm McCool

Uncle Colm

Played by: Kevin McAleer

"...The slightly taller fella, he says to me, says he 'Do you know who we are? And I says to him, says I, 'Well I can't be sure now, maybe if you took off the balaclavas.'"

Grandpa Joe's brother, Mary and Sarah's paternal uncle and Erin and Orla's maternal great-uncle.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: Sister Michael admits it outright when she actually listens to one of his stories to the end.
  Colm: Now I don't mind a bit of a breeze, in fact I prefer it! But thatun was aggressive, so I says to myself, "Colm, this is no day for a do!"
  Sister Michael: ...What's happening.
  Colm: For when the bride arrived, and as I say by this stage, the wind was fierce!
  Sister Michael: ...Am I dead?
  Colm: I've never heard wind like it!
  Sister Michael: ...Is this my wake?
  Colm: Howlin' like a banshee, it was!
  Sister Michael: ...Am I in Hell?
  Colm: So the poor girl, the bride now this is, she arrives anyway, and isn't she no sooner out of the car, then she's lifted up like a paper doll, and blown into a flowerbed.
  Sister Michael: ...That's actually quite funny.
• The Bore:
  Joe: I know I shouldn't say this about my own brother, but by Christ he's a boring bastard.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Colm is firmly in his own little world much of the time and can talk endlessly about the most random topics, not noticing that others are uninterested or have stopped listening.
• The Dreaded: Played for laughs. His entire family are all terrified of being around him and getting dragged into a conversation with him and will do anything they can to avoid it or sic him in someone else.
  Joe: When it comes to our Colm, it's every man for himself.
• Expy: His rambling diatribes are reminiscent of Father Austin Purcell from Father Ted.
• Hypocritical Humor: At the confirmation party that was booked for the same time as Erin and Orla's birthday, Colm bores a stranger relentlessly with a very long story. Moments later, he rejects the idea of Eamonn moving in with him and says Eamonn is too boring.
  Colm: Well, I find Eammon a bit... boring, to be honest.
• Mad Libs Catch Phrase: "And [pronoun] says to [pronoun], says [pronoun]..."
• Motor Mouth: Colm can talk for hours without stopping on the most mundane subjects and doesn't seem to notice if anyone else is listening.
• Nice Guy: His epic dullness aside, Colm is a fairly polite and friendly person who doesn't even take the open disdain he's greeted with personally. Or is so wrapped up in his own rambling he doesn't even notice.
• Rambling Old Man Monologue: Colm often bores his family (and strangers) with long and overly detailed stories. Everyone avoids him because of it. That said, his real problem is his rambling, slow, monotone delivery, undue focus on boring details, and Slow-Paced Beginning. If you get past that, many of his stories are actually pretty wild—such as being tied to his radiator with his own shoelaces, an Irish woman who faked that her son was Spanish, and a man who ate his voting ballot.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: He's a striking contrast to the energetic, hot-blooded Joe.

Anna Quinn

Baby Anna

Played by: Ava Grace and Mya Rose McAleese

Mary and Gerry's younger daughter and Erin's baby sister.

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• Daddy's Girl: A grandparent version. She is almost always seen in Joe's arms and he seems to dote on her.
• Living Prop: By virtue of being a baby/toddler, she doesn't serve much to the plot, besides being part of a generation who while technically living through The Troubles, will have no memory of it.
• Practically Different Generations: She's around 14 or 15 years younger than Erin.

Eamonn Hegarty

Eamonn

Played by: Ardal O'Hanlon

Mary and Sarah's cousin, Erin's first cousin once removed. Bruises easily.

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• All There in the Manual: His full name and exact relation to Erin are given in the tie-in book Erin's Diary.
• Back for the Finale: After his first (and only) appearance in series 2, he returned for the final episode.
• The Bore: Even Colm finds Eamonn boring.
• Get Out!: He uses this at Bridie's wake after he catches Mary and Sarah trying to loot the corpse's earrings, and then finds that Erin and her friends have flooded his bathroom.
• The Klutz: Frequently breaks things in the Quinns' house while staying with them.
• Mama's Boy: He was this for his mother Bridie.
• Manchild: His mother treats him like he's still a child and he seems to have childish interests, including wanting to get up and dance to "Rock the Boat" along with the kids at a family wedding.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: In the final episode, after extensive damage to his house, he moves in with the Quinn family for a "temporary" stay and then refuses to leave, to Gerry's despair.

Bridie Hegarty

Aunt Bridie

Played by: Eleanor Methven

Mary and Sarah's maternal aunt, Erin's great-aunt.

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• Asshole Victim: She is so vicious to Mary that, when Bridie suddenly dies moments later, the family can't feel sorry for her.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The whole family is aware of what a jerk she is, but feel obliged to be polite to her most of the time, because she's the sister of Joe's late wife (who according to Joe couldn't stand her either).
• Hypocrite: She lambasts Mary, Sarah and Joe for their parenting skills, even though her own son Eamonn is a 50 year old man who stills lives with her and gets pushed around by some teenage girls.
• My Beloved Smother: She behaves this way towards Eamonn, berating Mary and Sarah because he sustained a small bruise on his knee when the girls pushed him out of the way.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Her relationship to Joe.
• Practically Different Generations: She seems to have been about ten years older than her sister, judging by a photo of Erin's grandmother (who died ten years previously) and the respective ages of Eamonn vs Mary and Sarah.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: She is a rude and caustic elderly woman.

Our Lady Immaculate College

Sister Michael

Sister George Michael

Played by: Siobhan McSweeney

"If anyone is feeling anxious, worried or maybe you just want a chat, please, please... do not come crying to me."

Headmistress at the Derry Girls' school, and local nun at their church.

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• All Monks Know Kung-Fu: Sister Michael is a Catholic nun in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. She goes to judo on Fridays. Zigzagged in that this is not treated as part of her being a nun, but rather as a comical contradiction to it.
• Apathetic Teacher: Although the finale of Season 1 shows her as Not So Stoic.
• Brutal Honesty: This is her stock in trade. Her constant criticism of those who suck up to her constantly (such as Jenny Joyce) particularly make her this.
  Sister Michael: You will go far in life, Jenny. But you will not be well-liked.
• Characterization Marches On: In the first episode, she appears to actually care about her job and her students, which is clear when she scolds the girls for threatening a first year student.
• The Comically Serious: Her completely deadpan responses to everything make her this.
• Deadpan Snarker: Every one of her lines is a witty remark or putdown, all delivered with a straight face and in a measured tone.
• Embarrassing First Name: Her first name is George, making her full name George Michael. James is quick to point it out.
• Irish Priest: Well, nun.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Downplayed, Sister Michael seemingly finds The Exorcist quite funny.
• Non-Giving-Up School Guy: Justified as she's a nun, but the Take That episode demonstrates that she still exerts authority over the Derry Girls outside of school.
• Not So Above It All: Even she isn't immune to the known Catholic affinity for statues. When it's brought up, it's perhaps the only time she expresses anything like genuine pleasure.
  Sister Michael: I do enjoy a good statue, it has to be said.
• Nun Too Holy: She does judo, is a huge fan of 1990s heartthrobs and football, drives a DeLorean, and is a huge Deadpan Snarker. Admits one of the reasons she joined the order was because she needed free accommodation.
  • When she overhears the woman working at the train station giving Too Much Information about her sex life, Sister Michael confronts her not to comment on what she said, but instead to recommend a contractor who can install better soundproofing for the ticket booth.
  • In season three, it even turns out that she rents out her habit every Halloween.
  • In her first appearance in series 3, she is shown with crutches, stating that "they should see the other guy".
• Stern Nun/Stern Teacher: Falls under both, as she's both the Derry girls' teacher and a nun. And extremely stern. When she can be bothered.
• Virtuous Character Copy: Not particularly virtuous, but a Jerk with a Heart of Gold copy of Mr. Gilbert. Both are incredibly jaded Apathetic Teacher's who talk down to their students but Gilbert is apathetic to the point of neglecting his students safety, allowing an Ephebophile to keep teaching, doing nothing to prevent his students being bullied and treating Will with personal antipathy. Sister George is mostly apathetic but dose care about her students deep down, will get involved if they're ever in real danger, doesn't treat any of her students worse than any others and even has a few Cynical Mentor moments.

Jenny Joyce

Jenny Joyce

Played by: Leah O'Rourke

"If you could all spread the word, — that'd be fabby-dabby-do."

Head Girl at the Derry Girl's school and general leader. Tends to serve as a foil to the antics of the Derry Girls.

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• Academic Alpha Bitch: While she isn't too much of a jerk, she is the undisputed leader of the school both socially and academically and seems to aspire to power. The surprisingly cool party she throws for the Ukrainian kids shows her social reach.
• Alliterative Name: Jenny Joyce.
• Class Representative: The Head Girl of the school, and spends a lot of time giving speeches and leading club activities.
• Control Freak: Shows hints of this, as she doesn't like situations where she's not in charge. She keeps Artem tied to her on a leash because he keeps trying to leave, and she quits the newspaper as soon as Erin puts herself in charge. To be fair, she was filling the role of Louise Kerr, who's implied to have some serious sickness and isn't able to attend school. Jenny and the other students have agreed to not name a new director in her honour, but Erin took the chance to grab the leadership, receiving some serious backlash.
• Dreadful Musician: Sister Michael and the rest of the school can only regard Jenny and her a cappella group with disbelief whenever they perform.
• Extracurricular Enthusiast: Is a prefect, frequently performs at school assemblies, organizes event such as the Chernobyl pen-pal program, and writes on the school paper. She also mentions she's in the Scouts and does ballet.
• Foil: She’s very similar to Clare in the sense that they are both strive for academic excellence and always try to follow the rules. The difference between them is that Clare isn’t as uptight and Sickeningly Sweet as she is.
• Go-Getter Girl: A hard worker in school and extracurriculars who tries hard to be a positive role model and leader in the school community. Because of this she is hated by the Derry Girls.
• Hero Antagonist: She's a much nicer person and better student than the Derry Girls, but she's often an antagonist working against them in some capacity. Part of it is her seeming perfection is hateable compared to the more sympathetically flawed Derry Girls.
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Has a love of public singing, and her performances are always schmaltzy and off-key. Sister Michael frequently criticizes these performances. Somehow she actually ends up performing on television due to winning the school's 'Stars In Their Eyes' competition, if only because the gang ran off before they could finish their own performance.
• Irony: Jenny's Beta Bitch Aisling is the one who actually has a lovely singing voice, and Jenny upstaging her is a minor Running Gag.
• Pet the Dog: She is seen patting Clare on the arm during her father's funeral.
• The Pollyanna: Is ridiculously upbeat about everything. She even writes and performs a barbershop quartet number about the joys of Monday mornings.
• Rich Bitch: Her family is wealthy enough that she has a trust fund that she can dip into and she isn't above rubbing it into the Derry Girls' faces.
• Sickeningly Sweet: Her music performances and general mannerisms cause everyone who isn't in her posse to roll their eyes in disgust.
  Jenny: If you could all spread the word, that'd be fabby-dabby-do.
  Erin: [eye-rolling] Fabby-dabby-dick.
• The Stool Pigeon: A mix of taking school rules too seriously and being a smug Control Freak who likes feeling superior to everyone else.
• Straight Man: Is often The Comically Serious, and her upright, respectable character tends to contrast with the wacky antics the Derry Girls inevitably get into. Somewhat subverted in that she loves musical performances but is quite terrible at them.

Miss de Brún

Miss de Brún

Played by: Judith Roddy

A new English teacher.

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• Big Entrance: Miss de Brún interrupts morning assembly in full biker getup.
• Broken Pedestal: For Erin, who hero worships her new English teacher until it turns out that all her talk of true inspiration and living unencumbered by unimportant material things really was just that: all talk.
• Cool Teacher: Perhaps a little too cool; you're not actually legally permitted to offer your teenage students alcohol, let alone invite them to your house.
• Deconstructive Parody: Of the Cool Teacher archetype, to the point where the only episode she appears in features several references to and pokes fun at Dead Poets Society.
• Hypocrite: De Brún doesn't believe in any of the stuff the girls find so inspiring about her. She preaches about the hollowness of material possessions, then takes a better paying job at another school.

Other Characters

Father Peter

Father Peter

Played by: Peter Campion

The local Sexy Priest.

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• Butt-Monkey: Largely in series 3.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He's the only one from the adults who buy into the girls' "miracle" vision and believes in the peace initiative for Protestant and Catholic school kids (the kids themselves can't find a thing in common despite countless mundane examples that could have arise). The cynical Sister Michael calls him a "weirdo".
• Crisis of Faith: Struggles with his faith in God (a major problem for a priest) throughout his episode. The girls' "miracle" causes a temporary renewal of faith for him, but after it's revealed to be false he seems to lose it completely and leaves the priesthood.
  Erin: Not all because of us, Orla. I mean, a bit because of us. But mostly because it turns out he had a connection with one of the colorists in Hair and Flair.
  • In series 2, he returns to the priesthood after the woman he shacked up with dumps him for someone else.
    Peter: As some of you may know, I took a bit of a sabbatical last year.
    Michelle: Do you mean when you shacked up with a slutty hairdresser, but then she dumped you?
    Sister Michael: Miss Mallon, please. ...Raise your hand if you want to ask a question.
    Peter: Okay, I think we should just move on.
    Sister Michael: The hairdresser certainly did.
• The Dandy: He freaks out about his hair when he tries to break up a physical altercation among the Catholic and Protestant teens.
• Even the Guys Want Him: James appears to have a major crush on him, as do all of the Derry Girls (except Clare).
• Hidden Depths: In the final episode he's sympathetic to Sister Michael not wanting to be moved somewhere other than Our Lady Immaculate College, and quietly says that sometimes you have to accept such things, implying he's also been forced by their superiors to leave parishes he's grown attached to.
• Irish Priest: He's a Catholic priest from the south, but also a more attractive example from the usual trope.
• Sexy Priest: All the Derry girls (except Clare) want him. Only Sister Michael seems immune.
  • Subverted somewhat in that is seen as annoying and in series 3, he grows a ponytail, which Michelle finds repulsive.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: In contrast to The Cynic Sister Michael and the apathetic Derry Girls.

Geraldine Devlin

Geraldine Devlin

Played by: Philippa Dunne

Clare's mother.

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• Education Mama: There's a reason why Clare is the way she is.
• Nervous Wreck: Clare gets it from her.
• Open-Minded Parent: Neither Geraldine nor her husband show anything but support for their daughter when she comes out as a lesbian.

Deirdre Mallon

Deirdre Mallon

Played by: Amelia Crowley

Michelle's mother, a nurse.

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• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to her sister Cathy's foolish.
• Former Teen Rebel: Was a punk during her teenage years, is now an acerbic nurse with a rebellious daughter of her own.
• I Have No Son!: Has apparently all but disowned her son Niall after he was imprisoned for murder, to the point where she never speaks his name, and has forbidden her remaining children from visiting him.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Was every bit the foulmouthed teenage hellraiser her daughter Michelle is in the present.

Cathy Maguire

Cathy Maguire

Played by: Bronagh Waugh

James' mother and Michelle's aunt.

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• Abusive Parents: She's very neglectful towards James, abandoning him in Derry without a word. When she finally comes back for him, Michelle suspects she's only doing it so he can give her free labour for her new sticker business.
• Disneyland Dad: She's entirely absent from James's life, but occasionally sends him expensive presents.
  Michelle: His ma only sends him really expensive shit, you know, to make up for the fact that she doesn't love him.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Her appearance in the Season 2 finale makes clear that the other adults on the show despise her for her It's All About Me attitude and abandoning her own son in Derry, and only tolerate her presence for James' sake.
• The Ghost: Is mentioned but never seen for most of the first two seasons before finally appearing in the Season 2 finale.
• It's All About Me: She's never seen talking about someone who is not herself. Also she left James alone for a year and shows up only when she needed help for her new business, and she cannot totally see why her husband should have a problem with her seeing other men.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: For what we have seen, she and Deirdre (Michelle's mother) are as far apart as day and night. Deirdre is a nurse, a very serious person (she frowns a lot), and may be flawed but at least she is there for Michelle and James. Cathy is shallow, vain, egoistical (she left James with her sister and didn't care to reach out for him for an year at least) and fancies herself an entrepreneur.

Dennis

Dennis

Played By: Paul Mallon

"If I say it's it law, its the law, Smart-hole!"

Proprietor of Dennis's Wee Shop, frequented by the girls.

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• Berserk Button: The girls in general always seem to get on his bad side, especially when they call bullshit on his lies or bad behavior.
• Blatant Lies: Justifies selling dodgy US flags which are off-colour and missing stars as "newly updated" because some of the states "left".
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Does not tolerate the girls questioning at all.
  Dennis: GET OUT!!!
• Jerkass: He's constantly on edge and in a bad mood and is generally rude to everyone he meets.
• Large Ham: Tends to be very loud and theatrical.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: In Season 3, he's suddenly working in a video rental store. Lampshaded by the girls, who are baffled to see him not in his "wee shop".
• Sarcasm Mode: Due to "high demand", he's completely out of presents for Protestants.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He normally says the word "fuck" or "fucking" when speaking to the girls.
• Soul-Sucking Retail Job: Well, he certainly seems to view it this way. While the girls are far from ideal customers, they aren't wrong when they note he seems to have a personality that's pretty unsuited for customer service.
• Suddenly Shouting: A trademark of his and the way most of the girls' visits to his shop tend to end.
• Tranquil Fury: Even when he's not screaming, he's always hostile and ill-tempered.

Ciaran Healy

Ciaran

Played by: Jamie Beamish

A man who runs the photoshack and begins dating Aunt Sarah.

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• The Bus Came Back: Returns in season 3 as Sarah's date for the school reunion.
• Foil: To Gerry. Both are the punching bag to Joe for dating one of his daughters. They're also both more grounded than their respective partners. However, while Gerry is the Only Sane Man in the family, Ciaran is Only Sane by Comparison to Sarah. And while Gerry has been married to Mary for seventeen years, Ciaran's relationship with Sarah has just started and he's still getting used to her quirks.
• Hopeless Suitor: In a way. Sarah (being Sarah) is in their relationship for fun, whereas Ciaran wants to get married.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: This is his attitude when he thinks Sarah broke up with him in order to become a nun (she was actually just dressed as one for Halloween).

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