Starting eponymously as Dempsey's Den in 1986 as a two-hour afterschool block the first incarnation of the block consisted mostly of animated cartoon series whose broadcast rights were bought by RTÉ with linking segments and interstitials presented by popular radio presenter and DJ Ray D'Arcy. The most popular segment from this era that would be carried throughout all incarnations of the block would be the Birthday Roller, wherein the names and ages of children would scroll up the screen on the day of their birthday based on the details submitted by their parents and be read out by one of the presents. In later years, a photograph or picture could be sent in, and the presenters (humans and puppets) would wish them a personalized "Happy Birthday" through the camera in anticipation that they were watching.
While RTE One was often regarded as the broadcaster's main channel and would air current affairs shows, news, documentaries, soaps and classic films during weekdays RTE Two was designed to be largely youth and entertainment-orientated. This meant as The Den mostly aired in two blocks on weekdays, the mornings from around 7am to 9am and afternoons from after 3pm to 5.30pm the space in between was often given to pre-school programmes and animated series without a presenter. Effectively, The Den took up half the day on RTE Two.
Throughout its run The Den had many presenters accompanied by a cast of memorable puppets. Upon its launch in 1986 The Den was hosted by Ian Dempsey under the title Dempsey's Den with the alien twins Zig and Zag and their dog Zuppy. Zig and Zag proved to be immensely popular with audiences and were offered their own show in Britain by Channel 4 to which a replacement had to be created to fill the void left by their new contract: and from there came Dustin the Turkey, who has been called "most subversive comedy force on Irish television". Dustin came to be the breakout character amongst an incredibly colourful cast of characters whose perchance for mocking celebrities (often to their faces) and commenting on newsworthy stories that young viewers would understand in the character of a unrestrained Dubliner (colloquially referred to in Ireland as 'a Dub').
Sadly cut backs and management changeovers at RTE would lead to less emphasis on presenters and puppets that made The Den iconic. With the decision to rebrand RTE's children's and young people's output as TRTE and RTEjr The Den came to an end in September 2010 after three decades on Irish television.
After a reunion segment on RTÉ's Comic Relief in 2020, it was announced that The Den would be coming back in November 2020, reuniting Zig, Zag, Ray and Dustin to host. The Den returned that year to Irish TV in a new format, mixing celebrity guests, competitions and music. Despite widespread public goodwill, the series was not renewed, prompting Ray D'Arcy to speak out publicly about his disappointment. A petition against the cancellation has received over 1000 signatures.
Series that have aired on The Den
- 101 Dalmatians: The Series
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
- Action League NOW!
- The Adventures of Tintin (1991)
- Aladdin: The Series
- All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series
- Animaniacs
- The Animals of Farthing Wood
- Animated Tales of the World
- Around the World with Willy Fog
- As Told by Ginger
- The Avengers: United They Stand
- Babar
- Batman: The Animated Series
- Batman Beyond
- Beethoven: The Animated Series
- Braceface
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- CatDog
- ChalkZone
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
- Courage the Cowardly Dog
- Cow and Chicken
- Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines
- Doug
- Darkwing Duck
- Dexter's Laboratory
- Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series
- Ed, Edd n Eddy
- The Emperor's New School
- Fievel's American Tails
- Fillmore!
- The Flintstones
- Freakazoid!
- Gargoyles
- Hercules: The Animated Series
- Hey Arnold!
- Histeria!
- Inspector Gadget
- Jackie Chan Adventures
- Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks
- James Bond Jr.
- Jumanji: The Animated Series
- Jungle Cubs
- KaBlam!
- The Kids from Room 402
- Kim Possible
- The Land Before Time
- The Legend of Tarzan
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series
- The Lionhearts
- Little Bear
- The Magic School Bus
- The Magician
- Mighty Max
- Mike, Lu & Og
- Moomin (1990)
- Mummies Alive!
- The Mummy: The Animated Series
- NASCAR Racers
- The New Scooby-Doo Movies
- The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries
- Noah's Island
- Papyrus
- Pelswick
- Pepper Ann
- Pinky and the Brain
- The Powerpuff Girls
- Princess Sissi
- The Proud Family
- Quack Pack
- Recess
- Redwall (1999 series)
- Rescue Heroes
- Road Rovers
- Rocket Power
- Rugrats
- Rupert
- Sabrina: The Animated Series
- Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo
- The Scooby-Doo Show
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
- Shaun the Sheep
- She-Ra: Princess of Power
- Sheep in the Big City
- Silver Surfer: The Animated Series
- Skippy: Adventures in Bushtown
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series
- Spider-Man Unlimited
- The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper
- Static Shock
- The Storykeepers
- Superman: The Animated Series
- The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
- Taz-Mania
- Teacher's Pet
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
- Timon & Pumbaa
- Tiny Toon Adventures
- Toad Patrol
- Tom & Jerry Kids
- Totally Spies!
- Tracey McBean
- Tutenstein
- Watership Down (1999)
- The Weekenders
- What's with Andy?
- The Wild Thornberrys
- W.I.T.C.H.
- Wolves, Witches and Giants
- The World of David the Gnome
- X-Men: The Animated Series
- X-Men: Evolution
- The Zeta Project
Anime
- Astro Boy (2003 series)
- Beyblade
- Cardcaptor Sakura (Nelvana Cardcaptors dub)
- Cyborg 009 (2001 series)
- Digimon (01, 02 & Tamers)
- DinoZaurs
- Medabots
- Pokémon
- Crayon Shin-chan (Vitello Productions Shin Chan dub)
- Shinzo
- Sonic X
- Transformers: Armada
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
Live-Action Shows
- Two of a Kind
- The Adventures of Pete & Pete
- Animorphs
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?
- Batman (1966)
- Bernard's Watch
- Big Wolf on Campus
- Blue Water High
- Clarissa Explains It All
- Drake & Josh
- Eerie, Indiana
- Even Stevens
- Goosebumps (1995)
- Hannah Montana
- Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures
- The Journey of Allen Strange
- Kenan & Kel
- The Monkees
- My Parents Are Aliens
- The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nóg
- Naturally, Sadie
- Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
- The Parkers
- Power Rangers
- Round the Twist
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch
- Saved by the Bell
- The Secret World of Alex Mack
- Seriously Weird
- Sister, Sister
- Snobs
- So Weird
- Spellbinder
- The Story of Tracy Beaker
- Sweet Valley High
- That's So Raven
- Thunderstone
- The Tribe
- Wishbone
- The Worst Witch (1998 series)
- The Zack Files
- Zoey 101
Pre-School
- 64 Zoo Lane
- Balamory
- Bananas in Pyjamas
- Barney & Friends
- Bear in the Big Blue House
- Bob the Builder
- Dino Babies
- The Fimbles
- George Shrinks
- Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs
- Kipper
- The Koala Brothers
- Magic Mountain
- Maisy
- Max and Ruby
- Mona the Vampire
- Peppa Pig
- Pingu
- Postman Pat
- Teletubbies
- Thomas & Friends
- Timothy Goes to School
- Tots TV
- Tweenies
Tropes associated with The Den include:
- Breakout Character: Zig and Zag are the most popular characters in the block and has gained their own animated series.
- Their dog Zuppy as well as he was on the show the longest even without Zig and Zag.
- Dustin the Turkey has also gained popularity to the point where he released several albums and even garnered a number of (spoiled) votes in the 1990 presidential election.
- Podge and Rodge as Podge first appeared solely he soon gained his brother Rodge and the two starred in their own show and soon gained a talk show.
- Channel Hop: During major sporting seasons, such as the FIFA World Cup weekday morning and weekend programming the block has been known to air on RTE One to allow for coverage on RTE Two which regularly airs sporting events.
- Straight Man: Ray D'Arcy played this role to the wacky hijinks of his puppet co-stars.