While it's 17 years since the last episode of Father Ted was made, Ardal O'Hanlon has admitted that his iconic character Father Dougal McGuire is still following him around in social situations - and can rub off on him when he least expects it.
O'Hanlon was asked on Saturday's Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ One if people think he's as intellectually lost as the gormless cleric, and he went on to share two classic encounters with the host.
"Someone came up to my wife once at a party and I overheard her saying, 'Is your husband, like - is he really stupid?' So you would get things like that from time to time," he said.
When a member of the audience shouted up: 'What did she say?' O'Hanlon replied: "Well, I didn't hear the answer, actually. I can only imagine."
O'Hanlon revealed that his portrayal of Dougal in Father Ted is of particular interest to taxi drivers.
"I'd be over and back travelling to the UK an awful lot," he said. "You'd be in the taxi and I can see them looking at me sometimes. They'd say things like: 'Now, put on your seatbelt' and 'Do you remember being in it?' Someone said that to me once!"
However, the actor and stand-up did himself no favours at all on a recent journey.
"I'm obviously very associated with that character. I think over the years, when you're in those situations with a taxi driver, you try to be really clever - 'Let's talk about politics or something and I can demonstrate my wisdom'," he explained.
"And I was in a taxi recently, only a few weeks ago. I was coming in from Dublin Airport, just coming into town, when I had to say to him: 'Eh, actually, could we turn around? I have my car at the airport!"
Watch the full interview at: www.rte.ie/player.
