Father Dougal McGuire

Infobox character
colour =
name = Father Dougal McGuire


caption = Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal McGuire
first = Good Luck, Father Ted
last = Going to America
cause = Series Ended
age = 26
born =
death =
occupation = Priest
residence = The Parochial House, Craggy Island
portrayer = Ardal O'Hanlon

Father Dougal McGuire is a character in the comedy series "Father Ted", played by the actor Ardal O'Hanlon. Renowned for sleeping in his Republic of Ireland soccer shirt and He-Man bedsheets, the always cheerful but somewhat dense Dougal is one of life's innocents. He quite cheerfully admits that "the lights are on but no one's home." In the second season episode "Old Grey Whistle Theft," Dougal's age is mentioned as "nearly 26."

Dougal often states that he has little to no belief in Catholic Christianity at all and believes in Darth Vader and Phantom Of The Opera more. He doesn't really understand or believe in organised religion, believing it all "a bit of a laugh." He also thinks that Catholicism is a strange cult, and never seems quite sure what the clergy are meant to do. Dougal struggles to understand basic concepts of life; for example he has obvious trouble distinguishing between real life and dreams. In one famous scene Ted compares some toy cows with real cows in a nearby field, so that Dougal may understand the difference between objects that are physically small and objects that just appear small due to their distance. He loves roller blading and once gave them up for Lent. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/jul/13/television.artsfeatures Comedy Connections]

Upon the death of John Paul II in 2005, Irish bookmakers included Dougal in the running for the next pope (as a joke with odds of 1,000 to 1) - better odds than many real-life cardinals and archbishops. Some small bets were received, which is testimony to the popularity of the character . [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2540369.stm BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Betting on the next Pope ] ]

References