Derry Girls, a sitcom on Netflix, is about five teenagers living in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is set from 1994-1998, and takes place during the political conflict between the Protestants and the Catholics.
The Protestants wanted to stay with the UK, while the Catholics wanted to separate and have a united Ireland. This conflict started in 1968, and ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement. Derry Girls does a good job of inserting parts of Northern Ireland’s history, and shows how this history affected the teenagers coming-of-age at this time.
For example, the main characters, Michelle, her cousin James, and their friends Orla, Erin, and Clare all attend an all-girls catholic school. Although James is a male, he attends the school because he’s English. At the time, many of the Northern Irish people didn’t like the English, and blamed them for the conflict. So because of this, James was enrolled at an all-girls school since his parents worried for his safety if he attended an all-boys school.
In one episode, the four main characters want to leave Londonderry because of the Orange Parade, which commemorated the win of the Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II in 1690. As they were trying to leave the city, driving through the parade was difficult. The participants of the parade crowded the car so as to not let the characters leave.
Michelle, one of the main characters, has a brother who was part of the IRA. They were the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and played a big part in this conflict between Northern Ireland and the UK. Niall, her brother, was incarcerated due to his actions on “Bloody Sunday” where he killed a man. Towards the end of the show, the Good Friday agreement was introduced and the people of Londonderry had to decide whether or not to release those incarcerated. This played a big part in the conflicting ideas and opinions within the friend group.
Every episode of Derry Girls is filled with new adventures involving this tight group of friends. From studying for exams, to getting into fights, this show uses comedy as a way to reach its audience.
Derry Girls does an amazing job at portraying teenagers. Most shows have corny lines and corny jokes that give off the feeling that the directors are trying too hard to relate to the younger generations. Even though they are meant to be living in the 90’s in Ireland, their bickering and playful insults are pretty accurate to how most people my age act.
I recommend this show to anyone looking to learn about Northern Ireland’s history, while still enjoying the humor throughout the show.
