Young Offenders star swaps tracksuit for uniform

Alex Murphy, pictured as Conor MacSweeney in The Young Offenders, is starring in a new BBC/TG4 Irish language series

The Young Offenders star Alex Murphy has found himself swapping the tracksuit for a garda (Irish police) uniform as he is set to star in a new Irish language drama.

Crá - Irish for torment - follows a murder investigation in a rural County Donegal village after the body of Garda Conall Ó Súilleabháin's mother, who has been missing for 15 years, is discovered in a nearby bog.

Forbidden from taking part in the case, he joins forces with true crime podcaster Ciara-Kate to discover more about the case.

The English subtitled series is a cross-border project between BBC Gaeilge and Irish-language public broadcaster TG4.

Murphy, who plays newly graduated garda Barry Roche, said it was "very enjoyable" to play the good citizen for once - a change from his delinquent character Conor MacSweeney in The Young Offenders.

"I'm on the other side of the law this time - the irony wasn't lost on me," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

"It was very funny filming and people would recognise me from the Young Offenders but of course I'm either sitting in a squad car or have the jacket on so there were lots of double or triple takes."

Alex Murphy, on the left, plays newly graduated Garda Barry Roche

The 26-year-old described his character as a "blow in", who attempts to gain the trust of the locals while working under the supervision of Conall.

"We're very much opposites," he explained.

"I’m more to the letter because I’m fresh out of Garda college and [Conall] knows the ins and outs of how to be a garda in small-town Ireland, and I’m his puppy and I’m just trying to impress him the whole time."

'Big challenge'

Crá was filmed over a nine-week period in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district of Gweedore on Donegal's northwest coast.

It will be Murphy's first project solely in Irish, and he described it as a "big challenge".

"When I first read it, I just really enjoyed the story and the script, and then it was just the icing on the cake then to hear it's going to be in Irish," he said.

"I did Irish in school but I wasn’t particularly good at it.

"When you’re young, it’s very easy to just not care and you think it’s a bit ridiculous and ‘why am I doing this?’, which is such a shame.

"But now that I’m a bit older and I wanted to learn Irish and I have an incentive to, it came a lot easier to me."

Murphy says doing the series fully in Irish was a "rewarding" experience

While confessing that he is "by no means fluent", the tutors offering classes months in advance as well as assisting on site made for a "rewarding" experience, Murphy added.

Irish language 'having a moment'

Crá is the latest in an string of mainstream Irish language productions, following in the footsteps of Oscar-nominated An Cailín Cúin (The Quiet Girl) and west Belfast rap-trio Kneecap's self-titled feature film.

Murphy said the Irish language seems to "quite trendy" at the moment.

"I wouldn’t be able to put my finger on it, exactly why that’s happening," he added.

"For me I suppose it is that thing that when you’re younger it’s not as interesting and when you get that bit older you realise it’s quite important to know the language and the history of it all.

"When you find it on your own, it’s a lot more interesting."

Caoimhe Farren and Alan Mahon also star as Inspector Conlon and Detective Keogh

The series is entirely in Irish, but Murphy encouraged those who have cúpla focal (a few Irish words), or those entirely new to the language to not be turned off.

"There’s no lie to say that for a lot of people this would be a foreign language TV show and if you’re not used to reading subtitles or watching foreign films, that might be daunting," he explained.

"I love watching foreign films because you forget about the subtitles, you’re reading along but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment."

Crá starts Sunday 17 November airs on BBC iPlayer and BBC One Northern Ireland at 22:30 GMT, with the full series available to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after airing.

You can catch the full interview with Alex Murphy on BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme later.