Derry Girls star Siobhan McSweeney has admitted she “couldn’t identify” with the hit show when it became globally successful.
The show – created by Lisa McGee – saw global acclaim, including Martin Scorsese admitting he loved the series.
The actress – who played Sister Michael – said she found the success “mad”, claiming she couldn’t identify with the show anymore after it became so successful.
Read More : Fighter jets rush to flank Ryanair plane as pilot calls in bomb scare mid-flight
She said: “It’s so mad about Derry Girls. It has become an international phenomenon and when it started kicking off, I couldn’t identify with it any more, it had gotten so big.
“This is just meant to be a little show that we did in the rain in Ireland five years ago, and then having messages from people in India and Brazil saying that they really identify with Sister Michael.
“I’m like, how? But it’s wonderful When Scorsese said he was a big fan.
“I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’ That sounds as reasonable as anybody else. He is undoubtedly a man of good taste and maybe his next film should be The Irishwoman.
“Or maybe it should just be called This Irishwoman,” she said jokingly to the Rte Guide.
Siobhan is set to front her own show on St Brigid next month for Rte.
Finding Brigid sees the Cork native go in search of the meaning of the woman behind the holiday, which falls on February 5.
1500 years after Brigid’s death, she unravels the tangled threads of fact and folklore to reveal the truth about this elusive goddess, woman and saint, and asks why, in an increasingly secular and diverse Ireland, Brigid's popularity appears to be on the rise.
She gathers a "mnásome" group of women in a stone circle in Galway, with Herstory activist Melanie Lynch, and poet Laura Murphy, who candidly reveal their motivation behind the Herstory campaign and their mission to make St Brigid’s Day a national holiday.
Joining them are historian Niamh Wycherley and sisters Mary Kennedy and Deirdre Ni Chinnéide, who grew up by St Brigid’s Well in Clondalkin and are co-authors of the book Journey to the Well.
Mary McAleese also features in the documentary, where they both visit the sacred Brigid’s Well in Kildare.
Speaking about the upcoming documentary, she said: “I think Ireland has gone through many extraordinary and wonderful changes quite quickly, and I think that Brigid is a link between a very modern Ireland and an Ireland of the past that we recognise.
"I don't find it an accident that it's only now that we finally celebrate her and it's the first public holiday named for a woman, an official recognition for any kind of woman and I think that represents the island of now.
"I think Brigid speaks to us now in a way that perhaps she couldn't and wasn't allowed to in a time before.
"Brigid in a way can honour not only our women, but what we lost through our subjugation of women.
"The thing that everyone forgets about dogma and the patriarchy is that it fucks up our menfolk too and I think an ideology that is rooted in inclusivity and generosity is for all.
"That isn't a woman's programme. It's not to be reduced to something as patronising as that.
"Brigid's Day, La Fheile Brid, will be a day for intelligence and compassion for everyone."
READ NEXT:
Thousands of workers missing out on cash boost that could be worth over €2,000
Gardaí launch murder probe after retired farmer beaten to death in hospital
€3.5m Lotto jackpot-winning ticket sold in Dublin as search begins for winner
Expert says weather system will 'block' wind and rain with change on the way
Una Healy enjoys night out at boxing match with David Haye amid 'throuple' talk
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
