Father Dougal McGuire Father Dougal McGuire Father Dougal McGuire is a character in the Channel 4 sitcom "Father Ted". Created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, Dougal was portrayed by comedian Ardal O'Hanlon for the programme's three series. The character is a childlike, simple-minded Roman Catholic curate exiled to Craggy Island, a small island off the coast of Galway. Dougal originated as an unseen character in a short-lived stand-up routine performed by Mathews in the late 1980s. Portraying an early version of Father Ted Crilly on-stage, Mathews occasionally discussed Dougal as one of Ted's great friends. In 1994, the writers took "Father Ted"
Are You Right There Father Ted? award he won in the previous episode – relaxes in a luxurious Dublin parish mansion, with a respected clergyman after an "exhausting" holiday to Paris, politely bartering over which masses the pair will tend to that day. Ted awaits his favourite dinner of pheasant and optimistically muses over his immediate future, whilst recalling his days on Craggy Island with pure hatred. All of a sudden, a church accountant asks Ted about a discrepancy with church expenses... and Ted is promptly sent back to cold, rainy Craggy Island, to Dougal's delight. As the episode proper begins, Ted – after settling in