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08th Dec 2019

16 moments that prove ‘The Den’ was the greatest thing to ever happen to Irish television

James Fenton

Irish people are feckin’ mad for a bit of nostalgia so today we thought we’d take you right back to the heyday of modern Irish entertainment.

We are of course referring to the era when RTÉ’s ‘The Den’ absolutely ruled television and brightened up our little lives whenever we got home from school.

From the early days with Ian Dempsey and Zig and Zag, right through to the peak that was the Ray D’arcy years and all the way up to Damien McCaul, Soky and Dustin, ‘The Den’ provided us with countless memories which we can now look back fondly on.

How many of these do you remember?

(note: we couldn’t find any footage of the classic wrestling matches between Ray and Ted. If you know of any, please send it our way.)

1. When Zig and Zag were introduced to the world

2. When themselves and Ian Dempsey played an April Fools joke on the whole country

3. When evil Podge came on and the subtitles guy definitely got sacked

4. When the lads analysed the Ireland v England match as Billow Hurling, Johnny Styles and Amoan Grumpy

5. When Boyzone got an awful ribbing

6. And Aslan had Soky in his element

7. This ridiculous international competition

8. Zig’s hilarious and brilliantly-told jokes

9. And his uncanny impersonation of Eamon Dunphy

10. The trad sessions on Paddy’s Day mornings

11. When a chimpanzee came in from Dublin Zoo

12. When they turned the place into a salon

13. But the best ones were always the Christmas specials

14. They even went all the way to Moscow

15. As well as festive adventures closer to home

16. Finally, and obviously, the pièce de résistance of Irish television history…Kevin from Galway on ‘What’s Snots’

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