Twenty years on screen

Ros na Rún actresses Máire Eilis Ní Fhlatharta and Fionnuala Ní Fhlatharta have been with the soap since it began 20 years ago, and while on the show they may be classed as frenemies, in real life the pair are firm friends.

Máire Eilis plays Caitríona Ní Loideáin ,who owns the beauty salon in Ros na Rún, while Fionnuala plays Berni Ní Neachtain, who owns the local café.

In their two decades on the show, they’ve been through weddings, pregnancies, affairs and even murder attempts, but that’s all in a day’s work for a soap.

While both ladies admit the more dramatic storylines can be exhausting to shoot, Máire Eilis and Fionnuala are emphatically greatful to have such longstanding acting careers on their doorstep and in Irish to boot.

They first met in college, when they were studying a post-grad in communications and media in Galway. Máire Eilis had studied hotel management and catering, while Fionnuala had already done an arts degree and a master’s in Irish.

The August after they graduated they both auditioned for the then new soap, and neither expected to still be there 20 years later.

“I was doing a play in Cork when my contract came in the post, my mother had to open it for me. It was a five-week contract and sure at the time I thought that was amazing because I was just out of college and wasn’t earning any money, and of course just the thought of being involved with it. Thankfully, it grew from there,” says Fionnuala.

Not only can the women count each other as college classmates and colleagues, they also have each other to thank for meeting their husbands. At a co-star’s 21st party, Máire Eilis introduced Fionnuala to her cousin, Timmy, who had gatecrashed the party.

“Máire Eilis had warned me then that he was going to ring and ask me to a wedding, but at the time I was fairly tomboyish, so when he called I told him I didn’t have a dress. He said: ‘Well I have five sisters, so don’t worry about the dress.’ We’ve been together ever since,” Fionnuala laughs.

And Máire Eilis sent Fionnuala over to talk to a handsome stranger on a night out in Spiddle, to find out his name, there was one minor slip-up.

“She had one job to do, find out his name, and she came back and said it was Derick, but it was Eric,” Máire Eilis laughs.

These stories show just how close the cast are, which brings home the sadness of losing their colleague Diarmuid Mac An Adhastair, who played loveable rogue Seamus.

“He died during our break this year, a month before we were due back. He was a huge part of the show. It was really tough coming back then, we all cried,” Máire Eilis says. “We miss him in every way, and he was everyone’s favourite character.”

But of course, as in life, the soap must go on, and with dramatic storylines, and the unique draw of being the only Irish language soap, the show is thriving as it celebrates its 20th birthday. Fionnuala says she is delighted to have a job where she can use the language.

“Even when we started in Ros na Rún, which was the same year that TG4 started, I just remember being very proud.

“We always joke that we would have done it for nothing because we really felt we were going to help the language and we’re really proud of that. We still are. It’s very important to us.

“We’re just so blessed that we were born in the Gaeltacht.”

Look one

Maire Eilis

• Darling Styla dress | €95

• Standun cashmere powder blue coat | €220

Fionnuala

• Aventures des Toiles multicolour dress | €159

• Standun wool coat | €249

• Hexagona red leather bag | €72

Look two

Fionnuala

• Whitestuff lilac knit sweater | €65

• Whitestuff dappled skirt | €95

• David Jones grey bag | €49.99

Máire Eilís

• Hue supersmooth jeggings | €45

• Marble white shirt | €75

• Vientodonna poncho cape | €135

• David Jones bag | €49.99

All clothes from Standun | www.standun.com