Home We Are Laois Moment in Time Moment in Time: Des Bishop visits Portlaoise in 2004

Moment in Time: Des Bishop visits Portlaoise in 2004

4th November 2020

There was a time when Des Bishop was probably Ireland’s most popular comedian.

Using his American perspective on Irish life, he starred in a couple of hugely popular TV programmes that increased his profile significantly.

In one he spent a month in a different busy work environment – a supermarket and a takeaway being among them – and the programme was built around his humorous take on the experience.

He later spent a year in Connemara where he immersed himself in the Irish language and actually sat the Leaving Cert Irish exam.

It was all good-humoured observational stuff and his profile duly ballooned.

In 2004 he brought his comedy shows around the country and among his stops was the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel, then only open a couple of years but fast-becoming home to every local event you could think of.

Needless to say the show was a sell out.

And Alf Harvey’s photographs from that time make for great viewing.

You can check them out in full below.