Derry Girls is a sitcom set in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 1990s. It takes place during the end of the Troubles, a violent civil conflict in Northern Ireland that took place in the late 20th century. The history of the Troubles could be—and is—taught in entire semester-long college courses, but I’ll provide some relevant events.
The conflict between nationalists (mainly Catholics) and unionists (mainly Protestants) carried on for decades, with horrible events including Bloody Sunday in 1972 in Derry. The Troubles had a tumultuous end with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The show follows five teenagers named Erin, Orla, Claire, Michelle, and James, who all attend the same Catholic secondary school. Their story is comical and bold, and we follow the group as they try to live normal lives amidst the violence happening in their own town. Despite living in such a turbulent and militarized area, the gang still manages to live as somewhat normal teenagers, getting into trouble with the nuns that run their school and getting caught up in all kinds of entertaining situations.
A lot of the hilarity of the show comes from the characters’ accents and slang usage. My own dad grew up in Northern Ireland, and he still retains his accent and uses Northern Irish slang. I regularly talk to my relatives in Ireland and get to visit them when I can, and even so, I still cannot understand half of the lingo. My dad loves this show, and he absolutely loses it when a slang word or phrase that he used when he was growing up is spoken.
The authenticity and personality of the show proves the power of comedy to explain or accompany unstable times. The sarcastic and blunt personality of Sister Michael, the headmistress of the school, adds another additional layer of hilarity.
What is really inspiring about this show is the fact that the teens are trying their hardest to live in the moment and take advantage of their teen years during such a pivotal time. This idea is quite remarkable and profound for a sitcom, and stems from the experience of the creator and writer of the show, Lisa McGee.
McGee grew up in Derry herself, and she wrote the show and its events inspired by her own childhood and teenage years in Northern Ireland. Her aim of the show was to portray the Troubles in a more resilient and lively way, very much in contrast to her own dreary experience of the Troubles. She recognized that it was such a strange time to grow up in, and she saw a great amount of opportunity to make a very meaningful show from it.
You can stream seasons 1-2 of Derry Girls on Netflix.