Airing on Network 2 from 2001–2003 (with a Christmas special in 2006), Bachelors Walk became one of RTÉ’s biggest wins of the early 2000s, earning high ratings, critical praise and an IFTA award to boot. Beyond its acclaim, however, the series captured the restless spirit of a city undergoing rapid change and endures as a refreshingly wry snapshot of life in Celtic Tiger Dublin.
Before hitting the big time with the Oscar-winning Once (2007), John Carney spent the early 1990s as the bass player for The Frames, soon calling it quits to pursue a career in filmmaking alongside friend Tom Hall. They made two no-budget features (including cult favourite November Afternoon in 1996), then realised that if they wanted to make a splash, television might be the way to go. So with Carney’s brother Kieran added into the mix, the three set about creating the pilot for Bachelors Walk.
‘As tempting as it is to call it a love letter to Dublin,
in 2026 Bachelors Walk plays more like a eulogy’
At its centre are disillusioned writer Raymond (Don Wycherley), would-be barrister Michael (Simon Delaney) and professional chancer Barry (Keith McErlean). Other than a grubby Georgian house on the quays, what these men share, as Carney put it, is a feeling “of a kind of male impotence … of not quite being able to get off your arse.” Throughout the series they stumble through adulthood against a boozy backdrop of day drinking, hook-ups and second chances, and we happily tagged along – tuning in for what was a welcome counterpoint to RTÉ’s programming at the time.
‘The series captured the restless spirit of a city undergoing rapid change and endures as a refreshingly wry snapshot of life in Celtic Tiger Dublin.’
Yet what was happening behind the camera was just as novel. Production moved fast, adopting a rough-and-ready approach – small crews, real locations and souped-up camcorders – that not only gave things a genuine frisson but lent the series an edge of docu-realism. The result was a winning Irish comedy-drama that had more in common with Cassavetes than with The Cassidys. Take a drink every time a background passerby spikes the lens and you’ll be hammered quicker than Michael at Mulligans during happy hour.
As tempting as it is to call it a love letter to Dublin, in 2026 Bachelors Walk plays more like a eulogy: a depressing montage of things we took for granted that no longer exist. Hey, remember affordable housing? Smoking in pubs? A world pre-smartphone, pre-recession, pre-The 2 Johnnies? If so, head to the dozens of clips of the show on YouTube, where you’ll be welcomed by nostalgia-riddled comment sections with people intent on reminding you how good we had it.
Future lyric fm presenter Simon Delaney as would-be barrister Michael
It’s hard not to get swept up in the series’ vision of the past… at least until you bump against the occasional elements that feel jarringly misguided. Barry’s sexual relationship with a schoolgirl who’s “seventeen but has the body of an eighteen-year-old” makes for particularly uncomfortable viewing today. And I wonder how modern audiences would react to Davor (played by Irish-Canadian Vincent Walsh), Barry’s horny and hapless refugee “business partner”, who’s like Borat without the satire.
Still, if you’re determined to shock the noughties-obsessed Gen Zers in your life, jump to the hard stuff: a scene with the three lads on a night out – and be ready to catch their jaw when they hear the price of a pint in 2001.
All three seasons of Bachelor’s Walk (and the Christmas Special) are available to watch via RTÉ Player