6 Late Late Show talking points, including Kate Mulgrew on working with Patrick Stewart on Star Trek
Actors Kate Mulgrew and Clinton Liberty joined Patrick Kielty on Friday night's Late Late Show. Picture: RTE/Instagram.
This week's featured a spellbinding line-up for its Halloween Special, with host Patrick Kielty welcoming legendary Irish acting talent, a top comedian and podcaster, as well as hauntingly good music.
To celebrate Samhain, the show included a contemporary musical cover of a Halloween classic and guests shared some of their best Halloween stories.
Actors Kate Mulgrew, known for her roles in and and Clinton Liberty, known for his roles in and joined Kielty to talk about their new RTÉ drama The Galway Bay Murders.
They chatted about filming on the west coast of Ireland, why working with Colm Meaney was a thrill for both of them, and how Halloween is an odd time for actors who’ve played iconic roles.
Speaking about working with Eithne Verling, writer of the Mulgrew described her way of articulating beautiful thoughts and that something about Verling "just called" to her.
She also spoke about the passing of Patrick Stewart this week. “I knew him, of course I knew him. Goodnight, sweet prince. What a loss,” she said.
"When I was in my second week of doing he came on the set to have a cup of coffee, like it was his, he owned it, and I got off the bridge and went down and I said: "Patrick, tell me how am I going to survive this?" He said, "Listen to me, and listen to me very, very well. If you invest this character with everything you've got, and give it your heart and soul for seven years. You should be very proud indeed. I am. And that's all I needed."
Liberty touched on his role in the new horror movie which was filmed in Wexford and premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh.
"So was the first project that premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh and then was the second project that premiered in Galway, so for me, as a young Irish actor, any opportunity to work in Ireland is always a privilege," he said.
One of the country’s greatest actors, Fionnula Flanagan, spoke about her Hollywood career that has spanned over half a century and earned her numerous awards, including an Emmy and critical acclaim with standout roles in and
From treading the boards on Broadway to starring in acclaimed TV shows like and Flanagan has never been one to stand still for long.
After 60 years living in Hollywood, she moved back to her beloved home, Wicklow, in 2024.
“It’s not like Dublin, that’s for sure. But I’m enjoying it very much, but I have a dog called Nimbus; she came with that name, but she doesn’t answer to it; she doesn’t answer to anything,” she said.
She spoke about losing her husband and said it’s not “just me and the dog”.
She touched on her Emmy win for her performance as Clothilde in the 1976 network miniseries which she said took five years to broadcast, acknowledging that her win paved the way for many other actors.
Jim Sheridan’s was a watershed in Irish history; it was The Troubles, as they call them, though in fact it was a war going on in the North.
She said she was very disturbed by what was happening in the North and that people “didn’t want to talk about it,” and said that when Sheridan wrote the script, it was “very meaningful” for her.
“It was very much a personal feeling. We went into the Maze prison to visit somebody who was in there and there were armed men on the gates to make sure that we left. It was a very unhappy time,” she said.
She went on to talk about working alongside Brendan Gleeson, who she described as “so wonderful” and “a really great actor”.
Flanagan was also honoured on the show for her long-standing career, with Pat Shortt and Liam Cunningham joining her in the studio to mark the occasion.
“I thought I’d fallen asleep and woken up in front of a Dáil committee,” Joe Duffy said while taking a seat next to Kielty in the studio.
For almost three decades, the broadcaster was Ireland's sounding board in his role as presenter on RTÉ Radio 1. He spoke to Kielty about his latest book, which documents the stories that reflect a generation of ups and downs in Irish life.
He described how, after retiring from he began listening back to old programs to gather material for a book titled Talk to Joe.
The book captures bizarre, funny, and upsetting stories shared by callers over the years.
One story involved a graveyard near Wolftone's burial site, and another touched on his obsession with fire engines.
“I'm obsessed with fire engines and firefighters. I think my mother, when she was pregnant with me, got frightened by a fire engine. So, ever since, any time I see a fire station, I go into it,” he admitted, going on to tell a story about Dublin Fire Brigade Training Centre in Marino.
He also described having “a good sense” of the country, down through the years, owing a lot of the knowledge he collected before to Gay Byrne, whose anniversary is next Wednesday.
“I travelled around every single day for the Gay Byrne Show. I'd be in Donegal one day, in Mitchelstown the next. So for 10 years, I got a real sense. That was an incredible grounding for doing because we didn't leave the studio except for Funny Friday, and a lot of people thought we shouldn't have been allowed to leave the studio for that.”
Comedian and podcaster Shane Daniel Byrne discussed his new show, starring as Clarence in The Gate Theatre’s upcoming production of and whether giving up a good pensionable job for a life in comedy was a wise move.
He spoke about the dancing and singing involved in the production, and how he took it on board to bring his character to life on stage.
Byrne also spoke about the new stand-up show that he is taking on tour, including four Cork dates.
“I’m doing four shows in Cork; that’s how big my tour is this year. You have to appeal to the people of Cork,” he said.
He also spoke about performing stand-up shows in front of his parents, becoming more aware of the material he would use.
“They came to Vicar Street, right? The first time I did that, it was my first night ever doing Vicar Street. Very exciting… and they came to that. Sometimes, in the stand-up, there's serious bits, and you're emotional, and you talk about things you wouldn't normally talk about. And I did all that, and I was kind of nervous. I was like, these are new boundaries with my parents… things I've not said to them before," he said.
“And then they come in. I was like, What's this conversation going to be like after? And I came in then, and I don't know whether it's like an Irish thing or a Catholic thing. It was just business as usual. The show never came up. Then my dad came back. He was like, there used to be a factory here on this site years ago. My mother was like, ‘Breast check Monday'."
Star of RTÉ KIDS supernatural comedy drama and host of the hit podcast Joe McGucken joined Joe Duffy and Shane Daniel Byrne in the studio, and the three reminisced on what Halloween meant when they were younger.
“My costume was The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and my dad shoved a towel up my back; that’s all it was,” he said, recognising how Halloween has become too commercialised.
He spoke about visiting a convent in Cork in search of ghosts.
“It was a convent in Cork, with the Cork Supernatural Society, and the evidence that they showed me was very compelling. But then I spent some time with them, and I was less convinced,” he said.
He also mentioned his short film called Lucky Liam, which won Best Short Film Galway, which means that it's longlisted for an Oscar.
Music on the night was performed by Toshín, who is known for her powerhouse vocals and spine-tingling stage presence.
The Nigerian-born, Irish-raised artist is fresh from her performance at Live at St Luke's as part of the Cork Guinness Jazz Fest last weekend.
A staple in Ireland’s live music scene, Toshín has performed at festivals like Electric Picnic and All Together Now, sharing the stage with iconic artists such as Macy Gray, Gregory Porter, and Madness.
