RTÉ farm dramas educated and scandalised the nation

Soap matriarch Biddy White Lennon has revealed how she believes television farming dramas, The Riordans and Glenroe, played a role in educating Catholic Ireland on contraception and divorce.

The actress scandalised the nation in the 1970s when her character Maggie Riordan had a full-blown love affair with the brooding Hollywood star-to-be Gabriel Byrne when he was still an unknown actor.

The Riordans, which ran from 1965 to 1979, focused on the lives of Tom and Mary Riordan and their son Benjy (Tom Hickey), who was married to Maggie, played by White Lennon.