Derry Girls: Impossible to Ignore

Chapter 1: Meet the Derry Girls

Erin Quinn was born and raised in the Northern Ireland city of Derry (or Londonderry if that's yer persuasion). She lived in a quaint wee house with her family:
Mary, Erin's Ma (or Mammy), non nonsense matriarch of the house, employee at the Woolworth.

Gerry, Erin's Da (or Daddy), he's from Navan and works as a delivery driver. He patiently tries to be the voice of reason despite almost constant mockery and dismissal from those around him.

Anna, Erin's much younger sister. Not much else can be said there really.

Joe McCool, Mary's Da and Erin's Granda, he's lived with the Quinn's since the death of his beloved wife, Marie, years prior. He shows nothing but contempt for Gerry, constantly criticising him and encouraging Mary to leave him, and is fiercely protective of his daughters and granddaughters.

Livin' right next door to 'em were:
Sarah McCool, Mary's younger sister and Erin's aunt. Working as a beautician, she is sweet but dim-witted, heavily focused on her own and other people's appearances.

Orla McCool, Sarah's daughter Erin's cousin. Detached and eccentric (subnormal some would say), and addicted to sweets. She takes many things literally, misses social cues, and generally is happy to live in her own world. Sarah is an inattentive mother and takes little responsibility for raising Orla, but is still very affectionate towards her.

Erin's greatest ambition was to be a writer, a writer that would speak to generations. She kept her deepest thoughts in her private diary, although it was often peeked in by Orla (much to Erin's chagrin). She was well meaning, but could also be a wee bit self centered (not uncommon for most teenagers really), and often concerned with what others thought of her.

Orla was the exact opposite of this. She was a free spirit who loves makin' new friends, even if she wasn't always too keen on social cues. She often gets on Erin's nerves, but the two clearly love each other. They attended the Catholic girls' secondary school, Our Lady Immaculate College, with their best friends in the entire world.

     Clare Devlin was a walkin' cack attack! There really was no other way to describe the wee blonde. It took very little to make her nervous, especially when it came to exams. But she loved all her friends nonetheless, doin' anything she possibly could (although on occasion she seemed more than willing to betray them for her own well being). During their second year of school, she came out as a lesbian, and while her friends were initially shocked (especially Erin), they showed their full support, even going as to to sport wee rainbow pins on their persons.

Michelle Mallon was the wildest of the girls, often runnin' her mouth (often with a series of expletives) about some sort of craic goin' on in town. She loved drinkin', partyin', and gettin' to snog with massive rides. She was confident in her looks, but had never had any sort of steady fella. She'd never let anyone fuck with her friends, more than willing to throw down.

James Maguire was Michelle's English cousin. Years prior, his mother Kathy went to England to have an abortion (something he didn't know till his arrival in Derry), but ended up keepin' him and raisin' him there. After divorcing James's stepdad, Kathy moved them to Derry, but she immediately went back without him. He became the first male student to attend Our Lady Immaculate College, due to concerns for his safety over the English thing. James tries his best to not cause problems, but just his very presence seems to cause it. He often gets teased about his accent (especially by Michelle), but within a year of arriving in Derry, the other Girls became fiercely protective of the wee English fella. Michelle stated he was a Derry Girl (it's a state of mind), when he almost left to go back to England with his mum.

Our Lady Immaculate College was ruled with an iron fist by Catholic nun Sister George Michael. Acid-tongued and unflappable, she views being a nun as a job rather than a calling, treating priests with indifference or even contempt (a young priest named Father Peter in particular).

In the span of just four years, the Derry Girls faced many trials and tribulations, many that weren't even related to the inner conflict of The Troubles that had been going on for decades. From snatching bulletin boards, accidentally settin' a residence on fire, lyin' about witnessing a miracle to get out of taking exams they hadn't studied for, dealing with a Ukrainian interloper who was trying to seduce James, harboring an IRA member in the boot of their car, causing trouble with Protestant boys, damaging a statue of Jesus as a wain, sneaking off to a Take That concert in Belfast, trying to flush pot scones down a toilet at a wake, trying (and failing) to thwart a prom prank, sneaking into school at night to check test results, suspectin' Ma Mary of having an affair, finding cash and a gun on a stalled train, staying the night at a possibly haunted house in Donegal, and going to extreme measures to attend a Fatboy Slim concert, they did it all together.

One major hitch in friendship came when Erin and James shared a kiss in Donegal. It was only witnessed by Michelle, who said it couldn't happen, thinking it would end the group dynamic. Another came when Clare's Da suddenly died from an aneurysm, leading her and her Ma to move to Strabane. While not very far, it did make hanging out for all of them on a regular basis far more difficult.
Then came the voting of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which would end much of the violence plaguing the country for decades. Erin wasn't keen on the idea of paramilitary prisoners being set free, which included Michelle's older brother Niall, who years prior accidentally killed a man. The two eventually made up (knowing there were no easy answers) and the Good Friday Agreement had a landslide vote for those in favor to end the violence.

Alright then, that should have y'all up to speed!