Meet the cast of The Walsh Sisters, adapted from the novels of Marian Keyes
Anna, Rachel, Maggie, Claire and Helen of Marian Keyes' bestsellers Rachel's Holiday and Anybody Out There are being brought off the page and onto the screen in a six-part series we’re very (very, very) excited about. Here's everything we know about the series so far.
The Walsh family has held a special warm place in the hearts of many since Marian Keyes first started mustering them into existence with Watermelon in 1995. Over the course of the intervening 30 years, the clan have cropped up in seven more Keyes titles, each giving us a little more insight into lives of all five sisters, mammy Walsh, and their bemused (but largely silent) father.
Written with Keyes’ signature warmth and sense of familiarity, these stories are hearteningly honest, at times utterly heartbreaking and crucially, laugh out loud funny. At first, Keyes’ characters remind you of close friends or people you knew in a past life, but the more you get to know their intricacies, they become real life-adjacent figures in your life. You worry about them, you wonder what they’re doing now, you want to find out what happens next for them.
All of this is to say: word that Rachel’s Holiday and Anybody Out There are on track to be adapted into a six-part television series came as very good news indeed.
This past December, it was confirmed that RTÉ was commissioning the comedy-drama series for a six-part run and that the BBC had acquired the rights for the UK. Revolving around the dysfunctional but lovable Walsh family, The Walsh Sisters is billed as a “comedy about serious things.”
Set in Dublin, the show follows Anna, Rachel, Maggie, Claire and Helen as they navigate the peaks and troughs of their late 20s and 30s with in-jokes, hand-me-down resentments and a few old wounds, but their DNA, history and a shared love of power ballads keep them together in the face of heartbreak, grief, addiction and parenthood.
Directed by Ian Fitzgibbon (Hullraisers, Moone Boy, Paths to Freedom), the show’s crew also includes Keyes herself as an executive producer, and Stefanie Preissner (creator of Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) not only led the writing team on four of the six episodes but is also an executive producer and poised to play the role of Maggie.
Kefi Chadwick (Rivals) was also on board the writing team, leading the charge for the remaining two episodes, and it’s slated for release this coming autumn on RTÉ, followed by BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
Now, let’s talk casting.
Louisa Harland, who played Orla in Derry Girls will be playing the role of the troubled Anna, while Helen will be played by the BAFTA-nominated Máiréad Tyers, who you may recognise from Disney+’s Extraordinary. Danielle Galligan (House of Guinness) will be taking on the role of oldest sister Claire and rising star Caroline Menton will play Rachel.
Debi Mazar, who you might recognise from Younger and Kaos, is on board to play the role of Chaquie, Aidan Quinn (Practical Magic, This Is My Father) will play the put-upon Jack ‘Daddy’ Walsh, and Carrie Crowley (An Cailín Ciúin, Smother) will be bringing Mammy Walsh to life.
Naturally, you’ll want to know who the love interests will be played by Jay Duffy (Wheel of Time, Northern Lights) will play Rachel’s paramour, Luke Costello, and Samuel Anderson (Amandaland) has been cast as Aidan, Anna’s beau.
Filming is now underway, and it’s safe to say that this is a television adaption that many Irish households will be eagerly looking forward to.
