Craggy Island was not just a little place off the coast of Galway, it was its own world. A wonderful world created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, packed with such rich array of characters, each with their own ridiculous backstory. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the the show's first airing we're republishing our definitive ranking of every priest that featured in the programme.

We've gone digging and have totted up 89 priests who featured across the series, both in terms of those who appeared on screen and those who were alluded to but never actually featured on the show. After crawling through the archives we've put together a ranking of every single one of those priests.

Feel free to disagree but know this: we put weeks of thought into it so for every argument you have against a placing we'll hit back with ten arguments as to why we were right!...

89. Drunk priest who blabs to Fr Unctious

88. Fr Windy Shepherd Henderson VI

87. Fr Windy Shepherd Henderson V

86. Fr Windy Shepherd Henderson IV

85. Fr Burke

84. Fr Tom Coogan

83. Fr O'Rourke

82. Fr Windy Shepherd Henderson III

81. Fr Windy Shepherd Henderson II

80. Fr Daly

79. Fr Nolan

78. Fr Mackie

77. Fr Hegarty

76. Fr Jimmy Ranable

75. Fr Sweeney

74. Fr Brian Eno

73. Fr Alan

72. Fr Clint Power


71. Fr Jim Sutton

70. Fr Carol

69. Fr Matty Hislop

68. Fr Fitzgibbon

67. Fr Clippett

66. Fr Jim Johnson

65. Fr Jim Doogan

64. Fr Gallagher

63. Fr Leonard

62. Fr Cafferty

61. Fr Rafter

60. Fr Tiernan

59. Fr Paul Cleary

58. Fr Ken

57. Fr Rory

56. Fr Windy Shepherd Henderson I

55. Fr Nick

54. Fr Cave

53. Fr O'Shea

52. Fr Flynn

51. Fr Shaft

50. Bishop Eddie O'Neill

49. Bishop Jordan

48. Bishop Lindsay

47. Fr Williams

46. Fr Fitzgerald

45. Fr Reilly

44. Fr Deegan

43. Fr Billy

42. Fr Cleary

41. Fr Terry

40. Fr Buzz Cagney

39. Fr Niall Haverty

38. Fr Shortall

37. Fr Ned Fitzmaurice

36. Fr Walton




35. Bishop Facks

34. The posh priest

33. Fr Benny Cake

32. Fr "Frosty" Frost

31. Fr Ben

30. Fr Harry Coyle

29. Fr Seamus Fitzpatrick

28. Fr Liam Finnegan

27. Fr Joe Briefly

26. Fr Clarke

25. Fr Derek Beeching

24. Fr Liam Deliverance

23. Fr Jessup

22. Fr Kevin

21. Bishop Tom McCaskell

20. Fr Jose Fernandez

19. Fr Romeo Sensini

18. Fr Cullen

17. Fr Fay

16. Fr Cyril MacDuff

15. Fr Billy O’Dwyer

14. Fr Todd Unctious

13. Fr Fintan Stack

12. Fr Barty Dunne

11. Fr Damo Lennon


10. Fr Austin Purcell

9. Fr Larry Duff

8. Bishop Len Brennan

7. Fr Dick Byrne

6. Fr Jack

5. Fr Bigley

Bio


Currently working in Athlone, he attended the same seminary as Fr Ted, where the pair used to sneak out to Dana concerts. After being ordained he befriended a priest who was sending arms to Iraq, he gave mass at OJ Simpson’s wedding and ended up in a home because he was going around starting fires.

He also has terrible blotches and ‘puffy fish lips bigger than the rest of his face.’

Best line

‘Fr Bigley listens to Dana and he’s not mad.’ ‘Why’s he in that home then?’

4. Fr Noel Furlong


Bio

Headed the St Luke’s Youth Group before they left for Paraguay. Fr Noel is a congenial sort but his boundless energy can irritate some. He really likes Tony and Queen, and is also friends with a priest named Fr Sweeney who has a bladder the size of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

He once met Chris Evans but only briefly.

Best line

'And here's Tony's parents when they find out I've eaten Tony..'Why did you eat Tony? He was our only son!’

3. Fr Paul Stone


Bio

Priest/amateur artist who goes on his holidays to Craggy Island every year. A friend of Fr Doogan but he adores Fr Ted in particular. He survived a near fatal lightning strike in late 1995. His brother is a doctor, which may contribute to the tension between Fr Stone and his condescending father.

He hasn’t been talking to Fr Shortall in quite some time.

Best line

'No, I’m fine thanks.'


2. Fr Dougal Maguire

Bio

A 25-year-old priest who ended up on Craggy Island after an incident in Blackrock which ‘irreparably damaged’ the lives of a group of nuns. Despite being a priest he doesn’t believe in an afterlife, struggles with his faith and thinks the Vatican is an art gallery.

He loves the Eurovision, rollerblading, Byker Grove, egg and may well be an AC Milan fan.

Best line


'Ted, you're not going to believe it! Clint Eastwood's been arrested for a crime he didn't - oh, wait, it's a film.'

1. Fr Ted Crilly

Bio

Parish priest on Craggy Island after leaving his old post in Wexford due to uproar when he absconded to Las Vegas with the money raised to send a sick child to Lourdes. He has constantly claimed that the money was just resting in his account.

One time winner of the Golden Cleric. Not a racist.

Best line

'Fascists dress in black going around telling people what to do, whereas priests...'

See Also: 25 Things You Might Not Know About The Very First Father Ted Episode