Rugged Island is a fictional island on the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. It is effectively a parallel to Craggy Island, with Dick Byrne their version of Ted, Cyril MacDuff their version of Dougal and Jim Johnson their version of Jack. They also have a housekeeper who looks remarkably like Mrs. Doyle.
Overview[]
Despite (or perhaps because of) the similarity, the two islands constantly compete fiercely against each other. Ted Crilly maintains a long-standing feud with Father Dick Byrne and the former tells Henry Sellers that Dick and his co-inhabitants are lepers and that Rugged Island is a leper colony.
It is unknown how the feud started, but Dougal once mentioned a "Scrabble fiasco" (where Dick managed to get all of his words to spell "Useless priests can't say Mass"). This feud has led to various ill-judged escapades, usually after Dick has telephoned Ted to tease him for some inadequacy or taunt him for some fault. These include the Craggy Islanders once attempting to win the nomination to represent Ireland in "Eurosong '96" (a spoof of the Eurovision Song Contest) for their composition "My Lovely Horse". The Rugged Islanders contest this but lose. However they have the last laugh as it is revealed the only reason Ted and Dougal's entry won is because RTÉ can't afford to host yet another contest.
Ted and Dougal also attempt to escape to Rugged Island during Lent when Sister Assumpta arrives and puts them through a gruelling and punishing schedule in an attempt to keep them "on the straight and narrow". Once there they discover the Rugged Island priests bingeing on alcohol, smoking and skateboarding, in spite of the fact they had arranged to outdo one another by giving up their vices. As punishment Ted sends Sister Assumpta over to Rugged Island so the priests can endure the same suffering they have.
Ted also loses a bet with Father Dick Byrne after cheating in the "Annual All-Priests Over 75's Indoor Football Challenge Match". As a forfeit he has to kick Bishop Brennan up the arse".
Points of interest[]
• Rugged Island Parochial house