Late Late Show Returns with Liam Neeson, Caitríona Balfe and All-Ireland Champions Mayo in Season Premiere
The Late Late Show returned to RTÉ One on Friday evening for the first episode of its new season, with host Patrick Kielty welcoming a stellar line-up that included Liam Neeson, Caitríona Balfe, Siobhán McSweeney, The Script, and the All-Ireland winning Mayo GAA team, in a premiere that touched on everything from the Tuam mother and baby home to the future of Irish television drama and the end of an era for one of the most beloved Irish actors of her generation.
Background
The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running chat show, having first broadcast on RTÉ in 1962. It has been a central institution of Irish cultural life for more than six decades, providing a platform for the discussion of social, political, and cultural issues that has at times been genuinely transformative. The show's history includes landmark moments — the first public discussion of contraception in Ireland, the coming-out of gay Irish people at a time when homosexuality was still criminalised, the debate over the X Case — that have shaped the country's social development.
Patrick Kielty took over as host in 2023, following the departure of Ryan Tubridy, and has gradually made the role his own. His approach — warmer and more personal than some of his predecessors, with a willingness to engage seriously with difficult topics — has been well received by audiences, and the show's ratings have stabilised after the turbulence of the transition period. The new season premiere is always one of the most watched programmes of the Irish television year, and the line-up assembled for Friday's show reflected the ambition of the production team.
Key Developments
The most emotionally resonant segment of the premiere was the appearance of Liam Neeson and historian Catherine Corless to discuss their film 'The Lost Children of Tuam', which Neeson has produced and which tells the story of the 796 children whose remains were discovered at the site of the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. Corless, whose research first brought the story to public attention, spoke with characteristic directness about the ongoing pursuit of truth and accountability, while Neeson — who was visibly moved throughout the segment — spoke about his personal connection to the story and his determination to ensure that the children's lives are remembered.
Caitríona Balfe, the Monaghan-born actress who has spent the past eight years playing Claire Fraser in the global hit series Outlander, spoke about her departure from the show and her transition to new projects. She discussed her role in the upcoming adaptation of 'Sense and Sensibility', in which she stars alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles, and reflected on the experience of filming 'Belfast' with Kenneth Branagh — a project that she described as one of the most personally meaningful of her career.
Siobhán McSweeney, fresh from her BAFTA win for her role as 'Lady Muck' in The Traitors Ireland, was in characteristically ebullient form, discussing the success of the show and the unexpected experience of becoming one of the most talked-about television personalities in Ireland and the UK. She was joined by several players from The Traitors Ireland, whose appearance generated considerable excitement among the studio audience.
The Mayo GAA team — All-Ireland champions for the first time in 75 years following their victory earlier in the summer — received a rapturous welcome from the studio audience. Manager Andy Moran, star player Kobe McDonald, and veteran Aidan O'Shea spoke about the significance of the achievement for a county that had come agonisingly close to All-Ireland glory on so many previous occasions. The segment was one of the most joyful of the evening, with the players clearly still savouring the magnitude of what they had achieved.
The Script, the Dublin rock band fronted by Danny O'Donoghue, performed live and discussed their album 'The User's Guide to Being Human', with O'Donoghue also speaking about his personal life and the band's upcoming tour. The show concluded with an announcement regarding the upcoming Late Late Toy Show, which is scheduled for November.
Why It Matters
The Late Late Show's season premiere is a cultural event in its own right, and the line-up assembled for Friday's show reflected the breadth of Irish cultural life at a moment of considerable vitality. The presence of Neeson and Corless discussing the Tuam story was a reminder that the show retains its capacity to engage with the most serious and difficult aspects of Irish history, while the Mayo GAA team's appearance captured the joy and communal pride that sport at its best can generate.
The show's continued relevance in an era of streaming and fragmented media consumption is itself a significant cultural fact. The Late Late Show remains one of the few programmes that can genuinely claim to be a shared national experience, watched simultaneously by people across the country and discussed the following morning in workplaces, schools, and community centres from Donegal to Kerry.
Local Impact
For Mayo, the appearance of the All-Ireland winning team on the Late Late Show was the latest in a series of celebrations that have marked the county's historic achievement. The team's victory ended a 75-year wait for All-Ireland glory that had become one of the defining narratives of Irish sport, and the outpouring of emotion that accompanied the win has been sustained in the weeks since. The Late Late appearance brought the story to a national audience once again, ensuring that the achievement is celebrated beyond the county's borders.
For the Irish film and television industry, the discussion of 'The Lost Children of Tuam' and Caitríona Balfe's new projects was a reminder of the extraordinary talent that Ireland produces and the global reach that Irish stories can achieve when they are told with skill and ambition.
What's Next
The Late Late Show will continue its new season with weekly episodes on RTÉ One, with the full schedule to be announced in the coming weeks. 'The Lost Children of Tuam' is expected to be released in early 2027, with a premiere at a major international film festival anticipated. Caitríona Balfe's 'Sense and Sensibility' is scheduled for release in 2027. The Late Late Toy Show is scheduled for November, and RTÉ has indicated that it will be one of the most ambitious editions of the annual event in recent years.
