John Bishop’s Ireland follows the comedian on a 600-mile journey around the country

Commissioned for four 30-minute episodes, John Bishop’s Ireland is billed by ITV as "a once-in-a-lifetime, 600-mile road trip around the Emerald Isle, taking a deep dive into Irish culture". From performing a cramped gig in Limerick’s smallest pub to appearing on one of Ireland’s biggest stages, Bishop embraces it all.

Bishop played some of his formative gigs here in Ireland. In fact, it was while touring on the stand-up circuit here that he decided to leave his job in the pharmaceutical industry to follow his comedic dreams. Throughout his travels, Bishop makes pit stops in Cork, Limerick, Derry and of course Dublin.

Episode one sees John attend the 2017 All Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, where he gets a chance to experience the unique atmosphere of this event, where Dublin triumphed over Mayo once again.

In later episodes John travels to Cork to visit the local University for a Folk Law and Fairies lecture, before heading to Lisdoonvarna, where meets the last traditional matchmaker, then travelling on to Knock to discover why this town attracts millions of visitors from all over the world.

As well as this, the comedian meets people from both sides of the troubles during a visit to Derry, as well as speaking with the brother of someone who was murdered during Bloody Sunday in 1972.

In a statement, Bishop revealed that the decision to make this series came together at the very last minute. "Because the filming wasn't planned, as I mentioned, we decided to take a film crew two days before I went," he explained. "You can only have a mishap if you've got a plan!"

John Bishop’s Ireland will air on ITV on Friday, April 26 at 8.00pm