The Walsh Sisters: "Ireland offers such a wealth of talent. This show is absolutely no exception"

You may know it was Tolstoy who once said “all happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Well, that axiom is coming to a television screen near you, as RTÉ bring a beloved literary family to life with The Walsh Sisters, a new six-part comedy-drama series based on the bestselling novels of Marian Keyes.

The series dives into the chaotic, heartfelt, and hilariously relatable world of the Walsh family – five very different sisters bound by blood, baggage and a penchant for schmaltzy power ballads. Oh, the Marian Keyes of it all…

Adapted from the novels Rachel’s Holiday and Anybody Out There, the show follows Anna, Rachel, Maggie, Claire and Helen as they stumble through the highs and lows of their late twenties and thirties – grappling with everything from heartbreak and addiction to grief and motherhood, all while navigating the complexities of sisterhood.

Leading the ensemble cast are Louisa Harland as the emotionally adrift Anna; Caroline Menton as fan-favourite Rachel; Danielle Galligan as eldest sibling Claire; Bafta nominee Máiréad Tyers as the razor-sharp Helen; and Stefanie Preissner – who helmed and co-wrote the series – as the dependable Maggie.

Their parents, Jack and Mammy Walsh, are brought to life by Aidan Quinn and Carrie Crowley, while Jay Duffy plays Rachel’s complicated love interest Luke Costello. Samuel Anderson, meanwhile, features as Anna’s partner, and Debi Mazar plays Rachel’s intriguing roommate Chaquie.

Adapting Marian Keyes’ novels for the screen meant updating the story to reflect the world today – nearly 30 years after the books were first published, when smartphones, social media and constant connectivity weren’t part of everyday life. Preissner was keen to bring the Walsh sisters into the modern era, weaving in the realities of digital life and its impact on relationships and family dynamics.

Of all the sisters, Máiréad Tyers’ character Helen underwent the most obvious transformation for the screen.

“The biggest challenge I found was that the Helen we’ve created in the series feels different from the Helen in the books,” she explains.

Early conversations focused on how to update Helen to create a more contemporary version. In the books, Helen is a college student dating around, but Preissner wanted a different take – one that felt more relevant to the story she was trying to tell.

The effect was that Máiréad didn’t have as much of a foundation from the novels as her co-stars did.

“We were all figuring Helen out together,” she says, “which was a bit of a challenge. Because I’d make blind choices and question myself every day over whether I was carrying her role correctly.”

But for all of the slight contextual tweaks, the show maintains its emotional centre and the complex issues facing each of the Walsh sisters, including Rachel’s struggle with addiction and her aversion to rehabilitation.

In keeping with Keyes’ books, The Walsh Sisters does not shy away from the complexities of addiction, especially as it plays out among young people. It avoids easy stereotypes in favour of something more real and quietly devastating.

Caroline Menton in The Walsh Sisters

For Menton, stepping into the role of Rachel came with a real sense of responsibility. As one of Keyes’ most iconic and complicated characters, Rachel’s journey meant portraying addiction, denial, recovery and everything in between – something the actress approached with care and commitment, knowing just how much the character means to readers, and presumably to viewers too.

“I felt I had a huge responsibility because Rachel is such a beloved character and, obviously, Marian has so many devoted readers,” Menton offers. “I used the book as a kind of skeleton to flesh out Rachel’s character. My essence of her is that she’s kind of unpredictable and unapologetically herself.

“If you’ve read the book, you know she struggles and makes mistakes, but you still absolutely love her and root for her. So hopefully with my interpretation, people will still have that reaction.”

At the heart of Rachel’s story is also her thorny relationship with Luke, her partner and someone who has witnessed both her lowest points and her attempts to rebuild. Played by Jay Duffy, Luke provides a mirror to Rachel’s past.

Their dynamic is layered, shaped by unresolved history and lingering feelings, but also by the tension that comes with trying to reconnect after addiction has changed everything. Duffy brings a certain steadiness to Luke, grounding the character in both hurt and hope.

In preparing for the role, the actor tried to understand addiction through the lens of mental illness, and how pills can be a form of escapism.

“In my personal life, I don’t have much experience dealing with a partner who has an addiction,” Duffy reflects. “I had done a project a couple years ago where I played someone with mental health problems, and that education offered me an entry into what Rachel might be going through. It may not centre exactly on issues with mental health, but that’s where the battle with addiction can stem from.”

“His character has the task of standing up to a partner and saying no more, and that role is not usually given a lot of weight in these pieces,” adds Aidan Quinn, who plays the Walsh family patriarch, Jack. “In one scene, he has to go into the hospital and explain all the stuff that she did in front of the whole group. Oh God, that’s a tough and painful task that’s beautifully done by this fellow.”

“Well, thank you,” chuckles Duffy. “Basically, I took on the role of what is called an ISO, or an Involved Significant Other. So your job is to come into the facility your partner is in, and you’re given the opportunity to speak uninterrupted, warts and all, about how you’ve been affected by their behaviour. I did that scene during my first day on set! Safe to say, I was very nervous.”

In some ways that worked in his favour.

“You know, Luke would have been nervous going in there to disclose such personal difficulties between him and Rachel,” he reflects. “You use what comes to you naturally and I was nervous, sure he would’ve been nervous. It was great to not have to act too much, and just remember the lines, remember the work you’ve done and let it all come out.”

While Rachel’s story is defined by a necessary confrontation with the past, Anna’s offers more hushed devastation – a grief that simmers beneath the surface. Played by Derry Girls breakout Louisa Harland, Anna is the second-eldest Walsh sister and perhaps the most enigmatic.

Where Rachel burns bright and loud, Anna retreats inward, shielding her pain behind dry wit, detachment and a kind of sure look, it’ll be grand diffidence. Harland brings a certain quiet ferocity to the role – the kind of performance that creeps up on you.

Her storyline is largely adapted from Anybody Out There, a novel that sees Anna attempting to reconstruct a normal life in the fallout of a tragedy she can’t quite express aloud. In the series, this emotional reticence becomes a defining trait.

“It was a completely different process as an actor,” Harland says, “to encapsulate the experience of going through something so tragic in a big family of women where everyone has their own struggles, In a way, Anna is not able to process emotions, and how jarring those emotions are when faced with such shock and grief. I think everyone can relate to that. It’s written so beautifully and truthfully. My favourite part about playing Anna is exploring how you process something when there’s stuff going on with every member of the family.

“My main hope for this show is that the readers feel the books have been brought to life in these characters and how they would be in today’s context. I also want The Walsh Sisters to make it clear, for everyone to see, that Ireland offers such a wealth of talent. This show is absolutely no exception.”

• The Walsh Sisters is streaming now on RTÉ Player and airs every Sunday at 9.30pm on RTÉ One.