Hundreds of dog collars and pinnies honour Father Ted

Three hundred Father Ted fans descended on a small island off the west coast of Ireland today, donning white collars and habits to celebrate the comedy series.

As surreal as any Father Ted episode, the 11-kilometre long island, Inis Mor, suffered the invasion of fans determined to party as hard as the notorious drink-swilling Father Jack.

The bleak landscape of the largest of the Aran islands was chosen as a fitting location for Craggy island for the three-day Friends of Ted event from Friday to mark the ninth anniversary of the death of comic Dermot Morgan, the star of the Channel 4 series.

All politically correct notions were cast from the island as a bizarre array of themed events associated with the comedy got under way. On the bill were the Toilet Duck Comedy Awards, the Father Jack Cocktail Evening, A Song for Europe and the Lovely Girls Competition.

Michael Gill, 65, from Inis Mor, sat supping a pint of the black stuff at a pub in the village packed with clerics, alongside the lovely girls.

"When you see all these nuns going around and they have the boyfriends with them, that would sort of put you thinking," he laughed.

Extra gardai were brought over the mainland to man the island, where shouts of "We are all going to Heaven" could be heard ringing out.

As the Lovely Girls battled it out on the stage in the town hall, Dermot Morgan's son Ben said he was very proud of his famous father and delighted so many people had turned up. Not to be left out of the fancy dress Rock-a-Hula, the 13-year-old, who was accompanied by his mother Fiona, dressed up in a Pope outfit his father had used for stand-up routines. "It is great. My favourite was the Toilet Duck award," he said. "I do ads on the radio, straight scripts. I'd love to do comedy. I like watching people laugh."