# Tadhg Hickey

Tadhg Hickey (/taɪɡ/ TYGHE; born c.1982) is an Irish polemicist, comedian, writer, and filmmaker known for his work in both television, theatre and in particular his video shorts on social media. He has gained recognition for his sketches regarding social and political commentary.

## Early life and education

Hickey was born in Cork and raised in MacCurtain's Villas, Cork City, Ireland. He grew up in a working-class background, his father working in a car manufacturing plant. He was the first in his family to go to University College Cork, where he studied philosophy. In a 2023 interview he stated that, in his early adult years, he was influenced by people like Ricky Gervais, James Joyce, Kehinde Andrews, Steve Coogan, Claire Keegan, Roy Andersson and John Pilger.

## Career

In addition to his work in theatre, Hickey also worked in television and film. Some of these productions, broadcast on RTÉ, included Ronanism (2015), and The School (2017).
As a writer, Hickey has written several stage plays, including GATMAN and In One Eye, Out the Other, which were performed in theatres such as the Everyman in Cork, Smock Alley in Dublin, and the Playhouse in Derry.
In 2019, he was shortlisted for a "best performer" award at the Dublin Fringe Festival. A short film, written by Hickey and titled Uisce Beatha, won the first runner-up prize at the Ford '8 Minutes' short film competition in 2012.

### Political satire and inspirations

Hickey has stated that his comedy draws inspiration from numerous sources, including the British version of The Office, J. D. Salinger’s 1951 work The Catcher in the Rye, Claire Keegan's 2021 novel Small Things like These, James Joyce, Kehinde Andrews, Steve Coogan (in particular his Alan Partridge character) and John Pilger. He is also a supporter of Welsh and Scottish independence.
In autumn 2023, Hickey had been touring with his stand-up show titled The Marxist Terrorist-Supporting Scumbag Tour in the UK and Ireland. This show focused on themes such as dysfunctional families and decolonialism or as he quoted "his raison d'être - trying to break up the United Kingdom through the unusual medium of comedy".
After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, he increased his focus with multiple sketches about the "hypocrisy" of its coverage by Western media outlets. Hickey's activism on behalf of Palestine led him to accept an invitation to visit Iran where, in May 2024, he accepted an award at the Sobh Media Festival. When in Tehran, he attended the funeral of president Ebrahim Raisi where, encouraged by another participant, he was filmed chanting 'death to Israel'. Hickey avers that he did so without any knowledge of the Farsi language.
As of mid-2024, Hickey´s political satire videos on social media had more than 100 million views globally.

## Personal life

Hickey has two daughters and is a supporter of Celtic F.C.. A recovering alcoholic, he has written a book about his experiences of this addiction. In a 2022 interview, he stated that he "replaced that addiction [to alcohol] with an addiction to work and social media".
He identifies as an Irish republican. When Irish rugby fans adopted The Cranberries song 'Zombie' during the 2023 Rugby World Cup as an unofficial anthem, Hickey called it a "partitionist anthem" which showed a "complete lack of understanding" from those in the Republic of Ireland "to what was happening to nationalists across the border" in Northern Ireland.
In 2021, Hickey raised over EUR30,000 for Aida Palestinian Refugee Camp and he also participated in fundraisers and a 24-hour fast organised to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In October 2024, Hickey was one of the many Irish artists that lead protests against the use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace for the transport of weapons in the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hickey has also been involved in the Welsh independence campaign.
An article in the Jerusalem Post, from February 2025, suggested that Hickey was sponsored (along with a group of other Western influencers including far-right blogger Jackson Hinkle) to visit Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.