As the Ellen DeGeneres Show finale airs, here are Irish stars the presenter boosted

Ellen DeGeneres fronted her talk show for 19 years

Crystal Swing. Picture: Brendan Duffy

Ellen DeGeneres fronted her talk show for 19 years

Singer Allie Sherlock

Keith Barry

Crystal Swing. Picture: Brendan Duffy

Seoirse Mulgrew Twitter Email

May 26 2022 10:40 PM

The final episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show aired this week after 19 seasons and over 3,000 episodes.

In her final monologue, DeGeneres (64) said the show “forever changed” her life and was the “greatest experience” she ever had.

“Welcome to our very last show, I walked out here 19 years ago, and I said that this is the start of a relationship and today is not the end of a relationship it’s more of a little break,” she said.

“Twenty years ago, when we were trying to sell the show, no one thought this would work. Not because it was a different kind of show but because I was different. Very few stations wanted to buy the show. And here we are 20 years later celebrating this amazing journey together.”

The comedian married her long-term partner and actress Portia de Rossi in 2008. She described how she could not mention the word “wife” for some time while on air.

Ellen DeGeneres fronted her talk show for 19 years

“When we started this show, I was not allowed to say gay, I couldn’t say ‘we’ because that implied that I was with someone. Sure couldn’t say wife and that’s because it wasn’t legal for gay people to get married and now I say wife all the time,” she said.

A number of Hollywood celebrities bid farewell to the host including Dwayne Johnson, Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

But as the show comes to an end, here is a recap of some of the Irish faces who made their mark on the iconic talk show through the years and where they are now.

Crystal Swing

The country and western trio featured on the show in 2010 after they went viral with their hit, He Drinks Tequila. The Cork family, consisting of Mary Burke and her children Derek and Dervla bagged a spot on the show, catapulting their kitschy charm to transatlantic stardom, and presented the host with a bottle of Jameson whiskey.

After going solo, Mary published a biography called Mary’s Crystal Dreams in 2016. After taking a break from the music scene, Dervla and Derek announced in 2021 that they were taking bookings for weddings, events and funerals.

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At the start of this year, Dervla opened up about her son Paul’s diagnosis of severe non-verbal autism for the first time. She now cares for him full-time.

Allie Sherlock

Another Cork native, who is best-known for busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street, has clocked up 800 million views of her videos online. She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018 after her videos went viral online.

Singer Allie Sherlock

Earlier this year it was reported that the teenager has been approached by several record labels who want to sign her.

Polydor, Sony, Universal, Atlantic and Disney have all apparently expressed interest in Sherlock (17), who is currently writing songs in a London studio alongside Kodaline guitarist Steve Garrigan.

Eimear O’Tuathail

Ellen DeGeneres superfan Eimear O’Tuathail was flown Stateside to perform her song Hey Ellen on the show. The Galway native was in her element and said DeGeneres was her “idol”.

In the interview, O’Tuathail said she had read all of DeGeneres’ books and was inspired to learn how to play piano by watching a previous guest on the show many moons ago.

O’Tuathail has not posted on her YouTube channel in several years but still has a love for music and songwriting.

Keith Barry

Irish mentalist Keith Barry has appeared on the show many times over the years, most recently in October 2020. Barry has a global audience and released his book Brain Hacks in 2021.

Keith Barry

Aidan McCann

Nine-year-old Aidan McCann flew to LA in 2019 to perform magic tricks which involved a DVD, cards and cinema tickets. The Kildare native was a contestant on Ireland’s Got Talent and wowed the US audience with his tricks.

The now 12-year-old reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2020 and has since starred in the Channel 5 TV drama series The Holiday. McCann has performed on stage many times across the world and will bring his first ever live show to the Helix Stage in Dublin in February 2023.

Glenn Murphy and Ronan Scolard

The Irish duo, who became internet sensations after a video of them performing a medley of Adele's songs went viral, performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2016 and were treated to a very special gift.

The pair uploaded a video of themselves performing a medley of Adele's songs and on the second night of her two Dublin gigs she invited the shocked and surprised duo on stage to perform.

The St Patrick's Day Ellen special saw the boys perform their Adele mash-up to an impressed audience.

The duo continue to perform and post videos on their YouTube channels.