Bracken was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 broadcast from 1978 to 1982 on RTÉ One

RTÉ One

RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It mainly centred about rural life in and around County Wicklow

County Wicklow

County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...

 in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. The main stars of the show were Gabriel Byrne

Gabriel Byrne

Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...

 and Niall Tóibín

Niall Toibin

Niall Tóibín is an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He has appeared in Ryan's Daughter, Bracken, The Irish R.M., Caught in a Free State, Ballykissangel, Far and Away, and Veronica Guerin, and has...

. The show was created and written by Wesley Burrowes

Wesley Burrowes

Wesley Burrowes is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Originally from Northern Ireland, he is now a resident of the Republic of Ireland...

.

The show is chiefly known for being the link between two long standing RTÉ series, in that Gabriel Byrne's character, Pat Barry, had first appeared in The Riordans

The Riordans

The Riordans was the second Irish soap opera made by Raidio Telefís Éireann . It ran from 1965 to 1979 and was set in the fictional townland of Leestown in County Kilkenny...

, towards the end of that show's run. The characters of Dinny and Miley Byrne, played by Joe Lynch and Mick Lally

Mick Lally

Michael 'Mick' Lally was an Irish stage, film and television actor. He departed from a teaching career for acting during the 1970s...

, first appeared on this series, they were later to become the central stars of Glenroe

Glenroe

Glenroe was an Irish television drama series broadcast between September 1983 and May 2001 on RTÉ One. The programme was a spin-off from Bracken, a short-lived RTÉ drama itself spun off from The Riordans. Glenroe was broadcast on Sunday nights at 20.30, generally from September to May. The show was...

.