Peadar Cox, a writer for the Irish-language soap opera Ros na Rún and a finalist in the Writers’ Guild of Ireland Zebbie Awards, once taught Irish to future members of U2 at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. Long before drafting scripts for TG4, Cox instructed Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, and Larry Mullen during his very first teaching job.
Peadar Cox taught U2 members before writing for TG4
- The Teacher Turned Scribe: Peadar Cox balanced an early career teaching at Mount Temple Comprehensive School before transitioning into acting, operatic chorus work, and eventually writing for Ros na Rún.
- Rock Royalty in the Classroom: Cox taught Irish to future U2 members, recalling that Mullen excelled while Bono admitted he was better at praising the teacher than mastering the language.
- Industry Recognition: Decades after his classroom days, Cox earned a Best Continuing Drama Script nomination at the WGI Zebbie Awards for his work on the TG4 soap opera.
From Mount Temple Classrooms to the Dublin Music Scene
Before U2 cemented their status as one of rock music’s most enduring stadium acts—recently celebrating five decades together—they were teenagers walking the halls of Mount Temple Comprehensive School. Peadar Cox arrived there as a young teacher fresh out of University College Dublin (UCD), where he studied English and Irish. He found himself teaching the national language to the future band members, with the notable exception of Adam Clayton.
Cox remembers that Larry Mullen was a natural student of the language, while Bono presented a more colorful relationship with his coursework. “I have a letter from him saying he wasn’t the greatest at Irish but that I was the best teacher, or something like that,” Cox recalls. To keep engagement high, the young teacher incorporated traditional tunes like “Báidín Amhlaoibh” into his lessons. Outside of class, the musical trajectory of his students was already evident; Cox often walked past empty classrooms after hours where Hewson, Evans, and Mullen were busy rehearsing with the backing of supportive school faculty.
Trading Textbooks for the Stage and Screen
Cox’s own professional path took several sharp turns before landing in television. After four years at Mount Temple, he moved to Cork to practice yoga and run a health centre with Tony Quinn. Once that chapter closed fifteen years later, Cox sought out creative outlets, taking singing lessons with John O’Flynn of the Irish Operatic Repertory Company.
That musical pivot quickly landed him on the stage of the Cork Opera House in the chorus of La Traviata. Soon after, acting classes with Catherine Mahon-Buckley led to roles in productions like Big Maggie and plays with Pat O’Driscoll, earning praise from critics such as Declan Hassett. When the Irish-language broadcaster TG4 launched, Cox leveraged his linguistic background to break into screen acting.
A Decade of Drama on Ros na Rún
After an initial audition didn’t immediately pan out, Cox secured a role on the TG4 rural soap opera Ros na Rún in 2001. He portrayed the antagonist Daniel McLaughlin for a decade. The series regularly tackled gritty subject matter, including a domestic abuse storyline where Cox acted opposite Joan Sheehy, earning both actors IFTA nominations.
The soap opera had long pushed cultural boundaries, having aired Irish television’s first gay kiss in 1997. Recognizing that his character’s villainous lifespan had an expiration date, Cox transitioned smoothly from the acting ensemble into the show’s dedicated scriptwriting team. That writing career eventually led to a finalist spot in the Best Continuing Drama Script category at the Writers’ Guild of Ireland Zebbie Awards.
| Phase | Role / Institution | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| Early Career | Mount Temple Comprehensive School | Taught Irish to future U2 members. |
| Theatre & Arts | Cork Opera House & Local Stage | Performed in the chorus of La Traviata and acted in Big Maggie. |
| Television Breakthrough | Ros na Rún (TG4) | Played villain Daniel McLaughlin for ten years; earned an IFTA nomination. |
| Writing & Recognition | Writers’ Guild of Ireland | Recognized as a Zebbie Awards finalist for Best Continuing Drama Script. |
Continuing the Irish Language Tradition
Even away from the fictional West of Ireland village portrayed in Ros na Rún, Cox remains closely tied to the Irish language and the entertainment industry. He frequently works as an Irish dialogue coach for actors, including assisting Stephen Rea with his language work on the film Black ’47.
Reflecting on a journey that spans teaching rock icons, singing in opera choruses, and penning multi-award-nominated television scripts, Cox acknowledges that his path was never bound by a rigid five-year plan. Instead, a deep-rooted fluency in Irish and a willingness to follow creative instincts shaped a remarkably varied career in Irish media.
