IT’S RARE THAT a new Irish Facebook page pops up with a genuinely witty, original premise that takes the public’s meme-loving imagination by storm.

There probably hasn’t been one since Pintman.

But in the past four weeks, Roddy Doyle’s Star Trek has become a phenomenon. The concept is simple enough, but brilliant:

Taking Colm Meaney’s Star Trek character and imagining his scenes were written by Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

And for some reason, it just works perfectly

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

The fact that Meaney is best known in Ireland for his work on The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van, has always meant that seeing him in things like Star Trek or Die Hard is surreal for Irish fans of a certain generation.

So applying that quintessential Dublin voice to his scenes from Star Trek has been an inspired call – already producing so many good memes

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

The page was started a month ago by Dubliners Liam and Damien, and it’s already amassed over 16,000 followers. Liam tells DailyEdge.ie that joking around on Whatsapp was the inspiration:

We just start sending them to each other through Whatsapp just to amuse ourselves, and then we decided we’d start the page cos we wanted to share them with more of our friends on Facebook.

And from there, Roddy Doyle’s Star Trek took on a life of its own

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

And with every passing scene you start to believe more and more that Jimmy Rabbitte Sr is controlling the command deck

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

That 16,000 figure in such a short time has blown the lads away:

The page is only up four weeks, so yeah, it’s a bit of a surprise. We were lucky enough to get shared by the Star Trek Éire Facebook page and Twitter account and a few others, so that helped spread the word.

What’s also helped is the fact that their memes go viral… a lot

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

For those who can’t see Colm Meaney in anything without picturing The Barrytown Trilogy, it’s just excellent material for a Facebook feed

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

Is that the reason it’s resonated so much? For Liam and Damien, they’re coming at it from another angle:

There’s no doubt that’s part of the reason people seem to like the page alright, but it wasn’t for us. Myself and Damo grew up watching Star Trek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation came out in 1987, a few years before The Commitments or the Snapper etc, so if anything, it was the opposite for us. We were used to seeing Coln Meaney in space long before we seen him in Barrystown.

Now, Jimmy Rabbitte Sr is well established up there – despite his recent work experience being the proud owner of a chip van

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

He’s doing his best in trying circumstances, though

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

Roddy Doyle’s Star Trek is a gem of a page

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

And we’ll all be following Colm Meaney’s exploits for as long as the memes keep coming

Roddy Doyle's Star Trek Roddy Doyle's Star Trek

A must-like.

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