Carol Meehan
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Carol Meehan is a fictional character on the soap opera Fair City. She is the main female antagonist on the show. She owns The Galley and "Carol's Club" and has a taste for the excitement of being in the company of crime bosses. The character is portrayed by Aishling O'Neill. [1]
[edit] Fictional character biography
When her son Lorcan was involved in joyriding, Carol arrived in Carrigstown and confronted his foster parents, Kay and Malachy. Infuriated by their ignorance, a drunken Carol suceeded in giving up the booze and became engaged to her old boyfriend Billy Meehan. Billy had an affair with a prostitute, Tracy. When Carol became pregnant, Billy showed his good side, but elsewhere he was using Leo Dowling's taxis as vehicles to take prostitutes to their clients. When Carol learnt of Billy's criminal status, she threatened to leave him, but the crime boss attacked the pregnant woman, causing her to fall down the stairs. Carol subsequently lost her baby and vowed to get her revenge. She found out about Billy's affair on her wedding day, vowed vengeance and teamed up with Leo Dowling. When Lorcan killed Billy, Leo told Carol to pretend to befriend Tracy again. Carol reluctantly agreed. Whether she is still pretending to this day remains to be seen.
Leo confronted Billy in a showdown and left him for dead, but the crime boss was still alive and attacked Carol. An infuriated Lorcan appeared and killed Billy with a golf club. With Billy dead, Carol immediately went into action, tricking Leo into believing that he killed him and using Leo to bury Billy's body in the Dublin Mountains. Carol managed to convince both Leo and Lorcan to keep Billy's death a secret. Carol, not wanting to be associated with Billy's criminal empire, put Mick O'Shea in charge of "Carol's Club". On Christmas Day, Leo's conscience got the better of him and he found himself at Billy's burial site. Carol was able to keep Leo under control, but months later, the Gardaí came across Billy's body when a dog dug it up.
Detective Byrne and Sergeant Deegan tried to solve the murder of Billy Meehan. Although Deegan suspected that Leo was behind it, Byrne sensed that Carol was involved. They soon discovered that Carol had been lying about receiving phone calls from Billy, but the innocent Leo ended up in court for the first trial of Billy Meehan's murder. Before the trial took place, Leo realised that he couldn't have killed Billy, but by then it was too late, as Carol feigned ignorance of what really happened. Leo was wrongfully convicted for murder. When Pascal was taken to hospital, he urged Lorcan to tell the truth. Lorcan went to the Gardaí and confessed everything. A few months later, Leo was released from prison. The second trial found Lorcan not guilty. Carol began a relationship with Shay, but he was too boring for her and she broke up with him. Carol regained control of Billy Meehan's criminal empire and began a relationship with Anthony Farrell.
When Sylvester Garrigan arrived in Carrigstown, he took over Billy's criminal position and employed Farrell as his solicitor. When Farrell saw Carol and Garrigan talking, he suspected that they were infatuated with each other. Carol, disgusted by this allegation, dumped Farrell. The crime boss revealed to Carol that he was illiterate and had an estranged daughter. Carol helped Garrigan in efforts to reconcile with his daughter, but he ended up losing her again when she learnt of his criminal position.
When Mick O'Shea killed a Ukrainian gang member on Garrigan's orders, the gang kidnapped Ali, Mick's niece, and threatened to kill her if he didn't assassinate Garrigan. Lorcan, Carol's son, who was married to Ali, was horrified but he was eventually persuaded to help with the assassination attempt. Carol and Garrigan were in a car when Lorcan appeared on a motorbike with the shooter. As the shooter was about to pull the trigger, Lorcan realised his mother was in the car and rode off. The shooter's aim was put off and the shot wounded Garrigan. However, he survived the attack and ordered Farrell to find those responsible.
The Ukrainians were furious that Mick goofed up but, realising that Garrigan would have all his goons on their trail, they released Ali and fled the country. After recovering in hospital, Garrigan discovered that Mick was behind the assassination attempt and forced Mick to amputate one of his own fingers as punishment for double-crossing him. Carol, in an attempt to protect her son from Garrigan's wrath, offered herself to him. Garrigan accepted and told her that Lorcan was safe.
Later an undercover agent, Rory, infiltrated Garrigan's gang and manipulated Carol into giving him information, by having a sexual relationship with her. Armed with this info, the Gardaí raided one of Garrigan's booze runs. They also found drugs which Lorcan was piggybacking on the booze run. Meanwhile Lorcan discovered that Rory was passing information to the police but thought he was a police tout and not a Garda himself. Garrigan was furious that Lorcan implicated him in drug-dealing and, in a neat twist to punish Lorcan, he ordered Lorcan to kill Rory.
As the two men confronted each other, Lorcan fired the first shot, but Rory struck back with another, wounding them both in the process. When Carol arrived on the scene, she called for an ambulance and they were taken to hospital. Rory survived his ordeal, but Lorcan's days were numbered. When Carol and Ali convinced him to do the right thing, Lorcan made a complete death-bed confession to the Gardaí before he died in hospital. Garrigan suspected that Carol had double-crossed him and decided to leave Carrigstown for the time being, but Detective Sergeant Byrne arrested him and took him to a Garda Station for questioning.
In the aftermath of Lorcan's funeral, Ali told Carol that she was pregnant with Lorcan's child. Carol subsequently broke up with Rory and warned him never to speak to her again. In March 2007, Ali gave birth to her a baby boy and named him Lorcan in memory of her desceased husband. Carol was overcome by happiness, but she was also saddened, as her son will never be able to hold his baby.
| Fair City |
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| Current characters |
|
Ali Foley | Angela O'Connell | Anthony Brady | Anthony Farrell | Barry O'Hanlon | Bela Doyle | Brendan Daly | Carol Meehan | Charlie Kelly | Christy Phelan | Cleo Cullen | Damien Halpin | Deirdre Burke | Dermot Fahey | Dolores Molloy | Dominic Kavanagh | Eunice Phelan | Fiona Pigott | Geraldine Fahey | Gina Cassidy | Heather Daly | James Pigott | Jimmy Doyle | Jo Fahey | Joshua Udenze | June Pearson | Keith McGrath | Ken Fahey | Kylie Kavanagh | Lana Dowling | Leo Dowling | Mags Kelly | Malachy Costello | Mark Halpin | Mike Gleeson | Mick O'Shea | Mondo O'Connell | Myles Byrne | Niamh Cassidy | Nina Udenze | Orla Kirwan | Olga Carney | Paul Brennan | Ray O'Connell | Renee Phelan | Rita Doyle | Robin Doyle | Sarah O'Leary | Sholeh Tenniz | Sean Cassidy | Sean McNab | Seamus Mannion | Seamus McAleer | Sholeh Tenniz | Sergei Borodin | Suzanne Doyle | Sylvester Garrigan | Terry Kelly | Tim Carney | TJ Kelly | Tracy McGuigan | Una Lehane |
| Past characters |
|
Billy Meehan | Darren Doyle | Donal Maher | Farrah Phelan | Floyd Phelan | Frank Monaghan | Gabriel Udenze | Hannah Finnegan | Harry Molloy | Helen Doyle | Jenny Byrne | Kay Costello | Kira Cassidy | Laura Halpin | Lorcan Foley | Lorraine Doyle | Louise Doyle | Marty Halpin | Morgan Dalton | Nicola Prendergast | Pascal Mulvey | Pauline Fitzpatrick | Pete Flannagan | Philippa Prendergast | Richard Ashton | Ross O'Rourke | Shay Hourlihan | Shelly O'Connor | Sorcha Byrne | Stephen McCoy | Tess Halpin | William Russell | Yvoone Gleeson |
