Northern Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket dies aged 80 after short illness

Jimmy Cricket died aged 80 after a short illness, his family said, after spending his final days surrounded by family, love, laughter and songs. The Northern Irish comic, whose real name was James Mulgrew, died on Monday morning, 3 August 2026.

His family said he was cracking jokes to NHS staff right until the end, a detail that fitted the image audiences had of the Cookstown, County Tyrone performer for decades. His son, Fr Frankie Mulgrew, said Cricket asked for the last rites twice, “almost like he asked for an encore,” before his death.

Cricket’s career belonged to a television world that reached deep into mainstream households, when comedians could sit comfortably on light-entertainment bills alongside game shows, variety programmes and royal occasions. He fronted And There’s More in the late 1980s and appeared on Bullseye, The Good Old Days and Royal Variety performances, placing him squarely in an era when family-friendly comedy could still command a wide national audience.

That reach mattered. Cricket was not a niche stand-up made for fragmented viewing or late-night edge; he worked in the polished, broadly accessible format that once defined British television comedy, where a familiar face could move from a BBC or ITV studio to a Royal Variety stage and be understood instantly by viewers of all ages. His appeal came from that easy public presence, the sort of comic identity that could travel from local affection in Northern Ireland to a national platform without losing its warmth.

Tributes had already begun to frame him as a beloved Cookstown comedian, and the family statement underlined the same personal tone that had marked his act. For many viewers, Cricket stood for a style of comedy that was as much about reassurance and shared entertainment as it was about punchlines, a format now far less common on mainstream television.