The Young Offenders star Alex Murphy found himself swapping his tracksuits for a garda (Irish police) uniform as he prepared to star in a new Irish-language drama.

Irish for torture, Crá follows a murder investigation in a rural County Donegal village after the body of Garda Conall Ó Súilleabháin’s mother, who had been missing for 15 years, is found in a nearby bog.

Banned from attending the case, the man joins forces with true crime podcaster Ciara-Kate to learn more about the case.

The English-subtitled series is a cross-border project between BBC Gaeilge and Irish-language public broadcaster TG4.

Murphy, who plays newly graduated garda Barry Roche, said it was “very enjoyable” to play the good citizen for once – unlike his criminal character Conor MacSweeney in The Young Offenders.

“This time I’m on the other side of the law; the irony is not lost on me,” he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra programme.

“The shot was hilarious and people would recognize me from Young Offenders but of course I’m either sitting in a squad car or wearing my jacket, so there were a lot of double or triple takes.”

The 27-year-old actor described his character as a “coup” trying to gain the trust of the locals while working under Conall’s supervision.

“We are so opposite each other,” he explained.

“I’m more to the letter because I’ve just graduated from Garda college and (Conall) I know the ins and outs of how to be a garda in small town Ireland and I’m his pup and I’m just trying to impress him every time.”

Crá was filmed over a nine-week period in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area of ​​Gweedore on the north-west coast of Donegal.

This will be Murphy’s first project solely in Ireland, and he described it as a “huge challenge”.

“I really enjoyed the story and the script when I first read it, then hearing it would be in Irish was like icing on the cake,” he said.

“I took Irish at school but I wasn’t very good at it.

“When you’re young it’s very easy to not care and you think it’s a bit ridiculous and ‘why am I doing this?’ which is such a shame.

“But now that I’m a little older and want to learn Irish, it’s been a lot easier for me.”

While Murphy admitted that he was “not fluent by any means,” he added that having teachers give lessons months in advance as well as help on-site provided a “rewarding” experience.

Crá is the last of the mainstream Irish language productions. Oscar nominee An Cailín Cúin (Silent Girl) and self-titled feature film by west Belfast rap trio Kneecap.

Murphy said the Irish language seems “pretty trendy” right now.

“I couldn’t quite figure out exactly why this was happening,” he added.

“I think for me it was something that wasn’t that interesting when I was younger, and when you get a little older you realize that knowing the language and the history is quite important.

“It’s much more interesting when you find it on your own.”

The series is entirely in Irish, but Murphy encouraged those who have cúpla focus (a few Irish words) or are completely new to the language not to be turned off.

“It’s fair to say that for many people this will be a foreign-language TV show, and if you’re not used to reading subtitles or watching foreign films, that can be intimidating,” he explained.

“I like watching foreign films because you forget the subtitles, you read them together, but this does not take away from the pleasure.”

Crá will begin airing on BBC iPlayer and BBC One Northern Ireland on Sunday 17 November at 22:30 GMT, with the full series available to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after airing.