"Carrick" is found in many real Irish locations (for instance: Carrickmacross, Carrickfergus, Carrick-on-Shannon, Carrick-on-Suir), and is derived from the Irish-language word carraig, meaning "rock".

[10] Carrigstown takes its name from the village that grew up around the quarries in which granite was mined until the early 20th century – carraig, as noted above, being the Irish-language word for "rock".

"[21] Executive Producer Brigie de Courcy said: "I think the big thing that Fair City does that the other soaps don't quite do is that it is really rooted in the community.

[11] Writers who have worked on Fair City scripts and storylines include Anna Carey, Sarah Francis, Michelle Duffy and Jennifer Davidson.

Laura, lesbian daughter of Tess Halpin, formed a relationship with social worker Emily, only to have it broken up by the jealous, bitter and deranged Lucy.

[39] This storyline caused anti-abortion viewers to complain to the Justice Minister on the grounds that the story was hate speech against people with disabilities.

Mental health issues were confronted in December 2002 when Yvonne Doyle developed schizophrenia (which led to her taking a drug overdose in a suicide attempt).

[43] In 2003, storylines included teenage pregnancy (14-year-old Kira Cassidy giving birth to a baby girl, Juliet)[44] and Heather Lyons' incestuous relationship with her half-brother Floyd Phelan (though they didn't know they were half-siblings at first).

[11] In 2004, Fair City continued to feature issues such as eating disorders (Robin McKenna's bulimia)[48] and teacher Sorcha Byrne's illicit affair with 19-year-old student Ross O'Rourke[49] (which culminated in Barry O'Hanlon being overcome by clinical depression and having a mental breakdown).

[52] A two-week-long special looked at the murkier side of yuppie life against the backdrop of property speculation reflecting the Celtic Tiger.

Subsequently, a sting operation by undercover Garda Rory Goff found drugs that Lorcan was piggybacking on one of Garrigan's booze runs.

In 2009 mental health issues were confronted such as Keith McGrath's desertion of the British Army and Bill Taylor's psychological torture over Annette Daly's alcoholism.

[63] Domestic violence has been a recurring theme in Fair City, most recently in 2013 with the introduction of the character Paddy Bishop, who is captured on screen flaking his wife Vivienne with a belt.

In August 2016, Fair City tackled the issue of child abuse when Carol's father Trigger arrives in Carrigstown and she is forced to face her dark past.

[74] In October 2019, Fair City tackled the issue of domestic abuse in a gay relationship between Cristiano San Martin and Will Casey.

[75] In the show, Cristiano would often reply to Will's domestic abuse saying "Will, you're scaring me" which was turned into a popular catchphrase in Irish media as a nod to the MeToo Movement and a number of t-shirts were sold sporting the phrase.

The show was launched with an hour-long pilot episode, written by Peter Sheridan, on 18 September 1989[11] and at the time was described as "the most ambitious production of its kind ever undertaken by RTÉ".

"[4] RTÉ's Director of Television Production at the time described the situation: "Now Fair City had run 17 episodes and there was a big question mark over its future.

"[85] The introduction of strong story lines centring on the Doyle and Molloy families in the early 1990s began to gradually improve the soap's popularity and were overseen by new executive producer Niall Mathews,[86] who was in charge from 1990 to 2008, apart from the period between 1994 and 1998.

[4] In 1994 John Lynch became executive producer and during his time Fair City began dealing with gritty and controversial issues previously unseen on Irish television.

[87] In 2004, the soap opera celebrated its fifteenth year by broadcasting an hour-long compilation episode entitled Fair City: The Ten Commandments.

[89] In 2008 veteran Executive Producer Niall Mathews bowed out of the show and was replaced by former Script Editor Brigie de Courcy.

[91] Fair City celebrated its 25th anniversary in September 2014 by airing episodes such as Paul Brennan finding out that his wife Niamh is leaving him for Michael[92] and Christy Phelan's death at the hands of his daughter Farrah's husband Max.

[99] Since early 2001 RTÉ One has also been available on most digital platforms in Northern Ireland through Sky and Virgin Media, Fair City is officially available on this service to audiences in this territory.

[100] Fair City was shown on the Tara Television network in the United Kingdom via cable and Sky Digital from 1997 until the closure of the station in 2002.

The series launched in April 2017 with a thirty-minute documentary entitled Fair City: The Story So Far before airing the Christmas Day episode from 2014.

[108] Due to coronavirus-related lockdown issues, Fair City was taken off air for the first time in its history, with the last filmed episode broadcast on 12 April 2020.

[111] A constant ratings winner for RTÉ, the show rivals British imports such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale on Virgin Media.

[4] The Wire star Reg E. Cathey has expressed his interest in a part on the show, saying he would like to play "an American guy coming to meet his daughter who is now a big singer, someone like Laura Izibor".

[11] However, over time, the serial was not a critical success, but it has received acclaim recently for its more credible, sophisticated and psychological stories under executive producer Brigie de Courcy.