Patrick Shortt (born 12 December 1967) is an Irish actor, comedian, writer, and entertainer.^[1][2] His role in the 2007 film Garage led to him receiving the IFTA for Best Actor. He is most notably remembered for his role as Tom in the television series Father Ted.

Shortt toured alongside Jon Kenny as comedy duo D'Unbelievables. They released "One Hell of a Video", "D'Unbelievables", "D'Video" (a live random sketch show), "D'Telly" (featuring Shortt and Kenny playing various characters – primarily two brothers who run a shop together), "D'Mother" (in which Kenny's character oversaw the running of a public house alongside his "mother" – who was later revealed to be his father, in a role played by Shortt) and "D'collection". One character played by Shortt was Dan Clancy, known for telling "his stories". The pair were highly successful in Ireland, selling out the Vicar Street venue for 14 weeks.^[2] The duo stopped touring in 2000 after Kenny was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.^[3][4]

Shortt played the role of Tom, a crazy man, in the comedy series Father Ted. His character maintained a unibrow and wore a tee shirt with the slogan "I shot JR".

In 2003, RTÉ approached Shortt to create a comedy series, Killinascully.^[2] Shortt elaborated on his work with D'Unbelievables, again playing Dan Clancy and a number of other characters. The programme ran for five seasons, with six Christmas specials.

In 2009, Shortt created and starred in a comedy, Mattie, for RTÉ, set in a Garda Síochána station. The series was retitled and reworked in 2011.^[5] The cast included Sue Collins.^[5]

He starred in the 2007 Cannes award-winning film Garage, directed by Lenny Abrahamson.^[2][6] Shortt won the Best Actor award at the 2008 IFTAs for his performance in this film. In 2008, An Post issued a postage stamp featuring Pat Shortt, as Josie, in the film Garage.^[7]

In 2014 Shortt appeared in Episode 3, Season 2 of the Sky 1 programme Moone Boy. In the episode the main character Martin Moone and his friend Padraig float down the River Boyle on a raft. They land on an island in Lough Key where Shortt's character, the caretaker, entertains them and helps them to return to the mainland.

Shortt was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, one of 11 children of Mary (née Scully) and Christy Shortt. He studied at the Limerick School of Art and Design, and began his stand-up career shortly after graduating.

Shortt and his wife Caroline have two children. In 2020, he and his daughter Faye, an actress who trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, began creating sketches for social media. Faye Shortt subsequently co-wrote and performed in a sketch for RTÉ Does Comic Relief. Between 2020 and 2021, Pat and Faye Shortt co-wrote and performed two live stream shows, before going on tour with their live comedy show, "Well".