Deirdre Donnelly

DEIRDRE DONNELLY is a Dublin-based Irish actress who works in television, films and theatre. She is the third of four daughters. Her father was from Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin and her mother from Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan. Her grandfather, Patrick Donnelly, fought in the GPO in the 1916 Rebellion, was interned in Frongoch internment camp and subsequently participated in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War.. He died in 1958 and was given a funeral with full military honours. Deirdre grew up in Cullenswood House, Ranelagh, and was educated at Mount St. Anne's School in Milltown in South Dublin. She studied for two years at the Brendan Smith Theatre Academy and a further two years at the Abbey Theatre School of Acting, from which she graduated alongside actor Colm Meaney. She was a member of the Abbey Theatre Company for several years before leaving to join the cast of Ireland's long-running television series The Riordans although she has returned many times to perform in the Abbey Theatre over the course of her career. She went on to play leading roles in many film, theatre and television productions, including the internationally successful television series Ballykissangel, appearing in 58 episodes from 1996 to 2001. She has recently appeared in Shane Meadows' much-acclaimed TV series The Virtues which won the Jury's Grand Prize 2019 at the Series Mania Festival in Lille. Her sister Terry Donnelly is also an actress and a former member of the Abbey Theatre Company, and is now based in New York where she was recently honoured for her artistic services to the NY Irish Repertory Theatre. Deirdre took time out in 2004 to do postgraduate studies at UCD and was awarded a first-class master's degree in Modern Drama Studies.