Dervla Kirwan
Dervla Kirwan inRed
Born	(1971-10-24)24 October 1971 (age 53) Churchtown, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Rupert Penry-Jones ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2

Dervla Kirwan (born 24 October 1971) is an Irish actress. She has received a number of accolades, including twoIFTA Awards for her performances in the filmOndine (2009) and theRTÉ thriller seriesSmother (2021–2023) respectively.

Kirwan began her career in the BBC seriesGoodnight Sweetheart (1993–1996) andBallykissangel (1996–1998), the latter of which won her aNational Television Award. This was followed by further BBC roles inHearts and Bones (2000–2001),55 Degrees North (2004–2005),True Dare Kiss (2007),Material Girl andThe Silence (both 2010). She also guest starred in theDoctor Who Christmas special "The Next Doctor" (2008).

Kirwan was born inChurchtown,Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Peter Kirwan, was an insurance broker, and her mother, Maureen O'Driscoll, was a language teacher. She is the youngest of three daughters. She attendedLoreto Beaufort inRathfarnham, Dublin, aCatholic school for girls, until the age of 16, when she was asked to leave as her career as an actress started to progress. Kirwan completed secondary school at the now-defunct non-denominationalSandymount High School in Dublin.^[1]

During an episode ofWho Do You Think You Are? that aired in 2010, Kirwan learned more about her ancestors. Her great-grandmother wasMargaret Collins-O'Driscoll, sister of Irish nationalist leaderMichael Collins. Her maternal grandfather, Finian O'Driscoll, was Collins's nephew, and served three years with theIrish Republican Army.^[2][3]

Her paternal grandfather, Henry Kahn, was a Polish Jewish immigrant who had married her grandmother, Teresa O'Shea, a Catholic, in Ireland. In 1902,anti-Semitic judgeFrederick Falkiner sentenced Kahn to a year in prison for breaking a shop window. The trial was known as a "notorious miscarriage of justice" and likely inspired a passage inJames Joyce'sUlysses.^[3][2]

Kirwan's first credited TV roles were in the TV seriesTroubles in 1988 andThe Lilac Bus in 1990 alongsideStephanie Beacham based onMaeve Binchy's novel.

Her breakthrough television role was appearing in the 1991 BBC Scotland production ofA Time To Dance, adapted byMelvyn Bragg from his own novel, playing Bernadette Kennedy.

Kirwan briefly appeared inCasualty, and in the first three seasons ofGoodnight Sweetheart alongsideNicholas Lyndhurst.

For 23 episodes, from 1996 to 1998, she appeared inBallykissangel in the role of Assumpta Fitzgerald, the landlady of the village's only pub, Fitzgerald's. She reprised this role for aComic Relief special ofThe Vicar of Dibley, and for aFather Ted special.

In 1999, she appeared in another BBC production, a made for TV Christmas film calledThe Greatest Store in the World. She played the single mother of two girls who are made homeless a few days before Christmas. Kirwan co-starred withBrian Blessed andPeter Capaldi. In 2001, she starred as Emma Rose in a BBC seriesHearts and Bones alongsideSarah Parish,Amanda Holden,Hugo Speer andDamian Lewis. The show ran for two seasons. She also starred in the Sky TV seriesThe Bombmaker as a former IRA bomb maker.

She appeared in theBBC 1 crime drama series55 Degrees North withDon Gilet, which aired in 2004. She returned for a second season in 2005. The series was shown in the US under the titleThe Night Detective.

In 2007, she appeared in the BBC dramaTrue Dare Kiss.

Kirwan appeared as the villain Miss Mercy Hartigan inThe Next Doctor, the 2008 Christmas special ofDoctor Who, alongsideDavid Tennant andDavid Morrissey.^[4][5]

In 2009, Kirwan was in the BBC dramaMoving On, where she played Laura in the episodeDress To Impress. She also guest starred inLaw & Order: UK, playing the role of Beatrice McArdle.

Kirwan appeared in the BBC drama seriesMaterial Girl, which aired in January 2010. She was also cast in the role ofBundle inAgatha Christie's Marple.

Kirwan also appeared in the four-part BBC dramaThe Silence in 2010.^[6] She played the role of Maggie, the warm-hearted aunt of a young deaf girl who witnessed a murder.The Silence aired in July 2010.

In 2011, Kirwan worked onInjustice a five-part psychological thriller on ITV written byAnthony Horowitz. She starred as Jane Travers, wife of main character, Will Travers played byJames Purefoy.

In June 2012, Kirwan appeared on screen as Alex Demoys alongsideChristopher Eccleston in the three part BBC1 drama miniseriesBlackout.^[7]

In 2018, Kirwan guest starred in one episode of Sky'sStrike Back: Retribution. She played Rachel Sheridan who helped design Guantanamo and may have built the black site where a Jihadi leader was being held. In the same year, she also appeared in the ITV dramaStrangers (originally titledWhite Dragon) where she played the deceased wife of the titular character Jonah Mulray, played byJohn Simm.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, she appeared as a guest star in long-running BBC seriesSilent Witness playing the role of pathologist Amanda Long. In 2020, she appeared on Netflix miniseriesThe Stranger as Corinne Price.^[8]

In 2020, Kirwan began work on the Irishthriller seriesSmother, forRTÉ Television. Production began in early 2020 but was halted in mid-March, due to the introduction ofCOVID-19 restrictions in Ireland. It recommenced in August 2020 and finished in late October. The series, set and filmed inCounty Clare, Ireland, debuted onRTÉ One andRTÉ Player in early March 2021.^[9] The series was broadcast in the UK onAlibi in autumn 2021.^[10]

At the age of sixteen, Kirwan moved to London when she was cast in a play at theBush Theatre. She won acclaim in 1988 for her performance as the factory girl Linda inA Handful of Stars, the Bush Theatre premiere of the first play inBilly Roche'sWexford Trilogy. In 1992, again at the Bush, she starred in a revival of the complete trilogy.

In 1991, she appeared in the playWater Music at theCockpit Theatre, written by award-winning playwright Lyndon Morgans (singer-songwriter with the Welshfolk noir bandSongdog). In 1992, she also starred inHush byApril De Angelis at theRoyal Court Theatre, while January 1994 found her playing inPeter Hall's seasonal production ofGeorges Feydeau's farceAn Absolute Turkey at theGlobe Theatre.

In 2001, she appeared in a stage production ofDangerous Corner byJB Priestley inLeeds alongsideRupert Penry-Jones, to whom she is now married. Kirwan again appeared on stage with Penry-Jones inLes Liaisons Dangereuses at theBristol Old Vic directed bySamuel West in 2003.

In 2005, she appeared on the Lyttelton stage at theNational Theatre in the role of Alice inBrian Friel'sAristocrats. In 2006, she played Bertha inExiles at the National Theatre.

In 2007, she appeared on stage inHarold Pinter'sBetrayal at theDonmar Warehouse.^[11]

From April to May 2012, Kirwan appeared on stage at theChichester Festival Theatre in aJeremy Herrin production ofUncle Vanya. Kirwan played Sonya alongside an exceptional cast which includedRoger Allam (as Vanya),Timothy West andLara Pulver. The play received warm reviews and response to Kirwan's performance was generally positive.^[12]

In April 2013, Kirwan was cast as Valerie inJosie Rourke's revival ofThe Weir byConor McPherson at theDonmar Warehouse. Kirwan appeared alongsideBrian Cox,Ardal O'Hanlon, Risteard Cooper and Peter McDonald. Critics lauded the play and gave it four- and five-star ratings.^[13]The Weir later transferred to the West End, playing atWyndham's Theatre from January 2014 to April 2014.

In late 2014, Kirwan made her second stint at theChichester Festival Theatre as Frankie inFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, a play byTerrence McNally about the relationship between waitress, Frankie and short-order cook, Johnny played byNeil Stuke. It was warmly received by critics who gave mostly four-star reviews. It ran from November 2014 to December 2014 at the Minerva theatre.

She appeared on stage in theChichester Festival Theatre production ofKing Lear in 2017, directed by Jonathan Munby, where she playedGoneril toIan McKellen's Lear.^[14]

In 1998, she starred alongsideChristopher Eccleston in theMichael Winterbottom filmWith or Without You as Belfast girl Rosie Boyd. In 2004, Kirwan starred inSchool for Seduction, which also starredKelly Brook. In 2009, Kirwan appeared in the Irish filmOndine alongsideColin Farrell andStephen Rea. She played Maura, the alcoholic bitter ex-girlfriend of Farrell's character, Syracuse.

In 2007, Kirwan began filming the fantasy filmLuna byDave McKean, starring alongsideBen Daniels,Stephanie Leonidas andMichael Maloney.^[15] However, due to budget setbacks, filming did not resume until 2011 and was finally completed in 2013. It premiered at theToronto International Film Festival in 2014.^[16] The film was positively received by critics and Kirwan's performance was highly praised.^[17][18]Luna was awarded the Best British Film at the 2014Raindance Film Festival.^[19]

She also starred in an independent thriller,Entity as Ruth Peacock.^[20] The film premiered in 2013 at selected cinemas and DVD and won Best Horror film at the London Independent Film Festival 2013.

In 2016, she starred as the violent and cruel crime boss Ed inBranko Tomović's directorial debutRed.

In 2017, Kirwan appeared in the filmInterlude in Prague, taking on the role of Frau Lubtak alongsideAdrian Edmondson andMorfydd Clark.

In 1997, Kirwan sang withDustin the Turkey on his cover of "Fairytale of New York" for his albumFaith of Our Feathers. She provided the voiceovers for the "This is not just food" television advertising campaign for UK retailerMarks & Spencer and also a string of three UKpublic information films about goodfood hygiene for theFood Standards Agency.

In 2007, Kirwan married actorRupert Penry-Jones^[11] after a four-year engagement. They have two children. They met in 2001 while working on stage together in aWest Yorkshire Playhouse,Leeds, production ofJB Priestley'sDangerous Corner, when he played Robert Caplan to her Olwen Peel. Kirwan again appeared on stage with Penry-Jones inLes Liaisons Dangereuses in 2003. They also both appeared in the television showCasanova in 2005, although they did not share any scenes.

She was previously engaged to herBallykissangel co-starStephen Tompkinson in 1998.^{[citation needed]}

• Dervla Kirwan atIMDb
• "Dervla Kirwan: whirling Dervla" (actor profile)

• 1971 births
• Living people
• Collins family (Ireland)
• Irish film actresses
• Irish people of Polish-Jewish descent
• Irish television actresses
• People from Churchtown, Dublin
• 20th-century Irish actresses
• 21st-century Irish actresses

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