Aisling Walsh
Walsh atBerlinale in 2017
Born	1958 (age 66–67) Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
Occupation(s)	director, screenwriter
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Dermot Ryan 1980-2018 (his death)

Aisling Walsh (born 1958) is an Irish screenwriter and director. Her work has screened at festivals around the world and she has won several accolades, including aBAFTA TV Award forRoom at the Top (2012) as well as anIrish Film and Television Award and aCanadian Screen Award for her direction ofMaudie (2016).^[1][2] She is known for her "unflinching honest portrayals of aCatholic Irish society".^[3]

She was born inDublin, Ireland to Raphael Walsh, a furniture designer and manufacturer fromNavan, County Meath. In 1975, when Walsh was 16, she began studies at theDún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dublin.^[4] She then continued her education atThe National Film School inBeaconsfield, England, where one of her main influences wasBill Douglas, a Scottish filmmaker who tutored at the school.^[5] She later settled in London.^[6]

In 1985, Walsh wrote and directed her first short film,Hostage.^[7] Her feature filmdirectorial debut wasJoyriders (1989). She then transitioned into television work throughout the 1990s,^[8] including episodes ofThe Bill (1991–1994),Doctor Finlay (1993),Roughnecks (1995), andTrial & Retribution (1997–2002).^[8][9]

In 2003, she wrote and directed her second feature film,Song for a Raggy Boy, which won multiple awards at international film festivals,^[10] including Best Film at theCopenhagen International Film Festival.^[11] Her third feature,The Daisy Chain, a horror-thriller film, was released in 2008.^[12]

Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Walsh also continued working in television, directing series and television films such as theBAFTA TV Award-nominatedFingersmith (2005); theBBC One filmSinners (2007);^[13]The Fifth Woman, a feature-length episode of theBBC seriesWallander, starringKenneth Branagh (2010); andRoom at the Top (2012), which earned her aBAFTA TV Award in 2013 for Best Mini-Series.^[2]

In 2014, she directedA Poet in New York, exploring howWelsh poetDylan Thomas died in New York at the age of 39.^[14] The film marked the centenary of Thomas' birth on 27 October 1914.^[15]

Her fourth feature film, the biographical filmMaudie (2016) about Canadian folk artistMaud Lewis,^[16] premiered at theTelluride Film Festival.^[17] As someone who studied painting herself,^[8] Walsh was drawn to the simplicity and beauty in Lewis's work.^[18] The film received positive reviews from critics.^[19]The Japan Times called it "an unabashedly intimate portrait of a remarkable woman".^[20] It was aNew York Times Critic's Pick; in her review,Manohla Dargis criticized the film's tone and score, but commended the performances and direction.^[21]

For her work onMaudie, Walsh won aCanadian Screen Award forBest Director; the film won a total of seven awards at the6th annual ceremony in 2018.^[22] Walsh also won the award for Best Director at the 15th annualIrish Film and Television Awards in 2018.^[23]

• Aisling Walsh atIMDb

• 1958 births
• Living people
• Irish film directors
• Irish women film directors
• Irish television directors
• Best Director Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
• Alumni of Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
• Alumni of the National Film and Television School
• Women television directors
• Irish screenwriters
• Irish women screenwriters
• 20th-century Irish screenwriters
• 20th-century Irish writers
• 20th-century Irish women writers
• 21st-century Irish screenwriters
• 21st-century Irish writers
• 21st-century Irish women writers

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