Deirdre Donnelly
Deirdre trained with the Abbey Theatre School of Acting before becoming a member of
the company. Throughout her extensive career, she has played leading roles in plays
by Friel, Murphy, McGuinness, Beckett, O’Casey, Wilde, Miller, Albee, Chekov,
Turgenev, Lorca, Goldsmith, Shakespeare and Pinter, as well as in the premieres of
many new, contemporary Irish plays. She has been a vivid presence in Irish theatre
over many years, in conjunction with having a wealth of experience in film and
television. She played the well-loved character of Siobhan the vet in six seasons of the
BBC’s BALLYKISSANGEL series and has, in recent times, worked with director Shane
Meadows on his critically acclaimed tv series THE VIRTUES. In addition, she is a skilled
and accomplished voiceover artist, recording voice-tracks on documentaries, radio and
television commercials, audio-books and in-house presentations.
Her most recent work has been a one-woman performance in DEAR IRELAND - a
series of online monologues by the Abbey Theatre during the Covid lockdown. She has
also completed filming on BARBER, a crime movie set in Dublin, starring Aidan Gillen.
In addition, she has been narrating a story-scape written by singer/song-writer Mick
Flannery to accompany the filming of his album I OWN YOU at the Spirit Store. This
follows on from her performance in Mick Flannery’s EVENING TRAIN which saw the
transformation of his album of the same name into a fully-staged theatre production, to
great acclaim.
Most Recent Theatre Credits:
Mary in A LETTER TO THE MANAGER (Dear Ireland project, Abbey Theatre online)
Kathleen in EVENING TRAIN (Everyman Palace Theatre)
Magdalene in DONEGAL (Abbey Theatre)
Lady Bracknell in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Gate Theatre and
Spoleto Arts Festival, Charleston)
Lady Catherine de Burgh in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Gate Theatre and Hong Kong
Arts Festival)
Breda in SHUSH (Abbey Theatre)
Lady Caroline Pontefract in A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (Gate Theatre)
Dorothy in BOOKWORMS (Abbey Theatre)
Aunt March in LITTLE WOMEN (Gate Theatre)
Marie in NUTS AND BOLTS (Bewley’s Cafe Theatre and Viking Theatre)
Linda Loman in DEATH OF A SALESMAN (Gate Theatre)
Madame de Rosemonde in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (Gate Theatre)
Lady Markby in AN IDEAL HUSBAND (Abbey Theatre)
Rebecca Nurse in THE CRUCIBLE (Abbey Theatre)
Anna Semyonovna in A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY (Abbey Theatre)
Mother in A DREAM OF AUTUMN, Project Theatre (Best Supporting Actress
nomination, Irish Times Theatre Awards)
Most Recent film and television credits:
Lily Dunne in BARBER (Fubar Films)
Miriam in RIALTO (Cowtown Pictures)
Woman in THE WOMAN ON THE HILL (Zanzibar Films)
Justice Laffoy in THE LONELY BATTLE OF THOMAS REID (Park Films)
Bertha in THE FERRY (Media Factory) (Best supporting actress Antwerp Film Festival
2020)
Mo Dennings in BRASSIC (Sky)
Susan in THE VIRTUES (Warp Films/Channel 4)
Judge O’Sullivan in STRIKING OUT (Blinder Films/RTE)
Kathleen in GOODBYE, DARLING (Fantastic Films)
Mrs. Townsend in THE FRANKENSTEIN CHRONICLES (Rainmark Films/ITV)
Sr. Dominic in QUIRKE (Element Films/BBC)
Terence’s mother in AMBER (Screenworks/RTE)
Miss Lacey in CRACKS (Handmade Films)
Carol in THE CLINIC (Parallel Films/RTE)
Bernie in LEGEND (Icebox Films/RTE)
Siobhan in BALLYKISSANGEL (World Productions/BBC)
Deirdre holds a first-class M.A in Modern Drama Studies from U.C.D. She is based in
Dublin.
Link to Voice Clips: https://SoundCloud.com/deirdredonnelly4vo