45 Facts About Dervla Kirwan

Dervla Kirwan was born on 24 October 1971 and is an Irish actress.

Dervla Kirwan has received a number of accolades, including two IFTA Awards for her performances in the film Ondine and the RTE thriller series Smother respectively.

Dervla Kirwan guest starred in the Doctor Who Christmas special "The Next Doctor".

Dervla Kirwan's father, Peter Kirwan, was an insurance broker, and her mother, Maureen O'Driscoll, was a language teacher.

Dervla Kirwan attended Loreto Beaufort in Rathfarnham, Dublin, a Catholic school for girls, until the age of 16, when she was asked to leave as her career as an actress started to progress.

Dervla Kirwan completed secondary school at the now-defunct non-denominational Sandymount High School in Dublin.

Dervla Kirwan's great-grandmother was Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll, sister of Irish nationalist leader Michael Collins.

Dervla Kirwan's paternal grandfather, Henry Kahn, was a Polish Jewish immigrant who had married her grandmother, Teresa O'Shea, a Catholic, in Ireland.

Dervla Kirwan's first credited TV roles were in the TV series Troubles in 1988 and The Lilac Bus in 1990 alongside Stephanie Beacham based on Maeve Binchy's novel.

Dervla Kirwan briefly appeared in Casualty, and in the first three seasons of Goodnight Sweetheart alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Dervla Kirwan reprised this role for a Comic Relief special of The Vicar of Dibley, and for a Father Ted special.

Dervla Kirwan played the single mother of two girls who are made homeless a few days before Christmas.

Dervla Kirwan starred in the Sky TV series The Bombmaker as a former IRA bomb maker.

Dervla Kirwan appeared in the BBC 1 crime drama series 55 Degrees North with Don Gilet, which aired in 2004.

Dervla Kirwan appeared as the villain Miss Mercy Hartigan in The Next Doctor, the 2008 Christmas special of Doctor Who.

In 2009, Dervla Kirwan was in the BBC drama Moving On, in the episode Dress To Impress.

Dervla Kirwan appeared in the BBC drama series Material Girl, which aired in January 2010.

Dervla Kirwan was cast in the role of Bundle in Agatha Christie's Marple.

Dervla Kirwan appeared in the four-part BBC drama The Silence in 2010.

Dervla Kirwan played the role of Maggie, the warm-hearted aunt of a young deaf girl who witnessed a murder.

In 2011, Dervla Kirwan worked on Injustice a five-part psychological thriller on ITV written by Anthony Horowitz.

Dervla Kirwan starred as Jane Travers, wife of main character, Will Travers.

In June 2012, Dervla Kirwan appeared on screen as Alex Demoys in the three part BBC1 drama miniseries Blackout.

In 2018, Dervla Kirwan guest starred in one episode of Sky's Strike Back: Retribution.

In 2020, Dervla Kirwan began work on the Irish thriller series Smother, for RTE Television.

At the age of sixteen, Dervla Kirwan moved to London when she was cast in a play at the Bush Theatre.

Dervla Kirwan won acclaim in 1988 for her performance as the factory girl Linda in A Handful of Stars, the Bush Theatre premiere of the first play in Billy Roche's Wexford Trilogy.

Dervla Kirwan again appeared on stage with Penry-Jones in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Bristol Old Vic directed by Samuel West in 2003.

From April to May 2012, Dervla Kirwan appeared on stage at the Chichester Festival Theatre in a Jeremy Herrin production of Uncle Vanya.

Dervla Kirwan played Sonya alongside an exceptional cast which included Roger Allam, Timothy West and Lara Pulver.

The play received warm reviews and response to Dervla Kirwan's performance was generally positive.

Dervla Kirwan appeared alongside Brian Cox, Ardal O'Hanlon, Risteard Cooper and Peter McDonald.

In late 2014, Dervla Kirwan made her second stint at the Chichester Festival Theatre as Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, a play by Terrence McNally about the relationship between waitress, Frankie and short-order cook, Johnny played by Neil Stuke.

Dervla Kirwan appeared on stage in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of King Lear in 2017, directed by Jonathan Munby, where she played Goneril to Ian McKellen's Lear.

In 2004, Dervla Kirwan starred in School for Seduction, which starred Kelly Brook.

In 2009, Dervla Kirwan appeared in the Irish film Ondine alongside Colin Farrell and Stephen Rea.

Dervla Kirwan played Maura, the alcoholic bitter ex-girlfriend of Farrell's character, Syracuse.

In 2007, Dervla Kirwan began filming the fantasy film Luna by Dave McKean, starring alongside Ben Daniels, Stephanie Leonidas and Michael Maloney.

The film was positively received by critics and Dervla Kirwan's performance was highly praised.

Dervla Kirwan starred in an independent thriller, Entity as Ruth Peacock.

In 2017, Dervla Kirwan appeared in the film Interlude in Prague, taking on the role of Frau Lubtak alongside Adrian Edmondson and Morfydd Clark.

In 1997, Dervla Kirwan sang with Dustin the Turkey on his cover of "Fairytale of New York" for his album Faith of Our Feathers.

In 2007, Dervla Kirwan married actor Rupert Penry-Jones after a four-year engagement.

Dervla Kirwan again appeared on stage with Penry-Jones in Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 2003.

Dervla Kirwan was previously engaged to her Ballykissangel co-star Stephen Tompkinson in 1998.