Advanced search

Paul Mescal is an Irish actor. He is known for his leading role in the miniseries Normal People, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Before starting acting, he was an under-21 Gaelic footballer for County Kildare and a member of Maynooth Football Club. He plays as a defender. His former coach Cian O'Neill described Paul Mescal as "very mature for someone so young. Physically, he was very strong. He was an exceptional scorer." Following a jaw injury, Paul was forced to give up Gaelic football.

In 2017, he graduated with a BA in Arts from Trinity College University in Dublin.

In 2019, he began his acting career with an appearance in a pilot episode of the television series Bump.

In 2020, Paul Mescal landed his first leading roles. He plays Connell Waldron in the series Normal People alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and plays Sean McKeogh in the series The Deceived.

In 2021, Paul Mescal stars in his first feature film, The Lost Daughter by Maggie Gyllenhaal, in the role of an Irish beach attendant working in Greece.

In 2023, he was nominated in the Best Actor category at the Oscars for his leading role in the feature film Aftersun by Charlotte Wells. He landed the lead role in Gladiator 2 by Ridley Scott, filming of which is due to begin in June 2023.

Aisling Bea is an actor, stand-up comedian, and writer from Ireland. In 2020 she won a BAFTA for Breakthrough Talent for her television series This Way Up, in which she also starred. In 2014 she won the British Comedy Award for Best Female TV Comedian. She trained at LAMDA (The London Academy for Music and Dramatic Art). In 2012 she won the Gilded Balloon So You Think You're Funny? stand-up competition; she was the first woman to win it in 20 years.

Damien Molony is an actor of stage, TV and film, best known for his television roles as Hal in BBC 'Being Human', DC Albert Flight in BBC 'Ripper Street', DS Jack Weston in 'Suspects' and Jon in 'GameFace'. He grew up in Johnstown Bridge in Kildare, Ireland, where he was born on February 21 1984 but now lives in London, UK. From 2003 to 2007 he attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he obtained a degree in Business and Political Science and began his acting career in 2007 touring Ireland with the Balally Players in 'Riders to the Sea', for which he was nominated as best actor in the One Act Drama Festival. In 2008 he also appeared with the Kildare Youth Theatre in their production 'A Vampire Story.'

Damien attended Drama Centre London 2008-2011, graduating with a BA in acting. While at drama school he performed in several theatre productions and played the male lead in award winning film short 'When The Hurlburly's Done'.

After being spotted in his drama showcase, he was offered the part of Giovanni in John Ford play ''Tis Pity She's a Whore', which ran 7 - 28 May 2011 at the Yorkshire Playhouse. While appearing in the play, he auditioned for and landed his first leading television role in BBC supernatural drama 'Being Human'. Molony appeared in every episode of series 4 in 2012 and series 5 in 2013 as Hal Yorke, an over 500 year old vampire.

In 2012, Damien played the lead in National Theatre production 'Travelling Light', performing as two characters, Motl Mendl and Nate, in a 5 month tour across the UK and a worldwide cinema broadcast with National Theatre Live.

His stage career has gone from strength to strength ever since, appearing in one high profile theatre production after another, including Jason/Workman/Ray in Ander's Lustgarten's politically charged 'If You Don't Let Us Dream We, Won't Let You Sleep' at The Royal Court Theatre, London, 15 February - 9 March 2013 and as Dan O'Brien and multiple roles alongside William Gaminara in 'The Body Of An American' at the Gate Theatre, London 6 January - 8 February and the Royal & Derngate 27 February - 8 March 2014.

Damien returned to the National Theatre in 2015 when he played Spike in Tom Stoppard play 'The Hard Problem' from 28 January - 17 May 2015. The play was also broadcast live to cinemas across the world by NT Live.

Damien's television slate grew when he joined the cast of Victorian BBC drama 'Ripper Street' in Series 2, as Irish Detective Constable Albert Flight. He appeared in 7 of 8 episodes, airing 4 November - 16 December 2013 on BBC One UK and 22 February - 12 April 2014 on BBC America, US. The drama is set in Whitechapel London, in the period immediately following the Jack the Ripper murders.

Molony then landed the role of Detective Sergeant Jack Weston in Channel 5's innovative crime procedural 'Suspects'. Weston is described as having 'killer instinct', 'easy charm' and 'emotional intelligence'. The drama is shot in a documentary style, using fly-on-the-wall filming techniques and the actors improvise the dialogue based on a detailed plot description. Series 1 comprised five episodes, airing 12 February - 12 March 2014, series 2 comprised four episodes, airing 20 - 28 August 2014, Series 3 comprised four episodes, airing 13 -21 January 2015, series 4 comprised four episodes airing 25 November - 16 December 2015. The fifth series aired 2 - 31 August 2016 on Channel 5 UK, featuring a new cast line up, a development to the show's format and Damien's character Jack Weston central to the story line. All five series of 'Suspects' have also reached US audiences via Acorn TV.

Damien's first appearance on Irish TV came in new drama 'Clean Break', playing Danny Dempsey on Irish channel RTÉ One, Autumn 2015.

In the same year he also filmed a TV pilot for Jenji Kohan period drama 'The Devil You Know' playing Robert Putnam, alongside Eddie Izzard. The story is set in 17th century New England and focuses on the Salem witch trials. The pilot is yet to air.

Molony made his big screen debut playing Ross in dark comedy feature film 'Kill Your Friends' alongside Nicolas Hoult. The film toured the international film festival circuit and had a UK release in 2015.

In January 2016 Damien appeared in a new TV role as Anthony in Phoebe Waller- Bridge penned 'Crashing'. The first series of the quirky comedy sitcom was well received by UK and international audiences when it landed on Netflix across the world later in the year.

His second feature film, the dark thriller 'Tiger Raid', world premiered at Tribeca International Film festival 17 April 2016, with a UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 25 June and a UK release 17 October. Damien plays the character Paddy and appears as co-lead alongside Brian Gleeson and Sofia Boutella.

For the latter half of 2016 Damien made a big return to the stage in Sean Mathias's award-winning, record-breaking production of Harold Pinter play 'No Mans Land' . He appeared as the character Foster, alongside Sir Ian McKellen (Spooner), Sir Patrick Stewart (Hirst) and Owen Teale (Briggs). The play toured the UK (Sheffield Lyceum Theatre 3- 13 August, Newcastle Theatre Royal 15 - 20 August, Brighton Theatre Royal 22 - 27 August, Cardiff New Theatre 29 August - 3 September) before a run at Wyndham's Theatre London 8 September - 17 December . A worldwide live cinema broadcast 15 December saw Damien in his third National Theatre Live performance, with encore screenings continuing in 2017.

'The Current War', a biographical historical film about the 'war of currents' between electrical pioneers Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), world premiered at Toronto International Film Festival September 2017, with Molony appearing as the character Bourke Cockran. After a long delay due to the Weinstein scandal, the film was eventually released worldwide in the second half of 2019.

Damien was also back on stage in September 2017 in 'King Lear' at Chichester Festival Theatre, appearing with Ian McKellen (in the titular role) for the second time.

In his next TV role, Damien starred alongside Roisin Conaty in her new comedy series 'GameFace', airing on UK TV 12 October to 9 November 2017, shortly followed by releases on international VoD platforms in the US, Australia and new Zealand. The show was renewed for a second series in 2018, airing in the UK on Channel 4 from 17 July 2019.

2018 saw Molony in four major BBC Radio productions, as Giovanni in a BBC Radio 3 adaption of John Ford play ''Tis Pity She's A Whore' , as Tristan Frey in BBC Radio 3's production of award winning play 'The Effect' by Lucy Prebble, as Judas in a week long BBC Radio 4 Easter drama 'Judas' by Lucy Gannon and as Hardy Walsh in BBC Radio 4 serial World War 1 drama 'Home Front'.

In October 2018 Damien starred in his first ever web series 'Right Now', Rob Cawsey's new comedy based on Grindr hook-ups.

Also in 2018, Molony joined the cast of new Sky comedy drama 'Brassic', as the character Dylan, alongside Michelle Keegan and Joe Gilgun. The first series of the comedy, co-created and written by Danny Brocklehurst and Gilgun premiered 22 August 2019 in the UK, series 2 was announced on the same day.

In 2019 Damien also starred in two short films; the animated stop motion 'The Fabric Of You', voicing the character Michael, alongside Ian Glenn as Isaac, which premiered at Edinburgh Film Festival, and 'Keep Breathing', inspired by the 'Me Too' movement, alongside Emmeline Hartley. Both films had a worldwide release online in 2021.

The same year Damien was announced as cast in the second series of BBC / Sister legal drama 'The Split' as new character Tyler Donaghue. The series aired in the UK 11 May 2020 on BBC One and 15 May 2020 in The US on SundanceTV.

Also in May 2020 Damien appeared in the second series of 'Brassic' in the UK, with series 3 announced before the premiere. Filming for 'Brassic' 3 was delayed due to the pandemic, and is due for a release in the UK on 6 October 2021, with a longer 8 episode series.

A month later, 'The Split' series 3 was announced as the final series of the legal drama, with Damien confirmed to reprise his role as Tyler Donaghue. Production began in June 2021.

July 2021 brought news of Damien being cast in Channel 4 drama anthology series 'On The Edge', he will appear in the third series in a film called 'Cradled', described as a "gut-wrenching horror".

Olwen Catherine Kelly was born in Ireland on 30 March 1987. She is primarily a model but is also an actress, most famous for playing Jane Doe in the film Autopsy of Jane Doe. Olwen is married with one daughter.

Kelly, the eldest of five siblings - a sister and brother, and then two brothers who grew up separately - grew up in Celbridge. Her mother, a teacher, was a singer in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe was just her second part as an actress since studying biology in Maynooth - Kelly had worked in retail and then as a model, mostly in London. Her agent put her up for the part, despite her not having many acting credits, and the director told her that after they met - she was the first person he saw for the part - he knew he would cast her.

Her modelling career has seen her work with big high-street names, Next and TK Maxx, as well as numerous publications. The part would require two things that would challenge most actresses - nudity throughout, and maintaining the stillness of a corpse.

After The Autopsy of Jane Doe, she decided to take acting lessons before any further auditions.

Before the The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Olwen had a part in Patrick Ryan's Darkness on the Edge of Town. Her first acting role, it came about after she responded to an ad on Gumtree.

Devon Murray was born in County Kildare, Ireland in October 1988. His parents Michael and Fidelma Murray sent him to the Billie Barry when he was six, and within two weeks he landed a Tesco television ad. Within six months he was in his first movie, acting alongside Aidan Quinn in This Is My Father (1998). He then joined the National Performing Arts School and made his breakthrough in Angela's Ashes (1999). He also acted with Jane Seymour in Yesterday's Children (2000).

He now plays Seamus Finnigan (one of Harry's Gryffindor House friends) in the much-hyped Harry Potter series. Devon is an only child and now lives in Celbridge, County Kildare (Ireland). He has horses, and enjoys riding them, as well as rollerblading, skateboarding and playing on his computer.

The second in a family of ten, his father Henry farmed at Kilkea. His mother Henrietta was descended from the Fitzmaurices, a family which had been in Kerry since the Norman times in the 13th century. In 1880 when Ernest was six his father gave up farming and went to Trinity College Dublin, and qualified to be a doctor. The family lived at 35 Marlborough Road in Dublin and in 1884 they moved to Sydenham in South London where Henry practiced for 30 years.

After attending school at Dulwich College as a day boy Ernest, aged 16, joined the Merchant Navy. After 10 years he gave that up and joined a British Expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott to try and be the first to reach the South Pole. In the summer of 1901 the ship , The Discovery departed for the Antarctic. On 30th December 1902 Scott, Shackleton and Edward Wilson FZS ("Uncle Bill") reached within 400 miles of the South Pole, the furthest South yet achieved by anybody. Shackleton was invalided on the return journey and was sent home early. His experience on this expedition then spurred Shackleton on, to have a go at reaching the South Pole himself. In 1904 after his return he married Emily Dorman, they had three children Raymond, Cecily and Edward.

Next came the Nimrod expedition. In March 1907 Shackleton outlined his own trip, which he organized himself with the minimum of official support. The Expedition was to leave New Zealand in 1908. The ship chosen was a sealing ship which generally worked from Newfoundland. It was brought down and arrived in London in mid-June 1907. The Queen presented Shackleton with a Union Jack to carry on the sledge journey. They ship left for New Zealand on the 7th of August. The Commonwealth Government gave Shackleton £5000 and the New Zealand Government gave him £1000 and agreed to pay for half of the cost of towing the ship down to the Antarctic Circle to save coal for the journey that lay ahead. They entered the Ross Sea on January 16th. On the 28th of January the ship froze in the ice. The next day they lowered the motorcar onto the ice pack, the first automobile on the Antarctic Continent. The team set up the hut they had brought with them and the men crammed in. The weather began to close in and the sun to set. On the 29th of October 1908 Shackleton, Adams, Marshall and Frank Wild headed for the South Pole, a 1700 mile round trip. The other men had set up many depots for the journey using the motorcar for several of them. The team began to run low on rations shot the ponies for food. On the 9th of January 1909 they reached a new furthest south - just 97 miles from the South Pole. They had to turn around due to lack of food.

After the Norwegian Roald Amundsen (December 1911) and Scott (January 1912) had reached the South Pole, Shackleton thought up and attempted to carry out another great plan - to cross the 2000 mile Antarctic continent. This trip was a very successful failure. The team of 28 men and 68 dogs never set foot on the continent. Shackleton's ship the "Endurance" was trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea for 11 months, from January 1915 until it was squashed and sank in November 1915, leaving 28 men on the ice with 3 small ship's boats. They then spent 5 ( admittedly summer) months on an iceberg floating away from the continent. With great good fortune they landed on Elephant Island on the 15th of April 1916. It is a small godforsaken island of rock and ice with a few penguins and seals for food. So there they were in April 1916, lost to the civilized world, and heading into an Antarctic winter. Losing no time Shackleton's next move was to be one of the greatest small boat journeys ever made. Shackleton and 5 others set off in the 22 foot boat the "James Caird" on an 800 mile journey across one of the roughest seas in the world to island of South Georgia to get help. Tim McCarthy first spotted South Georgia, 15 days after they had left Elephant Island. Their extraordinary journey was not yet over - to reach help, Shackleton, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley then had to cross the mountains, glaciers and snowfields of South Georgia to get to the whaling station at Stromness. Three and a half months later, at the fourth attempt, Shackleton, in a Chilean tug the "Yelcho' rescued the remaining 22 crew on Elephant Island on the 30th August 1916. It was amazing that all the crew had survived. In December Shackleton left New Zealand on the Aurora to rescue the Ross Sea Party from Cape Royds - on the other side of the Antarctic , this party had successfully laid food depots along the Ross Ice Shelf towards the South Pole. Shackleton had intended to use these as he crossed the Continent from the Weddell Sea side.

The 1921 trip on the Quest was his final journey. He died of a heart attack in the early hours of the 5th January 1922 shortly after the start of the expedition, at Grytviken in South Georgia where he was buried. A few months later on their journey home the crew of the Quest erected a cross at King Edward Point, across the bay from the cemetery where their "Boss" lies buried.

Damien Rice was born on 7 December 1973 in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. He is a composer and actor, known for Closer (2004), Stay (2005) and In Good Company (2004).

Michèle Burke was born in 1959 in Kildare Town, Co. Kildare, Ireland. She is known for The Cell (2000), Minority Report (2002) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). She is married to Michael ?.

Tony Quinn was born on 27 June 1899 in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Boys in Brown (1949), Undermind (1965) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). He was married to Rosalind Emma Murray. He died on 1 June 1967 in London, England, UK.

Mae Bruce was born on 16 November 1886 in Kildare, Ireland, UK. She is known for Show Boat (1936).

Michael O'Sullivan was born on 25 July 1955 in County Kildare, Ireland. He is an actor, known for Fallout (2006), Eireville (2002) and Some Mother's Son (1996).

Eilish Holton was born on 24 August 1988 in Donadea, County Kildare, Ireland.

Jack W. Johnston was born on 2 October 1876 in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland. He was an actor, known for The Land of Promise (1917), The Country Boy (1912) and Rob Roy (1913). He died on 29 July 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Brian Dowling was born on 13 June 1978 in Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland.

Luka Bloom was born on 23 May 1955 in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland. He is a composer, known for The Last Word (1995), Maze (2000) and Who is Martin Danzig? (2018).

Mick Foster was born in December 1947 in Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare, Ireland. He is an actor, known for Mortdecai (2015), Penguins of Madagascar (2014) and September Babies (2024).

Liam O'Flynn was born on 15 April 1945 in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. He is known for The Field (1990), Driftwood (1997) and Kidnapped (1978). He was married to Jane Nightingale. He died on 14 March 2018 in Ireland.

Ray D'Arcy was born on 1 September 1964 in Kildare Town, Co. Kildare, Ireland. He is an actor, known for You're a Star (2002), Karl Spain Wants a Woman (2005) and When Dreams Come True (2005).

Molly Keane was born on 4 July 1904 in Ballyrankin, County Kildare, Ireland. She was a writer, known for Three Wise Brides (1941), Treasure Hunt (1952) and Good Behaviour (1983). She was married to Robert Keane. She died on 22 April 1996 in Ardmore, County Waterford, Ireland.

Katie Holton was born on 24 August 1988 in Donadea, County Kildare, Ireland. She died on 4 April 1992 in Donadea, County Kildare, Ireland.

Claire Walsh was born in County Kildare, Ireland.

Aidan Higgins was born on 3 March 1927 in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. He was a writer, known for Langrishe, Go Down (1978) and BBC2 Play of the Week (1977). He was married to Alannah Hopkin. He died on 27 December 2015 in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland.

Andy Lyons was born in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland.

Shergar was born on 3 March 1978 in Kildare, Ireland.

Maura Laverty was born on 15 May 1907 in Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland. Maura was a writer, known for Tolka Row (1964) and Tolka Row (1959). Maura was married to Seamus James Laverty. Maura died on 26 July 1966 in Dublin, Ireland.