Screen, Stage, Page and Media Class Acts

DEIRDRE KINAHAN

BA English and History 1988, HDipEd 1989, MA Modern Drama Studies 1999

Deirdre Kinahan’s latest play, ‘Outrage’, produced by the Olivier Award-winning internationally acclaimed Irish theatre company Fishamble, ran in March and April 2022, as the final part of her Irish Revolutionary trilogy, following ‘Wild Sky’ and ‘Embargo’. The play explored the nature of women’s role in the Irish revolutionary wars and received rave reviews. Kinahan is a member of Aosdána.

MARIAN KEYES

BCL 1984 In May 2022,

Marian Keyes was named Author of the Year at the British Book Awards, in addition to her Author of the Year win at the An Post Irish Book Awards in November 2021. Keyes has published 15 novels, most recently Again, Rachel, published in February 2022. One of the most successful Irish authors, Keyes’ warm, witty books have sold over 35 million copies worldwide. She has also played an active role in encouraging and mentoring young writers

JAMIE O’CONNELL

MA Creative Writing 2009, MFA Creative Writing 2015

Jamie O’Connell released his debut novel, Diving for Pearls, in June 2021. The novel, which follows the stories of several characters linked to a death against the backdrop of glamorous but gritty Dubai, won a prize at Listowel Writers Week in 2022. O’Connell’s short stories have been highly commended by the Costa Short Story Award, with one winning the An Post Irish Book Award Short Story of the Year.

GABRIEL BYRNE

BA Archaeology, Irish and Spanish 1972, HDipEd 1973

In January 2022, Tony award-nominated actor Gabriel Byrne premiered his critically acclaimed solo show, ‘Walking with Ghosts’, at the Gaiety Theatre. Adapted from his bestselling memoirs, the one-man show reflects Byrne’s life’s journey, from Dublin childhood to Hollywood stardom. Following a run at the National Opera House in Wexford, ‘Walking with Ghosts’ will make its West End debut in September.

KEVIN POWER

BA English 2002, MA 2003, PhD American Literature 2014

Following the success of his debut novel, Bad Day in Blackrock, Rooney Prize-winning author Kevin Power released his second novel, White City, a satire about class entitlement, shortlisted for the An Post Eason Novel of the Year and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, in late 2021. In May 2022, Power’s book of essays and reviews, The Written World, explaining literary criticism from his own perspective as writer and critic, was published.

COLIN BARRETT

BA English 2003, MA Creative Writing 2009, MFA 2015

In March 2022, Rooney Prize-winning Colin Barrett released Homesickness, his second collection of short stories. The title of Toronto-based Barrett’s book refers to those who have stayed home in the West of Ireland, but whose resilience is challenged by mental illness, isolation and misfortune. Barrett’s work has been published in The New Statesman and The New Yorker. He released Young Skins, his award-winning debut collection of short stories, in 2013.

AINGEALA FLANNERY

MFA 2019

In June 2022, journalist and writer Aingeala Flannery released The Amusements, her debut collection of linked stories. In 2019, a story from the collection, ‘Visiting Hours’, won the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Competition. In 2020 and 2021, Flannery was awarded a Literature Bursary by the Arts Council of Ireland. Her work has been broadcast on RTÉ Radio One as part of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

JOANNE MC NALLY

BA English and Sociology 2008

Throughout 2022, writer, actor and stand-up comedian Joanne McNally is taking her 100-night sold-out tour, ‘The Prosecco Express’, across the UK and Ireland. As well as numerous TV credits, McNally is the host of the successful podcast, ‘My Therapist Ghosted Me’, with Vogue Williams. In April 2022, McNally appeared on Channel 4’s ‘The Big Fat Quiz of Everything’. She is set to release her debut book, a collection of essays, in 2023.

NIAMH CAMPBELL

BA English 2009

In February 2022, Niamh Campbell published her second novel, We Were Young. In October 2021, she won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature for debut novel, This Happy, which also received nominations for the An Post Book Awards, the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award, and the John McGahern Book Prize. Campbell won the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award for ‘Love Many’, in 2020. She has lectured in Creative Writing at UCD.

SONYA GILDEA

MA 2020

Sonya Gildea was one of ten poets selected by Poetry Ireland in September 2021 to participate in its annual Introductions Series, which offers poets in the early stages of their career the opportunity to share their work through workshops and performance. In October 2021, Gildea won the John McGahern Award and also received an Artist Literature Bursary Award and an Agility Award from the Irish Arts Council in 2021. She is currently writing her first poetry collection.

MALACHY BROWNE

BE 1997

In June 2022, ‘Day of Rage’, the New York Times documentary on the US Capitol riot, co-directed by Malachy Browne, received a Peabody Award. It was also shortlisted for Oscar consideration. In September 2021, Browne, a producer on the Visual Investigations team at the New York Times, won two Emmy Awards for his contribution to forensic reporting on the New York Times visual investigation, ‘How the Police Killed Breonna Taylor’.

SINÉAD KEENAN

BA History and Sociology 1999

It was announced in March 2022 that Fair City star Sinéad Keenan will join the cast of ITV drama series Unforgotten in a leading role. Keenan will play D.C.I. Jessica James, the partner to D.I. Sunil Khan. In April 2022, Keenan guest-starred in Series 3 of Derry Girls. Dublin-born Keenan was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 2018 and in the same year won a Royal Television Society Programme Award for her role in 2017 ITV drama series Little Boy Blue.

SHAUNAGH CONNAIRE

BComm International 2006

In June 2021, Shaunagh Connaire became Director of Communications and Media at the Clooney Foundation for Justice. In July 2021, her film Opioid Inc, was nominated for an Emmy Award. She was previously nominated for an Emmy for her PBS Frontline documentary about the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. A former editor at the Financial Times in New York, Connaire has also worked as a producer at the BBC, CNBC and Channel 4.

ÁINE NÍ BHREISLEÁIN

BA Irish and History 2007 ,MA 2011

From January to March 2022, An Cósta Thiar, the new series on TG4 presented by journalist Áine Ní Bhreisleáin, went on air for the first time. In the series, Ní Bhreisleáin travels along the west coast of Ireland to uncover the culture, challenges and benefits of living by the Atlantic Ocean, rowing with a local musician, sea swimming and foraging. Ní Bhreisleáin, who is from Gaoth Dobhair in Co. Donegal, is the presenter of Bladhaire on Raidió na Gaeltachta and of Beo ar Éigean on RTÉ Radio 1.

AUDREY MAGEE

BA French and German 1988

In February 2022, Audrey Magee released her second novel, The Colony, longlisted for the Man Booker prize. The novel reflects the tension between foreign visitors and inhabitants of an Irish-speaking island. It has been nominated for an Orwell Prize and optioned for film. Magee’s debut novel, The Undertaking, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Irish Book Awards and the Dublin Literary Award as well as the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

FINTAN O’TOOLE

BA English and Philosophy 1978

Fintan O’Toole’s latest book, We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland since 1958, was announced as the An Post Irish Book of the Year as well as Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, in December 2021. O’Toole has won the Orwell Prize for Journalism and the European Press Prize and received the UCD Alumni Award in Arts and Humanities in 2018. O’Toole is a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

COLM TÓIBÍN

BA 1975

In January 2022, Colm Tóibín was appointed Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024, following selection by an international panel. As part of his role, he will deliver talks to students in Irish universities and an annual public lecture. In March 2022, Tóibín won the Rathbones Folio Prize for his 2021 novel, The Magician. In December 2021, he won the 2021 David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín is a professor at Columbia University and Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.

SALLY HAYDEN

BCL 2012

Award-winning journalist and photographer Sally Hayden’s first book, My Fourth Time, We Drowned, published in March 2022, was a tour de force. An intimate portrait of the lives of migrants involved in the migrant crisis across North Africa, it was recently awarded the Orwell Prize for political writing for 2022. It was also shortlisted for the Michel Déon Prize, awarded by the Royal Irish Academy. Hayden received the UCD Alumni Award in Law in 2020.

JENNIFER JENNINGS

MA Cultural Policy and Arts Management 2004

THISISPOPBABY, the trailblazing theatre company co-founded by Jennifer Jennings, celebrated its 15th anniversary this year. Having recently wrapped ‘Party Scene’, a show focused on queer culture, the company will premiere ‘Wake’, in September, celebrating the power of community via Irish funerary practices. Jennings is Artistic Director-in-Residence at UCD Creative Futures Academy.

RODDY DOYLE

BA English and Geography 1979, HDipEd 1980

In October 2021, novelist, dramatist and screenwriter Roddy Doyle released his latest book, Life Without Children, a tender and humorous collection of short stories set during pandemic lockdowns. A prolific author, Doyle is a previous winner of the Booker Prize, a BAFTA Award, and an Irish Book Award. He is a Royal Society of Literature Fellow.

DEIRDRE KINAHAN

MARIAN KEYES

JAMIE O’CONNELL

GABRIEL BYRNE

KEVIN POWER

COLIN BARRETT

AINGEALA FLANNERY

JOANNE MC NALLY

NIAMH CAMPBELL

SONYA GILDEA

MALACHY BROWNE

SINÉAD KEENAN

SHAUNAGH CONNAIRE

ÁINE NÍ BHREISLEÁIN

AUDREY MAGEE

FINTAN O’TOOLE

COLM TÓIBÍN

SALLY HAYDEN

JENNIFER JENNINGS

RODDY DOYLE

DEIRDRE KINAHAN

BA English and History 1988, HDipEd 1989, MA Modern Drama Studies 1999

MARIAN KEYES

BCL 1984 In May 2022,

JAMIE O’CONNELL

MA Creative Writing 2009, MFA Creative Writing 2015

GABRIEL BYRNE

BA Archaeology, Irish and Spanish 1972, HDipEd 1973

KEVIN POWER

BA English 2002, MA 2003, PhD American Literature 2014

COLIN BARRETT

BA English 2003, MA Creative Writing 2009, MFA 2015

AINGEALA FLANNERY

MFA 2019

JOANNE MC NALLY

BA English and Sociology 2008

NIAMH CAMPBELL

BA English 2009

SONYA GILDEA

MA 2020

MALACHY BROWNE

BE 1997

SINÉAD KEENAN

BA History and Sociology 1999

SHAUNAGH CONNAIRE

BComm International 2006

ÁINE NÍ BHREISLEÁIN

BA Irish and History 2007 ,MA 2011

AUDREY MAGEE

BA French and German 1988

FINTAN O’TOOLE

BA English and Philosophy 1978

COLM TÓIBÍN

BA 1975

SALLY HAYDEN

BCL 2012

JENNIFER JENNINGS

MA Cultural Policy and Arts Management 2004

RODDY DOYLE

BA English and Geography 1979, HDipEd 1980

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