Niamh McGrady (born 4 October 1982) is a film, stage and television actress from Castlewellan, County Down,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. She is best known for her parts as

Mary-Claire Carter Mary-Claire Carter is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama ''Holby City'', played by actress Niamh McGrady. She first appeared in the eleventh series episode "Spin", broadcast on 22 September 2009. The character was introduced by Ton ...

in '' Holby City'' and PC Danielle Ferrington in the psychological thriller '' The Fall''.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Castlewellan, County Down, she attended Assumption Grammar School,

Ballynahinch, County Down Ballynahinch () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 5,703 people in the 2011 Census. Ballynahinch was traditionally a market town, although the market still takes place in the square every Thursday. The town lie ...

. From age 18 she trained at the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

Career

After landing a role in Summer 2003 in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on graduation she joined a Welsh production of '' Romeo and Juliet'' and then

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, before moving to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for Northern Irish playwright Lisa McGee's production of ''Girls & Dolls''. McGrady then featured in a production of the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play '' Macbeth'', starring

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...

. After a critically acclaimed run in London's West End, it then relocated to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 2008. On return to London, she made her television début in the

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

biopic '' Best: His Mother's Son'' in 2009, but her part was eventually removed in the cutting room. Shortly afterwards she joined the cast of '' Holby City'' as a cast semi-regular, in the role of nurse

. After appearing in many short independent films through mainly uncredited roles, she was cast in the crime drama television series ''The Fall'', based in Northern Ireland, alongside

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film '' The House of Mirt ...

and

Jamie Dornan James Peter Maxwell Dornan (; born 1 May 1982) is an actor, model and musician from Northern Ireland. Formerly a character actor, he often portrays solemn, steady characters. The recipient of two Irish Film and Television Awards, he has been n ...

. She rejoined the cast of ''Holby City'' in 2013 as a regular cast member, after which she gave-up her part-time waitressing and bar jobs.''Legend of The Fall'', The Sunday Times, 2 December 2014 However, in early 2015, McGrady left '' Holby City'' to coincide with the departure of

Jules Knight Julian "Jules" Knight (né Kaye; born 22 September 1981) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for being a member of the British vocal group Blake and his portrayal of Harry Tressler in the medical drama '' Holby City''. He left Blak ...

and their departure scenes aired in April 2015.

Filmography

Television

Film

Stage

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrady, Niamh 1983 births Living people People from County Down Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Stage actresses from Northern Ireland Television actresses from Northern Ireland 20th-century Irish actresses 21st-century Irish actresses Shakespearean actresses from Northern Ireland