Orla Fitzgerald is an Irish actress for stage and screen for over 25 years. She received two nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Breakthrough Artist at the fourth annual

Irish Film and Television Awards Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

for her work as Sinéad Ní Shúilleabháin in

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...

's'' The Wind That Shakes the Barley''. Fitzgerald was nominated best actress in the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' Irish Theatre Awards (2013) for the role of Clare in ''Digging for Fire'', written by Declan Hughes and directed by Matt Torney for Rough Magic Theatre Company. Most recently she has been embracing her Cork heritage in the role of Orla in The Young Offenders.

Training and early career

Fitzgerald took drama classes in

Crawford Art Gallery The Crawford Art Gallery ( ga, Áiléar Crawford) is a public art gallery and museum in the city of Cork, Ireland. Known informally as the Crawford, it was designated a 'National Cultural Institution' in 2006. It is "dedicated to the visual arts ...

in Cork, placed there by her mother, who thought she was perhaps too shy. “It was a 90-minute workshop on a Saturday morning, where we did improv and plays. It was all about fun and being creative and I loved it,” the actress has said.

Selected filmography

*''Crossed Lines,'' 2001 *''Strangers in the Night,'' 2002 *'' The Wind That Shakes the Barley,'' 2006 *''Speed Dating,'' 2007 *'' The Guarantee,'' 2014

TV work

*''Love is the Drug,'' 2004 *''The Baby Wars,'' 2005 *'' The Last Furlong'', 2005 *''Holby Blue,'' 2008 *''Pure Mule: The Last Weekend,'' 2009 *'' Law & Order: UK,'' 2009 *'' The Young Offenders,'' 2018

Selected stage career

* ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. It ...

,'' Royal Exchange, Manchester * ''Crestfall,''

Theatre503 Theatre503, formerly the Latchmere Theatre, is a theatre located at 503 Battersea Park Road in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, above the Latchmere pub. The venue is known for promoting the work of new writers. History The the ...

, London * ''Pumpgirl,'' Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh; 3 to 27 August 2006; Bush Theatre, London; 12 September to 14 October 2006 * ''This Ebony Bird,'' Blood in the Alley Theatre Company,

Ballydehob Ballydehob () is a coastal village in the southwest of County Cork, Ireland. It is located on the R592 regional road, at a junction with the N71 national secondary road. History During the Bronze Age (2200-600 B.C.), copper was mined on Moun ...

, Ireland * ''The System''; The Project, Raw Productions, Dublin * ''

The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish ''The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, first published in 1997 by White Wolf Publishing. It was republished in 2004 by Harper Children's with a new cover and afterword. The story is a retelling o ...

''
The Ark
Dublin * ''

Playboy of the Western World ''The Playboy of the Western World'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo (o ...

''; Royal Exchange, Manchester * ''A Town Called F**cked''; Last Serenade Theatre Company * ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''; Second Age Theatre Company, Dublin * ''A Quite Life'';

Peacock Theatre The Peacock Theatre (previously the Royalty Theatre) is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Portugal Street, near Aldwych. The 999-seat house is owned by, and comprises part of the London School of Economics and Politica ...

, Dublin * ''The River''; Meridian Theatre Company * ''

Who's Breaking? The pronoun ''who'', in English, is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used primarily to refer to persons. Unmarked, ''who'' is the pronoun’s subjective form; its inflected forms are the objective ''whom'' and the possessive '' ...

''; Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork * ''Laodamia''; Merlin International Theatre, Budapest * ''Disco Pigs'';

Corcadorca Theatre Company The Corcadorca Theatre Company was an independent theatre company based in Cork, Ireland. It was founded in 1991, and closed in 2022. The company specialises in site-specific theatre and produced its first show of this kind, ''A Christmas Carol' ...

, Cork * ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

''; Everyman Theatre, Cork * ''

The Beauty Queen of Leenane ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' is a 1996 dramatic play by Martin McDonagh which was premiered by the Druid Theatre Company in Galway, Ireland. It also enjoyed successful runs at London's West End, Broadway and Off-Broadway. It was nominated ...

'';

Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith) The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

, London (2021)

Selected radio career

Enda Walsh Enda Walsh (born 1967) is an Irish playwright. Biography Enda Walsh was born in Kilbarrack, North Dublin on February 7, 1967. His father ran a furniture shop and his mother had been an actress. He is the second youngest of six children. Wal ...

’s ''4 Big Days in the Life of Dessie Banks''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Orla 1978 births Living people Irish film actresses Irish stage actresses Irish television actresses Actresses from Cork (city)