Saoirse-Monica Jackson (born November 1993) is an Irish actress, best known for portraying Erin Quinn on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

sitcom ''

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British teen sitcom created and written by Lisa McGee that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4. The channel's most successful comedy since ''Father Ted'', the series was inspired by McGee's own experiences growing up ...

'' between 2018 and 2022.

Early life

Jackson was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

in November 1993. She split her time growing up in Derry and

Greencastle, County Donegal Greencastle () is a commercial fishing port located in the north-east of the Inishowen Peninsula on the north coast of County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland. The port is on the western shores of Lough Foyle. Nowadays, given the decline in the fi ...

, where her parents ran a village pub. After obtaining

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and

A-Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

St Cecilia's College St Cecilia's College is a secondary school located in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is a Catholic-maintained girls' school with an enrolment of 947 pupils aged 11–18 and is located in the Creggan area of Derry. It has 60 teaching staff. The co ...

in Derry, she trained in acting at the

Arden School of Theatre The Arden School of Theatre, also known as The Arden, is a drama school which is part of the Performing Arts faculty at UCEN Manchester in England, United Kingdom. History The school was founded jointly by the Royal Exchange Theatre and South ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Career

Jackson's television debut came in 2016 when she landed the role of Sasha in

Harlan Coben Harlan Coben is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple twists. Among his novels a ...

's '' The Five'', appearing in four episodes. In 2016, she also played Curley's wife in the

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

tour of

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

's ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

''. She appeared briefly in the final episode of 2017

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

drama series '' Broken''. In 2018, she portrayed Shena Carney in a West End production of '' The Ferryman'' at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague an ...

. Jackson made her debut as Erin Quinn in the

sitcom ''

'' in the show's first episode, airing on Channel 4 on 4 January 2018. Her performance was well received and, in turn, saw her nominated for the

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...

Gala Television Award for Best Female Performance. She portrayed the role for three series until the conclusion of the show in May 2022. She appeared in an episode of ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, att ...

'': Festive Specials. On 26 June 2020, she and her fellow ''Derry Girls'' co stars performed a sketch with

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( , ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas since adolescence, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations fo ...

for the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

fundraising special ''RTÉ Does Comic Relief''. All proceeds from the night went towards those affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Saoirse-Monica 1993 births Living people 21st-century actresses from Northern Ireland Actors from Derry (city) People from County Donegal Television actresses from Northern Ireland