Dónall Ó Héalai () (born 5 March 1987) is an Irish actor and voice actor. He was named a 2020 ''Screen International'' Star of Tomorrow and twice nominated for best leading actor in film at the Irish Film and Television awards in 2020 and 2022. He was also the recipient of the Wilde Card award at the Oscar Wilde awards in Los Angeles in 2022 as well as one to watch in 2021 by ''

The Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country ...

''.

Early life and education

Ó Héalai was born in the

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

village of

Inverin Inverin (, meaning "mouth of the river") is a Gaeltacht village between Baile na hAbhann and Minna in County Galway, Ireland. There are Irish-language summer colleges in the area, most notably Coláiste Lurgan and Coláiste Uí Chadhain. The v ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

and grew up in Inverin and

Spiddal Spiddal, also known as Spiddle (Irish language, Irish and official name: , , meaning 'the hospital'), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road (Ireland), R336 road. It is o ...

. He began acting at the age of 14 at a local youth club. He completed his secondary education as a boarding student at St Jarlath's College in

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

. He graduated from

Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

. He was awarded the Dr. H.H Stewart Literary Prize during his studies. He went on to train at the

Stella Adler Studio of Acting The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (formerly Stella Adler Conservatory) is a prestigious acting school that was founded by actress and teacher Stella Adler.

in New York and

Bow Street Academy Bow Street Academy — the National Screen Acting School of Ireland (known simply as Bow Street) is a film and television acting academy in Dublin, Ireland. Named after its location on the road that was once home to the original Jameson whisky ...

in Dublin.

Career

In 2006, Ó Héalai made his onscreen debut as a teenager in the recurring role of Jeaic in season 1 of the

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

coming-of-age family series ''

Aifric ''Aifric'' () is an Irish-language TV series aimed at young adults, co-created and written by Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin and co-created and directed by Paul Mercier. The show has won multiple IFTA awards for "Best Children's/Youth Program". The fir ...

''. Ó Héalai played Otis in the 2019 American psychological thriller '' Impossible Monsters''. That same year, he starred as Colmán Sharkey in the Irish-language period drama film ''

Arracht (; 'Monster') is a 2019 Irish period drama film directed and written by set during the Great Famine of Ireland. It was selected as the Irish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. ...

'', which won Best Irish film at 2020

Dublin International Film Festival The Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF; ) is an annual film festival that has been held in Dublin, Ireland, since 2003. History The Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003. It was revived by Michael Dwyer (journalist), ...

(DIFF) and the Audience Award at the 2020 Glasgow Film Festival. In addition to receiving critical acclaim, Ó Héalai won the Aer Lingus Discovery Award at the DIFF as well as receiving a Best Actor nomination at the IFTAs. Ó Héalaí stars as John Cunliffe in the Irish-language film '' Foscadh'', an adaptation of the social novel '' The Thing About December'' by

Donal Ryan Donal Ryan (born 1976) is an Irish writer. He has published seven novels and one short story collection. In 2016, novelist and playwright Sebastian Barry described Ryan in ''The Guardian'' as "the king of the new wave of Irish writers". All of ...

. ''Foscadh'' is the Irish submission for Best International Feature Film at the

94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after their usual late February dat ...

Other ventures

A native speaker of Irish, Ó Héalaí founded the cultural initiative Celtic Consciousness and, in 2018, gave a TEDxBerkeley talk on the Irish Language and Beauty.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* Living people 1987 births 21st-century Irish male actors Alumni of Maynooth University Alumni of the Bow Street Academy Irish male film actors Irish male stage actors Irish male television actors Male actors from County Galway People educated at St Jarlath's College People from Inverin {{Ireland-actor-stub