Leah O'Rourke (born 12 November 1988) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for her role as Jenny Joyce in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

comedy series ''

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British-produced period teen sitcom set in Derry, Northern Ireland, created and written by Lisa McGee, that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4 and ran for three series. The channel's most successful comedy since '' ...

.''

Career

O'Rourke rose to prominence in 2018 following her supporting role in the comedy series, ''

.'' Outside of ''Derry Girls,'' O'Rourke has appeared in several short films, including ''Wasted'' (2013), ''Anna'' (2013), and ''Normality'' (2014). In 2016 O'Rourke played the character of Siobhán in the award-winning film ''Half Brothers.'' O'Rourke has spoken about how she auditioned for the role of 'Marianne' in the critically acclaimed drama series, ''

Normal People ''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a ...

'', but lost out to eventual-star,

Daisy Edgar-Jones Daisy Jessica Edgar-Jones (born 24 May 1998) is an English actress. She began her career with the television series ''Cold Feet'' (2016–2020) and '' War of the Worlds'' (2019–2021). She gained recognition for her starring role in the BBC / ...

. Aside from acting professionally, O'Rourke has also worked as a drama tutor in the

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh (), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of alleged Laigin or ...

School of Music and Performing Arts. In 2023, O'Rourke took part as a contestant on the sixth series of

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

, paired with John Nolan. Leah is also the niece of actor John Lynch and actress

Susan Lynch Susan Lynch (born 1971) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is known for her role in the 2003 film '' 16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances include '' Waking Ned Devine'' (1998), '' Nora'' (2000), '' Beautiful Creatures'' (200 ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Leah 1988 births Living people Entertainers from Newry