Siobhán McKenna
1922 – 1986
Actor and Theatre Director

Born in Belfast she was brought up in Galway after her family moved for her father’s work, the McKenna household were all fluent Irish speakers. Following an illness she enrolled at the St Louis Secondary School in Monaghan as a boarder, this is where she developed her love of drama.  Siobhán was primarily a stage actress but also starred in many films and television dramas; she performed nationally and internationally in Galway, Dublin, London and Broadway.  In 1956 she was the first Irish actor to win a Tony award.  Brian Friel said “she personified an idea of Ireland”, she was honoured with life membership of the Abbey Theatre in 1966.

Image courtesy Siobhán McKenna Collection, James Hardiman Library Archives, NUIG