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Anna Manahan

Anna Manahan built a career that stretched from Irish theatre to Broadway, film and some of Ireland’s best-known television series. Born in County Waterford on 18 October 1924, she began acting after being recruited as a young woman by theatrical directors Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards. Her stage work soon took root close to home: in 1946, she played Eileen Connolly in Teresa Deevy’s The Wild Goose at Waterford’s Theatre Royal. Theatre remained central to Manahan’s working life. She performed throughout Ireland, including at the Abbey Theatre, and appeared in productions across the UK, continental Europe, the United States and Australia. Playwright John B. Keane wrote Big Maggie specifically for her, and she later starred opposite Des Keogh in his play The Matchmaker. In 2005, she took on Sisters, a solo play written for her by Declan Hassett, earning a Drama Desk Award nomination as the production travelled from Ireland to Colorado and New York. Her Broadway work brought major recognition. Manahan received a Tony nomination in 1969 for Brian Friel’s Lovers, then won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Mag in Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane. On television, she appeared in The Riordans and Me Mammy before taking the lead in the comedy series Leave It to Mrs O’Brien. She also played Mrs. Cadogan in The Irish R.M. and, from 2004, Ursula in Fair City. Her film work included an appearance with John Gielgud in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Manahan’s career was rooted in performance rather than any single medium. Whether leading a stage production or joining an ensemble on television, she brought decades of theatrical experience to the part. Waterford recognised that contribution by granting her the freedom of the city in 2002, and the University of Limerick awarded her an honorary doctorate in letters the following year. She died in 2009.