Niall Toibin
Encyclopedia
Niall Tóibín is an Irish
comedian and actor. Born in Cork
into an Irish
speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He has appeared in Ryan's Daughter
, Bracken
, The Irish R.M.
, Caught in a Free State
, Ballykissangel
, Far and Away
, and Veronica Guerin
, and has played Brendan Behan
too. He was awarded honorary lifetime membership of the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) in 2011.
, Ireland
, the sixth of seven children, born to Siobhán (née Ní Shúileabháin) & Seán Tóibín, native Irish
speakers. His parents' names were originally John Tobin and Hannah O'Sullivan when married in 1917. His siblings include Siobhán, Tomás, Diaglán, Filmin, Góbnait, and Colm Tóibín. In 1957, Tóibín married Frances Judith "Judy" Kenny (Died 26th June 2002; aged 70) in Dublin, and has five children, including Sean, Muireann, Aisling, Sighle and Fíona Toibin, and six grand-children.
He was educated at the North Monastery (North Mon)
after which he left Cork for a job in the Civil Service in Dublin in January 1947.
.
From Ryan's Daughter
and Bracken
in the 1970s, to The Irish R.M.
and Caught in a Free State
in the 1980s, and, more recently, Far and Away
, Ballykissangel
and Veronica Guerin
, Toibin's entertainment career in television, film and theatre has spanned over four decades. He has also acted for the radio, such as his guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi
.
Tóibín divides his time between New York and his home in Dublin. He married Judy Kenny in 1957, has five children and six grandchildren (grandchildren's names are Niall (named after him), Ella, Jack, Billy, Francie and Barry) - (This part was written by his grandson).
In 2005, he "cemented" his hands outside the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. He made a speech saying, "It will be a proud day for me. My appearances on the Gaiety stage are without doubt the highlights of my career and I am honoured to have been asked to give my prints,” said the former Ballykissangel star, who was joined by five of his six grandchildren to celebrate the event.
He played Dr. Paul O'Callaghan in the first series of Irish TV programme The Clinic
.
He played Judge Ballaugh, alongside with Cate Blanchett
, in Jerry Bruckheimer
's film, Veronica Guerin
.
comedy series, If The Cap Fits.
On 29 October 2002, Tóibín accepted a Best Actor Award in a Dublin ceremony.
Tóibín received an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from University College Cork (UCC) on 4 June 2010.
Tóibín was honoured with the Irish Film and Television Academy's (IFTA) Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony at the Irish Film Institute
on 3 November 2011. Gay Byrne
, Stephen Rea
and then President-elect of Ireland
Michael D. Higgins
were there too. The award meant Tóibín became an honorary IFTA lifetime member.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
comedian and actor. Born in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
into an Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He has appeared in Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
, Bracken
Bracken (TV series)
Bracken was an Irish television soap opera broadcast from 1978 to 1982 on RTÉ One in Ireland. It mainly centred about rural life in and around County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland. The main stars of the show were Gabriel Byrne and Niall Tóibín...
, The Irish R.M.
The Irish R.M.
The Irish R.M. refers to a series of books by the Anglo-Irish novelists Somerville and Ross, and the television comedy-drama series based on them...
, Caught in a Free State
Caught in a Free State
Caught in a Free State was a dramatised television series made by RTÉ in 1983. This four-part series was about German spies in neutral Ireland during World War II, known in Ireland as "The Emergency".-Production:...
, Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel is a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 1996 to 2001...
, Far and Away
Far and Away
Far and Away is a 1992 adventure-drama-romance film directed by Ron Howard from a script by Howard and Bob Dolman, and stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cinematography by Mikael Salomon, with a music score by John Williams...
, and Veronica Guerin
Veronica Guerin (film)
Veronica Guerin is a 2003 Irish biographical film directed by Joel Schumacher. The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue focuses on Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, whose investigation into the drug trade in Dublin led to her murder in 1996....
, and has played Brendan Behan
Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
too. He was awarded honorary lifetime membership of the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) in 2011.
Early life
Tóibín was born in 1929 in CorkCork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the sixth of seven children, born to Siobhán (née Ní Shúileabháin) & Seán Tóibín, native Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
speakers. His parents' names were originally John Tobin and Hannah O'Sullivan when married in 1917. His siblings include Siobhán, Tomás, Diaglán, Filmin, Góbnait, and Colm Tóibín. In 1957, Tóibín married Frances Judith "Judy" Kenny (Died 26th June 2002; aged 70) in Dublin, and has five children, including Sean, Muireann, Aisling, Sighle and Fíona Toibin, and six grand-children.
He was educated at the North Monastery (North Mon)
The North Monastery
The North Monastery is a collection of primary, secondary and a Gaelcholáiste schools located at Our Lady's Mount, Cork City, Republic of Ireland.-History:...
after which he left Cork for a job in the Civil Service in Dublin in January 1947.
Career
Tóibín started acting in the 1950s and spent fourteen years with the Radio Éireann PlayersRadio Éireann Players
The Radio Éireann Players were a repertory company for radio in Ireland, formed in 1947, which performed in regular drama productions for Irish broadcaster, Radio Éireann. After the depredations of the war-time years and a devastating fire in the Abbey Theatre in 1951, the Radio Éireann Players'...
.
From Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
and Bracken
Bracken (TV series)
Bracken was an Irish television soap opera broadcast from 1978 to 1982 on RTÉ One in Ireland. It mainly centred about rural life in and around County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland. The main stars of the show were Gabriel Byrne and Niall Tóibín...
in the 1970s, to The Irish R.M.
The Irish R.M.
The Irish R.M. refers to a series of books by the Anglo-Irish novelists Somerville and Ross, and the television comedy-drama series based on them...
and Caught in a Free State
Caught in a Free State
Caught in a Free State was a dramatised television series made by RTÉ in 1983. This four-part series was about German spies in neutral Ireland during World War II, known in Ireland as "The Emergency".-Production:...
in the 1980s, and, more recently, Far and Away
Far and Away
Far and Away is a 1992 adventure-drama-romance film directed by Ron Howard from a script by Howard and Bob Dolman, and stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cinematography by Mikael Salomon, with a music score by John Williams...
, Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel is a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 1996 to 2001...
and Veronica Guerin
Veronica Guerin (film)
Veronica Guerin is a 2003 Irish biographical film directed by Joel Schumacher. The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue focuses on Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, whose investigation into the drug trade in Dublin led to her murder in 1996....
, Toibin's entertainment career in television, film and theatre has spanned over four decades. He has also acted for the radio, such as his guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi
Baldi (radio)
Baldi is a BBC Radio 4 murder mystery series whose central character is Paolo Baldi , a Franciscan priest on sabbatical, lecturing on semiotics at a university in contemporary Dublin. After helping the police as a translator for an Italian witness, he turns sleuth...
.
Tóibín divides his time between New York and his home in Dublin. He married Judy Kenny in 1957, has five children and six grandchildren (grandchildren's names are Niall (named after him), Ella, Jack, Billy, Francie and Barry) - (This part was written by his grandson).
In 2005, he "cemented" his hands outside the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. He made a speech saying, "It will be a proud day for me. My appearances on the Gaiety stage are without doubt the highlights of my career and I am honoured to have been asked to give my prints,” said the former Ballykissangel star, who was joined by five of his six grandchildren to celebrate the event.
He played Dr. Paul O'Callaghan in the first series of Irish TV programme The Clinic
The Clinic (TV series)
The Clinic is an award-winning Irish primetime television medical drama series produced by Parallel Film Productions for RTÉ. It debuted on RTÉ One in 2003 to positive reviews and proved to be one of the network's most popular shows. The show ran for seven seasons between September 2003 to November...
.
He played Judge Ballaugh, alongside with Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
, in Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
's film, Veronica Guerin
Veronica Guerin (film)
Veronica Guerin is a 2003 Irish biographical film directed by Joel Schumacher. The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue focuses on Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, whose investigation into the drug trade in Dublin led to her murder in 1996....
.
Awards
In 1973, Tóibín won a Jacob's Award for his performance in the RTÉRTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
comedy series, If The Cap Fits.
On 29 October 2002, Tóibín accepted a Best Actor Award in a Dublin ceremony.
Tóibín received an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from University College Cork (UCC) on 4 June 2010.
Tóibín was honoured with the Irish Film and Television Academy's (IFTA) Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony at the Irish Film Institute
Irish Film Institute
The Irish Film Institute is both a film theatre and a national body that supports Irish Film heritage. It maintains an archive of Irish films and provides education in film culture. It shows independent and foreign language films overlooked by commercial multiplexes at its cinema in the Temple Bar...
on 3 November 2011. Gay Byrne
Gay Byrne
Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne is a veteran Irish presenter of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999...
, Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
and then President-elect of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...
were there too. The award meant Tóibín became an honorary IFTA lifetime member.