A Cork sister act: Siblings return Leeside to play sisters in play

There’s an unusual sister act involved in Brian Friel’s play, Making History at the Everyman this week. 

Liadán and Martha Dunlea, two sibling actors originally from Fermoy, are playing the Bagenal sisters in the drama which is directed by Des Kennedy, artistic director at the venue.

Liadán is playing Mabel, who eloped with Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, in 1591.

The marriage caused quite a scandal. Mabel was the younger sister of the Marshal of the Queen’s Irish Army. Hugh secretly supported rebellions against the Crown’s advances into Ulster while publicly maintaining a loyal appearance. (He finally went into open rebellion in 1595 and was defeated at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601.)

“Mabel was part of the New English, moving to Newry,” says Liadán. “She met Hugh O’Neill at her 20th birthday party and they fell in love. Mabel ran away from home and started her new life with Hugh in Tyrone. She was very strong and stayed in the background a lot, soaking up information.”

Mabel, who died in her 20s, believed in civility as “a mode of life. Her new life with the Gaels was cultured and honourable.”

Liadán, who is in her 20s and younger than Martha, went to Blackwater Community School in Lismore as her father teaches there.

Growing up, she was part of the Montforts.

“The last time I was on the Everyman stage was in The Little Mermaid with the Montforts in 2014.”

Based in London, Liadán studied at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art).

She has performed Brian Friel before with a role in Translations in London with the National Theatre. Other plays that she has performed in include Othello, Medea and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“When I moved over to go to RADA, I never moved back. I’m only back in Ireland at the moment to do Making History.”

Liadán has just finished a PBS series, Maigret, a detective drama that may be shown on BBC.

Her film work includes Small Things Like These, in which she played the eldest daughter of the coal merchant, Bill Furlong, played by Cillian Murphy.

Another Irish film she starred in was Kathleen Is Here.

“I think film in Ireland is really booming. It’s exciting,” she said.

Two siblings working as professional actors is unusual, not to mention playing another pair of siblings.

“We’ve always done drama. Growing up, we did speech and drama and musical theatre. Our father did a lot of amateur drama so we grew up on it. There’s also a brother in the middle. He’s not in the industry.”

Martha is playing Mary Bagenal, the older sister of Mabel.

“The play is split in two, the Catholic Irish and the New English,” says Martha.

“Mary is really the only one who calls Hugh O’Neill out. He plays both sides; nobody is really sure what to make of him. She is clear about where she’s coming from. She’s not trying to play both sides, being very much part of the New English.”

The Bagenal sisters have a row, a pivotal part of the play.

“You get to see what the people on the New English side think of the Gaels through the language that Mary uses. Then you see Mabel trying to reason with Mary. The way that Brian Friel writes this row is very relatable. It’s a sister relationship; it’s about family and heartbreak, with one sister leaving home and never coming back. There’s the loneliness of Mary without her younger sister.”

Martha is delighted to be in a play for the first time with her sister.

“It’s a really good play, one of Friel’s lesser known ones. It’s such an amazing piece of writing.”

Growing up, Martha was a member of the Fermoy Musical Society. “I did pantos. I was also with the Ballyduff Drama Group.”

At UCC, where Martha studied health science, she was active in Dramat, acting in various shows at the Granary Theatre.

“Liadán was still at school at that stage and came to see me in shows and was interested.I joined the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and did my Masters in London at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

“I love acting. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I thought I’d give it a go as a full-time career. I took that leap and haven’t looked back since. I’m based in London for the past five years. And I go where the work is.”

Martha’s recent credits include Lucy’s Passion at the Abbey Theatre as part of the Bram Stoker Festival. She was part of an international tour of Taigh Ty Teach, produced by Fishamble. She was in the Everyman in 2017, playing Chris in Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa.

The actor has also turned her hand to screenwriting. Martha recently shot her debut film, U Home?x in Belfast produced by Fine Point films, which made the award-winning Kneecap and Saipan.

Martha both wrote and stars in U Home?x which is about “one girl’s walk home after a night out. It’s essentially about women in public spaces and all the obstacles and potential threats that you meet along the way. I’m trying to raise awareness about the turmoil, the hell that we have to go through walking home at night. It’s not experienced by men.

“The film is about what goes through the young woman’s head and how vulnerable she could be if anything did go wrong. It’s in post-production and is funded by Minding Creative Minds and Northern Ireland Screen. I’m playing the lead role in it.”

Clearly the Dunlea sisters have their act together.