
Kathleen Ryan
Kathleen Ryan was born in Dublin, Ireland of Tipperary parentage and was a spirited and heart warming Irish actress who appeared in British and Hollywood movies between 1947 and 1957. She was a great beauty in her time.
Kathleen Ryan was one of the eight children of Séamus Ryan, a member of Seanad Éireann and his wife Agnes Ryan née Harding who came from Kilfeacle and Solohead respectively in County Tipperary and who were Republican activists during the Irish War of Independence. They opened a shop in Parnell Street, Dublin in the 1920s which was the first of 36 outlets which were known as "The Monument Creameries". The family lived at Burton Hall, near Leopardstown Racecourse in the Dublin suburb of Foxrock. Her brother was John Ryan , a well known artist and man of letters in bohemian Dublin of the 1940s and 50's, who was a friend and benefactor of a number of struggling writers in the post-war era, such as Patrick Kavanagh. He started and edited a short-lived literary magazine entitled "Envoy". Among her other siblings were Fr. Vincent (Séamus) (1930-2005), a Benedictine priest at Glenstal Abbey, Sister Íde of the Convent of The Sacred Heart, Mount Anville, Dublin, Oonagh (who married the Irish artist Patrick Swift), Cora who married the politician, Seán Dunne, T.D. When Kathleen was an undergraduate at University College Dublin, she was introduced to the future, Dr.Dermod Devane of Limerick. They were married in the society wedding of 1944 and had three children, but the marriage was annulled in 1958. As one of Ireland's great beauties of her time, she was the subject of one of Louis le Brocquy's most striking portraits, "Girl in White", which he painted in 1941 and entered in the RHA exhibition of that year. The portrait (oil on canvas) is in the Ulster Museum collection. She died in Dublin, from a lung ailment aged 63 and was buried with her parents beneath an imposing statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, near the Republican Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.002 |
Birthday | 1922-09-08 |
Place of Birth | Dublin, Ireland |
Also Known As |

1984

James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate
0/0
Retrospective of the life and movie work of British actor James Mason. The documentary presents interview footage interspersed with some movie excerpt...
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James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate

1950

The Sound of Fury
6.511/46
A family man – desperate for a job – latches onto a friend who encourages him into being a criminal.
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The Sound of Fury

1953

Laxdale Hall
6/2
A starchy parliamentary delegation is sent to a remote Scottish Highlands community, where the residents are protesting the poor condition of their ro...
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Laxdale Hall

1947

Odd Man Out
7.3/197
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
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Odd Man Out

1949

Give Us This Day
5.9/13
Exiled from Hollywood due to the blacklist, director Edward Dmytryk briefly operated in England in the late 1940s. Though filmed in its entirety in Lo...
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Give Us This Day

1955

Captain Lightfoot
6.3/17
In 1815, Michael Martin, member of an Irish revolutionary society, turns highwayman to support it, and soon becomes an outlaw. In Dublin, he meets fam...
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Captain Lightfoot

1949

Christopher Columbus
5.7/12
Christopher Columbus overcomes intrigue at the Spanish court and convinces Queen Isabella that his plan to reach the East by sailing west is practical...
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Christopher Columbus

1948

Esther Waters
5.9/7
Esther goes into service in Victorian England, only to be seduced by the sweet talking groom William, who then takes off with his employer's daughter....
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Esther Waters

1950

Prelude to Fame
6.2/2
While vacationing in Italy, Nick Morell, son of John Morell, a famous English philosopher and amateur musician and his wife Catherine, becomes friendl...
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Prelude to Fame

1956

Jacqueline
6/3
Jacqueline is the daughter of Belfast shipyard worker Mike McNeil. The worker's worth is compromised by his crippling fear of heights. Dismissed from...
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Jacqueline

1947

Captain Boycott
6.7/8
Based on real events, this historical drama is set in 19th-century Ireland, when poverty-stricken tenants dispossessed by greedy landowner Capt. Boyco...
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Captain Boycott

1953

The Yellow Balloon
5.6/8
A young boy is blackmailed by a crook who saw him unwittingly cause his friend's death.
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The Yellow Balloon

1957

Sail Into Danger
0/0
In this adventure, an American is forced by smugglers to sail his boat from Barcelona to Tangiers. The ruthless fugitives then kill his son, and harm...
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