Irene is an award winning playwright and actor from Cork, Ireland.
Her first play, Mary and Me, is published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim and is an RTÉ produced radio play. It has also been produced in the US (Hatbox Theatre, NH). Argus Angel Winner and Bobby Award Nominated show**-Brighton Fringe 2017, Edinburgh Fringe 2017
Gone Full Havisham enjoyed sell-out runs in the Cork Midsummer Festival, Gilded Balloon (Ed Fringe 2019- nominated for Bobby Award) and a critically acclaimed three week run at Bewleys Theatre- January 2020.
Irene’s third play The Misfit Mythology, her first two-hander play which she starred alongside Éanna Hardwicke, was selected as one of the Arts Council Emerging Artists Awards and enjoyed a sell-out two week run at the Cork Arts Theatre in October 2019. This play was subsequently produced by The Everyman as part of their Play it by Ear Audio Dramas, November 2020. Wake, Irene’s third solo show, was staged in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Fit-Up Festivals and toured to the islands off West Cork.
A Safe Passage is also published by Bloomsbury. The play toured extensively in Ireland from 2022-2025. The Players Ring in New Hampshire produced the US Premiere of A Safe Passage in October 2022 before a successful tour.
Irene has a Masters in Drama and Theatre Studies and English at University College Cork. She trained at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts 2010.
Irene is an alumni of Irish Theatre Institute’s Six in the Attic (2021).
The Cork Midsummer in June 2025 are producing two of Irene’s new plays, Stitch and Footnote. Irene has also received a commission from the Everyman Theatre to write a multi-character, full length play for production in Autumn 2026.
Stitch | Cork Midsummer Festival 13–22 June 2025
Footnote | Cork Midsummer Festival 13–22 June 2025
“Written and performed with huge delicacy and skill.
Kelleher marks herself out as a writer to watch.”
THE STAGE ★★★★
“Spectacular. Magnificent. The very best of Irish drama”
THE SCOTSMAN ★★★★
“Moving, absorbing and disturbing”
THE ARTS DESK (Veronica Lee) ★★★★
“Timely and Impassioned Production”
THE SUNDAY TIMES ★★★★
“An extraordinary play and performance.”
IRISH MAIL ON SUNDAY (Michael Moffatt) ★★★★
“Mary and Me is a stunning debut. Both in writing and performance, Kelleher is light years ahead of much of the posse. Sharp, insightful, humorous, moving,”
THE ARTS REVIEW ★★★★
“Kelleher’s script is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking…Outstanding.”
MIRO MAGAZINE ★★★★★
“A moving and important tragedy.”
THE ARGUS- BRIGHTON ★★★★★ Argus Angel Winner
“It’s many writers’ dream to have their first play be as good as this… Kelleher pulls it off perfectly. She is an exceptionally talented writer.”
BROADWAY BABY ★★★★★
You could not pray to see much better in this Fringe.”
EDINBURGH GUIDE ★★★★
“A powerful and moving production.”
IRISH MAIL ON SUNDAY★★★★
“A gripping and absorbing one woman show”
THE PUBLIC REVIEWS ★★★★
“Electrically Intense…Kelleher’s writing is sharp…You will both laugh and flinch.”
THE IRISH EXAMINER ★★★★ –Gone Full Havisham Listed as the Theatre Highlight from 2019**