Danielle Ryan


Danielle Ryan is an Irish heiress, being the daughter of Capt. Cathal Ryan and granddaughter of Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair. She trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Thus far, Ryan has used her inherited €250 million fortune to try her hand at being a business woman, entrepreneur, philanthropist, actress and producer.

Early life

Ryan is the daughter of Capt. Cathal Ryan and granddaughter of Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair.

Career

Acting

Ryan graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2006.
In 2007, she made her theatrical stage debut in to positive reviews. In the same year, she appeared in How About You, a film based on a collection of stories by Maeve Binchy and The Trial of Tony Blair.
She has also appeared in Vivarium, which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, The Silencing, which will be released in 2020 and Wild Mountain Thyme.
Her television work includes her role as Agent Sophia Elias in The Professionals and roles in Doctors, The Tudors, Casualty and Fair City.
Ryan is credited as a producer on 5 productions, including Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Song of Granite, which was selected as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Film at the 90th Academy Awards and Rialto which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019.

Business

In 2013, Ryan launched the brand ROADS, which encompasses luxury fragrances, book publishing and film production. She has said that in setting up ROADS, she wanted to find a way of crossing over from the artistic and creative worlds into tangible products.
As of the end of 2013, the Phoenix magazine identifies that Roads has accumulated losses of sixty thousand euro.
As of November 2019, there are 18 Eau de Perfum, 5 candles and more than 50 books for sale under the ROADS label around the world.

Philanthropy

[The Lir Academy]

discontinued its acting degree in 2007, leaving Ireland with 'no high-level full-time actor training'. In response, Ryan founded The Lir, Ireland's National Academy of Dramatic Art, which she announced in 2009.
The Lir is part of Trinity College Dublin and has an association with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. It welcomed its first students in 2011, its opening attracting press coverage around the world. Ryan funded a purpose-built premises for the Lir, which is located in Grand Canal Dock in Dublin.
The Lir offers conservatoire training for actors along with degrees in stage management and technical theatre as well as Masters in Fine Art for playwriting, theatre directing and stage design.
In 2017, The Lir had an annual income of €2.1 million and staged 10 theatre shows, an opera production, two short films, a design exhibition and an industry showcase.

UNICEF

Ryan announced in 2011, at the United Nations General Assembly, that her family would donate $14 million to help some of the most vulnerable children in Sri Lanka. This was the largest single private donation ever made to UNICEF, for which Ryan received the UNICEF Ireland's children's award from former Irish president Mary Robinson in 2012.
The donation was used to rebuild the health and education infrastructure in four towns in the North of Sri Lanka that had been destroyed by the Sri Lankan Civil War.
She continues to work with UNICEF, giving keynote speeches on their behalf and acting as a member of the UNICEF International Council.

Other

Ryan has donated to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin and Temple Street Children's University Hospital, both in Dublin.
She also provided funding to One in Four, a charity in Ireland which helps people affected by childhood sexual abuse.

Filmography

Acting

YearTitleRoleOther Notes
2006Doctors Molly MoretonTV Series
2007FoodCordelia/BrigitteTheatre, Battersea Arts Centre, London
2007How About You MariaFeature Film
2007Fair CityFrieda GarveyTV Series
2007The Trial of Tony BlairPM's AssistantTV Film
2008Casualty Cheryl ReismanTV Series
2008The TudorsMarthaTV Series
2019VivariumMomFeature Film
2019The ProfessionalsAgent Sophia EliasTV Series
2020The SilencingDr PatelFeature Film
TBAWild Mountain Thyme MaeveFeature Film

Producing

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011Dreams of a LifeAssociate Producer
2015Being APExecutive Producer
2016We are MovingExecutive Producer
2017Song of GraniteExecutive ProducerSelected as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Film in the 90th Academy Awards
2017Grace Jones: Bloodlight and BamiExecutive Producer
2019RialtoExecutive Producer