Maria Doyle Kennedy

Maria Doyle Kennedy (born 25 September 1964) is an Irish singer-songwriter and actress. With a singing career that has spanned nearly thirty years and an acting career that has spanned twenty five, she has established herself as one of Ireland's most prolific artists and entertainers. As an actress, she is best known for her extensive television roles as Patsy on Father Ted (1998), Catherine of Aragon on The Tudors (2007–2010), Vera Bates on Downton Abbey (2011), and Siobhán Sadler on Orphan Black (2013–2017). As a musician, she is well known for her world wide hit folk albums Mütter and Sing. Her new self titled album was released in 2017 2Early life Doyle was born in Clontarf, Dublin, before moving with her parents, sister, and brother, Feargal, to Enniscorthy, County Wexford for her father's career as a broker. They eventually settled in Bray, County Wicklow, and she still claims a close, personal connection with the town. She began singing early in life and comes from a family that appreciates "party pieces" and the tradition of gathering friends together with singing. At the age of 9 or 10, she would go to a friend's house every Sunday evening to listen to the top twenty broadcast on the radio. Her first experience singing in public was at one of her parents' parties at the age of 13. She recalls that, as a teenager, her mother was able to gauge her mood according to how much singing she was doin