Dónall Ó Héalaí


Dónall Ó Héalaí is an Irish actor.

Early life

Dónall grew up in Conamara, Galway and is based in the west of Ireland. He is a native Irish speaker and his passion for the language led him to found the cultural initiative, Celtic Consciousness. Dónall is also a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he was awarded the Dr. H.H Stewart Literary prize during his studies. In 2018 Dónall gave a TedxBerkeley talk on the Irish Language and Beauty.

Career

Ó Héalaí is the winner of the prestigious Aer Lingus Discovery Award at the 2020 Dublin International film festival. Dónall has achieved significant critical acclaim for his committed performance in for soon to be theatrically released Arracht. The period drama also won Best Irish film at DIFF 2020 and the coveted Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival 2020.
As of this March 2020, Dónall can also be seen as the lead in US thriller ‘Impossible Monsters’ alongside Tony winner, Santino Fontana. 'Impossible Monsters’ premiered at Cinequest and played at the HBO Latino Film Festival in NYC 2019.
The Irish actor has just wrapped on Irish film Shelter/Foscadh - a screen adaptation of the man booker prize shortlisted novel 'The thing about December' by the Irish writer Donal Ryan. The film is produced by IFTA winner, Paddy Hayes. Ó Héalaí plays the lead role in the film which is currently in postproduction and will be seen on the European festival circuit later this year.
Dónall is a graduate of the illustrious Bow-street Academy of screen acting in Dublin which boasts fellow graduates Niamh Algar and Seana Kerslake. He was awarded Irish Screen America's Rising Star award for his performance in Celtic media award-winning short film, Sínte.