Ten famous Finglas faces

Finglas has had more than its fair share of famous faces. Here are 10 people who’ve made their mark outside the area.

1. Colm Meaney (pictured) began studying acting when he was 14 and entered the Abbey Theatre School of Acting after leaving secondary school. He picked up a few minor TV roles but hit the big time when he played the role of Miles O’Brien in the hugely popular ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ series. He later moved to ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ where his character had a higher profile. He also starred in ‘The Commitments’ (1991), ‘The Snapper’ (1993) and ‘The Van’ (1996) and numerous other movies, including the ‘The Damned United’ in which he played legendary Leeds United manager, Don Revie.

2. Novelist, playwright and poet Dermot Bolger attended Beneavin College as a youngster and his working-class roots are reflected in much of his work. Shortly after he left school in 1977 he founded Raven Arts Press Publications and published several works which he sold around Finglas. He’s written several novels, plays and collections of poetry. During the process he’s picked up numerous awards, including the Samuel Beckett award and the AE Memorial Prize.

3. Samantha Libreri is one of RTÉ’s most respected news reporters and is a regular presence on our television screens. She also co-wrote a brilliant book with photographer Darren Kinsella called ‘Finglas: A People’s Portrait’, which featured some well-known local faces.

4. Former Irish international midfielder Ronnie Whelan joined Liverpool from Home Farm in 1979 where he plied his trade for 15 years, winning several honours for the famous Merseyside club. He was a regular for the Ireland team and played in the European Championships in Germany in 1988 scoring a memorable goal against the USSR during the tournament.

5. Comedian Brendan O’Carroll found fame relatively late in life when he turned to the stage aged 35. His comedy had – and still has – a huge following in Finglas and it wasn’t long before he was packing out pubs, clubs and then theatres across Dublin. In 1992, he wrote ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ which was a huge success but a movie project dream turned into a financial nightmare which took him the best part of a decade to recover from. Brendan is now a BAFTA winner thanks to the success of the ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ TV series.

6. Paul Hewson is definitely the most famous face of Finglas. Bono rose to fame with his fellow U2 band members and was part of the Lypton Village gang that include Guggi and Gavin Friday. He writes the lyrics for almost all U2 songs and has collaborated with legends like Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Tina Turner. He’s involved in lots of social and political causes including the campaign to end Third World debt. Time Magazine has twice named him as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

7. Christy Dignam is the lead singer of Finglas rock-band, Aslan. His career over three decades has included numerous chart successes and well documented problems with drug addiction and, most recently, a cancer diagnosis. However, Christy always bounces back and continues to play sell-out live gigs with Aslan who are widely acknowledged to be Ireland’s hardest working band.

8. Gavin Friday was a founding member of post-punk band, The Virgin Prunes, and has been a close pal of Bono since childhood. However, he’s had his own successes in music, art and performance. He collaborated with Bono for the soundtrack to ‘In the Name of the Father’. Subsequent film scores have included ‘The Boxer’ (1998), ‘Disco Pigs’ (2001) and ‘In America’ (2002). He also played the sexually ambiguous rocker Billy Hatchet in the 2005 movie ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, starring alongside Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson and Brendan Gleeson.

9. Amanda Brunker first made headlines when she won Miss Ireland in 1991 as a 17-year-old and she used her title as a platform for a career in modelling, media and entertainment. She became a journalist and columnist for Sunday World and in recent years has deviated into TV work. She’s been host of her own late night show and guest host on ‘The Podge and Rodge Show’. She’s also an author of three fictional novels, ‘Champagne Kisses’, ‘Champagne Babes’ and ‘Champagne Secrets’.

10. Dublin GAA star Jason Sherlock came to national attention when as a 19-year-old youngster he helped his county to an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1995. Three years later he became one of the few sporting stars to make a name in both soccer and GAA when he signed for Shamrock Rovers, becoming top scorer in his debut season. He also played basketball but in 2003 decided to dedicate all his energy to GAA. He is now the Dublin forwards coach.