Niall Toibin

Niall Toibin. Tony Award for Borstal Boy.

Niall Tóibín was born on the southside of Cork city in Friars’ Walk, on November 21, 1929. His father, Sean Tóibín, was born in Passage West, and his parents came from Waterford and West Cork. Sean Tóibín was the author of two books – Blatha an Bhoitrin and Troscan na mBanta, on wayside and meadowland flowers, both written in the Irish language. His mother, Siobhán Ni Shúileabháin, or Han Sullivan to her friends, came from Beaufort near Killarney.

As a child he sang in the cathedral choir and the Opera House in Cork. In his teens, Niall joined a drama society attached to the Keating Branch of the Gaelic League. After getting his Leaving Cert at the North Mon, he joined the civil service in Dublin in 1947.

In 1953 he gave up his State job and joined the Radio Eireann Repertory. He developed his varied skills during his 14 years in “the Rep” after which he joined the Abbey Theatre. He played Captain Boyle in 1973 in a production of Juno and the Paycock with Siobhan McKenna in Canada and made a strong impact as The Bull McCabe in John B Keane’s The Field.

He started his screen career 1970. Equally comfortable with comedy and drama, he quickly became a staple of British and Irish television with strong ties to RTE, ITV and the BBC. He won a Best Actor award for his portrayal of the formidable parish priest, Father Frank MacAnally, in  the BBC series Ballykissangel. He made Slipper, the character from another BBC comedy series, The Irish RM, his own. In 1973, Tóibín won a Jacob’s Award for his performance in the RTE comedy series, If The Cap Fits.

Over the years he has played a wide range of movie characters. He was an abrasive literary agent in Frankie Starlight, a promoter in Eat the Peach, a mysterious political operative in Ryan’s Daughter and Judge Ballaugh in Veronica Guerin. In Far and Away, he played an Irish farmer opposite Tom Cruise who played his son.

On stage he has played in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, with Peter O’Toole and Donal McCann as the tramps, and Niall Toibín as Pozzo. He has starred in nine different productions of  Borstal Boy in Ireland and, as he says himself, virtually owns the role of the adult Brendan Behan. When the play was staged in New York, he won both the Tony and the New York Drama Critics Circle awards. He says has often been mistaken for Behan.
His soft mellow voice, which has never lost its Cork origins, is familiar as narrator, voiceover, and commentator.
He also developed his talents in comedy and satire, presenting a series of highly successful one-man shows over the years. He has proven to have an uncanny eye and ear for capturing a range of Irish characters and accents. He is to be heard at his best on the CD Alive and Kicking.

In 2010 he was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by University College, Cork. In 2011 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Film and Television Institute, presented to him by then President elect Michael D Higgins.
He married Judy Kenny (died in 2002) in 1957 and they had five children: Sean, Muireann, Aisling, Sighle and Fiona.