Siobhán McSweeney's life from relationships to losing her parents and becoming homeless

In her 44 years, she has been through some ups and downs, becoming a household name thanks to her stellar role in "Derry Girls", and then losing her second parent, and becoming homeless the following year.

So here is everything to know about Siobhán McSweeney, the funny woman who is set to host the hotly anticipated show "The Traitors Ireland":

Early life

Siobhán was born in 1979, and raised in the village of Aherla. She studied at Scoil Mhuire, a private same-sex school in Cork City Centre, graduating in 1996.

She went on to study at UCC, earning herself a science degree, before deciding to pursue acting. The 44-year-old has cited her time at the college as "the most important time of my life.

"I knew I wanted to act before I had the words to express that but coming to UCC and getting involved in the Dramat crystalized that for me," she revealed, whilst receiving that UCC Alumni Achievement Award in November.

 "And my parents knew that if I ever got lost, they could always find me in the Granary Theatre."

In 2001 she took the leap and relocated to London, securing a spot at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama.

Siobhan McSweeney as Sister Michael in "Derry Girls".

Career

Siobhán managed to secure herself a spot in an iconic film for her first role, although she only appeared in the movie briefly. She played Julia in Cillian Murphy's "The Wind That Shakes The Barley", though only the most eagled-eyed of fans will be able to spot her.

The 44-year-old had a host of acting gigs before she found her breakthrough role in 2018, including starring as Una Gilbert in the film "Mr. Holmes" in 2015 and Witzender in "Alice Through the Looking Glass" in 2016.

Then came her fan-favorite role as the hilarious Sister Michael on Lisa McGee's hit series "Derry Girls", and it was only up from there.

Playing a militant school principal and nun who shared a love/hate (mostly hate!) relationship with the sitcom's main characters catapulted Siobhán's career, making her a household name.

She won a BAFTA for the role in 2023. The BBC was heavily criticized for "editing out" parts of her acceptance speech, which saw Siobhán tell both the UK and British governments to "wise up".

Lisa McGee and Siobhan McSweeney accepting their BAFTAs.

The Cork woman has been the presenter on [Britain's] Channel 4's "The Great Pottery Throw Down" since January 2021. She has recently been revealed as the host of "The Traitors Ireland" [a recreation of the hugely successful British TV gameshow].

Speaking about her freshly announced role, Siobhán said: "Like everyone, I am a huge 'Traitors' fan so when I was asked to host the Irish version I jumped at the chance. I’m looking forward to meeting our loyal 'Faithful' and delicious 'Traitors'.

"The Irish have a charm and ability to deceive while smiling which will make this version rather special, I think. And I’m the luckiest person in the world to watch them close up."

Personal life

Although you would never guess by her quick wit and fun personality, Siobhán has dealt with her fair share of tragedy in her personal life.

The actress lost her mum, Mary, quite young, shortly after she graduated from UCC in 2005. Then her dad, Traolach, passed away after battling a long illness while she was filming the second season of "Derry Girls" in 2018.

Recalling the moment she lost her beloved father on Kathy Burke's podcast, "Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake", Siobhán said: "I was manic for three months after he died. After the manic stopped, I swear to God, Kathy, this outpouring of ideas and of plots and plans.

"And I started writing and I had an idea for this, and I had an idea for that, and I want to go for this. It was like a dam had burst. And I think that the best gift my parents gave me was dying."

Siobhán also had a huge scare of her own when her house caught fire in late 2019, leaving her homeless. The fire that set her flat ablaze was caused by a block adapter.

Luckily, Siobhán wasn't at home when the fire broke out.

"My flat went on fire, [it was] an electrical fire, one of those cubed adapters fell out of its socket, like by a millimeter and it caused an electrical fire," she explained on Ireland AM.

"I lost everything. By the time lockdown started I was technically homeless. I was living in friends' spare rooms and sofas and things like that so I entered lockdown in quite an anxious state," she recalled.

Love life

Despite maintaining a heavy onscreen presence, Siobhán tries to keep certain aspects of her personal life quite private. One such aspect is her love life.

The funny woman is rumored to be dating British talent agent, Kevin Joseph Brady. In 2023, Grazia reported that the star is in a relationship with Kevin, though the pair have never confirmed it themselves.

They have posed for snaps together at various events, suggesting that they are dating.

* This article was originally published on Evoke.ie.