Lelia Doolan (born 1934) is an Irish television producer.

Early life and education

Doolan was born in Cork in 1934. She studied French and German at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, where she won a scholarship to study at the Brecht Theatre in Germany.

Career

Presenting, acting and producing

She presented and acted in shows on the newly established

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

in 1961 and starred in a short entertainment called "The Ballad Singer" produced by Tom McGrath, a program preserved in the station's archives. She soon moved into a role as producer/director, after training in the United States. She was responsible for the establishment of ''

The Riordans ''The Riordans'' is an Irish television Soap opera broadcast on RTÉ from 1965 to 1979 set in the fictional townland of Leestown in County Kilkenny. Its location filming with outside broadcast units, rather than using only television studios ...

'' rural soap opera. Shortly after being made head of light entertainment, Doolan resigned in protest at the political and commercial policies of RTÉ. She became artistic director of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

for two years before studying for her PhD in Anthropology at Queen's University. While she was there, she also worked in community video and adult education in Belfast. Her unpublished Ph.D. thesis at Belfast Queen's University in 1977 was titled "Elements of the Sacred and Dramatic in Some Belfast Urban Enclaves". Lelia Doolan's documentary in 2011 ''Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey'' about Bernadette Devlin screened at the 2011 BFI London Film Festival.

Teaching

She taught at the College of Commerce, Rathmines (now part of the DIT) between 1979 and 1988, where she established and was head of the first Irish course in Media Communications, teaching

Bryan Dobson Bryan David Dobson (born 10 February 1960) is an Irish journalist, now retired, a newscaster and presenter who worked for RTÉ. He presented the '' RTÉ News at One'' on RTÉ Radio One, '' RTÉ News: Six One,'' '' RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock'', mo ...

(news anchor), Fergus Tighe (film director),

Anne Cassin Anne Cassin (born 1969) is an Irish journalist and news presenter working for RTÉ. Cassin began her broadcasting career working for Dublin pirate radio station Radio Nova in 1982, where she co-presented a nightly news programme, ''Dublin Today ...

(newsreader), and Ned O'Hanlon (U2 and Rolling Stones video director) amongst others. In 1987 she produced ''Reefer and the Model'', with director Joe Comerford. In April 1993 she was appointed chairperson of the

Irish Film Board Not to be confused with Northern Ireland Screen. Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, formerly known as Bord Scannán na hÉireann or the Irish Film Board, is Republic of Ireland, Ireland's state development agency for the Irish film, television an ...

, a role she filled for three years before retiring. She was also a founder and director of the

Galway Film Fleadh The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Ire ...

Personal life and views

She was once described by Archbishop

John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive gover ...

as "mad, bad, and dangerous". She has been a prominent defender of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights. She was involved in opposing both the

Burren Interpretative Centre Burren can refer to: *The Burren, an area dominated by karst landscape, in County Clare, Ireland * Burren National Park, the national park in County Clare, Ireland *Burren (barony), an historical administrative division of County Clare, Ireland * Bu ...

and the Corrib Gas pipeline. She lives in Kilcolgan near

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

where she tends a herb and vegetable garden.

References

External links

* https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0233177/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Doolan, Lelia Living people Irish television producers Irish women television producers Alumni of University College Dublin 1934 births