Dervla Kirwan

Dervla Kirwan (born 24 October 1971) is an Irish actress famous for roles in British television shows such as Ballykissangel and Goodnight Sweetheart. . She also appeared in the Doctor Who Christmas special episode, "The Next Doctor". She also provided the voiceovers for the well-known "this is not just food" TV advertizing campaign for UK retailer Marks & Spencer. Kirwan was born in Churchtown, Dublin, Ireland. Her father was an insurance broker, and her mother was a language teacher. She is the youngest of three daughters.

Once engaged to Ballykissangel co-star Stephen Tompkinson, Kirwan is now married to actor Rupert Penry-Jones, with whom she has two children: Florence (born 1 May 2004) and Peter (born 8 April 2006).

She and Penry-Jones both appeared in Casanova in 2005, although they did not share any scenes. They had worked on stage together in 2001 in a West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, production of J B Priestley's Dangerous Corner, when he played Robert Caplan to her Olwen Peel; in November, the production then transferred to the Garrick Theatre for a successful four-month West End season.