Emmet Kirwan
Bio
Emmet Kirwan /The Guinness Storehouse – Waiting to Settle
Emmet Kirwan is an award-winning actor, playwright, and poet from Tallaght, Dublin, celebrated for his bold, socially resonant storytelling and his dynamic presence on stage and screen. A graduate of the Samuel Beckett Centre at Trinity College Dublin, Emmet has established himself as one of Ireland’s most distinctive creative voices.
His acclaimed play Dublin Oldschool won the Stewart Parker Major Trust Award and has enjoyed seven sold-out runs at Project Arts Centre, alongside a highly successful international tour that included a sell-out engagement at the National Theatre in London’s West End. Emmet also wrote the spoken-word poetry that features in THISISPOPBABY’s internationally touring show RIOT, performed at Vicar Street, the Sydney Theatre Festival, and Skirball New York.
His poem Heartbreak, taken from RIOT, was adapted into a short film that has amassed over two million views across Facebook and YouTube and won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Short Film. Emmet’s writing credits further include Wild West for BBC Radio 4—nominated for Best Radio Drama by the Writers’ Guild of Ireland—as well as Queen of the Pyramids for Landmark Productions and Cork Midsummer Festival’s Theatre for One. For The Gate Theatre’s Late at the Gate series, he wrote and performed two original spoken-word pieces responding to John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger.
On screen, Emmet is known for writing and starring in the RTÉ2 comedy series Sarah and Steve. He has written the short films Escape Plans (Calipo Films) and Outside (Still Films), and has developed The Last Partholonian, a multi-character speculative fiction play inspired by Irish mythology and supported by the Arts Council.
In recent years, Emmet’s play Straight to Video, produced by Landmark Productions, premiered at Project Arts Centre to widespread critical acclaim. He is currently developing a new collection of poetry and a collaborative theatre project, Accents, with musician Talos. His debut novel will be published by HarperCollins.
Emmet’s work—across theatre, poetry, film, and television—is marked by its emotional clarity, cultural insight, and contemporary relevance. He brings depth, energy, and a compelling narrative voice to every performance, making him a captivating contributor to corporate events focused on creativity, social issues, modern Irish identity, communication, and storytelling.