# Carolyn Bracken
**Carolyn Bracken** (born 1982) is an Irish actress from Nenagh, County Tipperary, known for roles in Irish film and television including the horror film *[Oddity](https://www.edgepedia.org/oddity-film)* (2024), the folk horror *You Are Not My Mother* (2021), and the Oscar-nominated *An Cailín Ciúin* (*The Quiet Girl*, 2022).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) • [2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) She is also credited as a writer.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland; born 1982[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) |
| Breakthrough role | Angela (and her doppelgänger) in *You Are Not My Mother* (2021), directed by Kate Dolan[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) • [3](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Screen_Ireland_Production_Catalogue_2021.pdf) |
| Signature role | Dani and her blind twin sister Darcy in *Oddity* (2024), directed by Damian McCarthy[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) |
| Awards | 2025 IFTA nomination for Lead Actress - Film for *Oddity*; 2026 Screen Ireland - IFTA Rising Star nominee[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) • [4](https://www.hotpress.com/carolyn-bracken) |
| Training | Graduate of the Gaiety School of Acting; BA Ord in Social Care Practice, Dublin Institute of Technology (2004)[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) • [5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) |
| Television leads | Sandra Sculley in *Dublin Murders* (2019); Aileen Ryan in *The Gone* (2023–2024)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) |
## Background and training
Bracken first took to the stage as a child with the Nenagh Players, an amateur troupe in her home town, and comes from a local family she describes as steeped in the arts.[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) Her professional training came later and by an indirect route: she completed a BA Ord in Social Care Practice at Dublin Institute of Technology in 2004, spent a year on Vocal and Music Production at the London Centre of Contemporary Music in 2011, and graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting's Advanced Professional Performance program in 2016.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) Her CV also lists vocal training as an alto, piano, and horse riding.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf)
Her early screen credits were small parts in Irish features and television, including a lodger in *The Lodgers* (2017), a female prison guard in *A Date for Mad Mary* (2016), and a paramedic in one episode of *Line of Duty* season 4.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-779424/filmographie/)
## Breakthrough roles
**You Are Not My Mother.** Bracken played Angela, a mother living on a north Dublin housing estate who goes missing for a day and returns behaving strangely, in [Kate Dolan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-dolan)'s feature debut.[3](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Screen_Ireland_Production_Catalogue_2021.pdf) The film was funded through Screen Ireland's POV scheme, established to support female filmmaking talent, premiered in the Midnight Madness section of the 2021 [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), and later won a jury prize at the Gérardmer Film Festival.[3](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Screen_Ireland_Production_Catalogue_2021.pdf) • [5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) IMDb credits her with the dual role of Angela and her eerie doppelgänger.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/)
**The Quiet Girl.** In 2022 she played "The Woman" (Bean in the Irish-language credits) in Colm Bairéad's *An Cailín Ciúin*, which was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA and won the London Critics' Circle award for Best International Feature.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf)
**Television.** She played the tormented Sandra Sculley in *[Dublin Murders](https://www.edgepedia.org/dublin-murders)* (RTÉ/BBC/Starz, 2019) and the journalist Aileen Ryan in *[The Gone](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-gone)*, a six-part thriller set in New Zealand directed by Hannah Quinn and Peter Burger for Blinder Films; she reprised the role in the second season.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) • [5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) Season 1 of *The Gone* won five awards including Best Drama at the 2023 New Zealand Television Awards.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf)
## Oddity and recognition
Bracken played the lead dual role in [Damian McCarthy](https://www.edgepedia.org/damian-mccarthy)'s horror film *Oddity* (2024), shot in Cork: Dani, a psychiatrist's wife brutally murdered while renovating a country house, and Dani's twin sister Darcy, a blind clairvoyant with psychometric (divining facts about people by touching objects) powers who investigates the death a year later.[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) The film won the Midnighter Audience Award at SXSW 2024, and Bracken's performance earned her a nomination for Lead Actress - Film at the 2025 Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) awards.[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) • [5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) McCarthy, Steve Wall, and the sound team of Aza Hand and Hugo Parvery also received IFTA nominations for the film.[2](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/) In February 2026 she was nominated for the Screen Ireland - IFTA Rising Star Award, alongside Brendan Canty, Myrid Carten, and Louisa Harland.[4](https://www.hotpress.com/carolyn-bracken)
## Recent and upcoming work
Bracken played Cass Canavan in *Horseshoe*, a comedy-drama directed by Edwin Mullane and Adam O'Keeffe about four estranged siblings who return to their family home in the west of Ireland after their father's death.[7](https://www.tipperarylive.ie/whats-on/tipperary-actress-to-star-in-upcoming-film-produced-by-tipperary-man-6697938) The film premiered to a sold-out audience at the Galway Film Fleadh, where it won the Best First Feature Award, and opened Irish cinemas on December 5, 2025.[7](https://www.tipperarylive.ie/whats-on/tipperary-actress-to-star-in-upcoming-film-produced-by-tipperary-man-6697938)
She plays Irene, a wealthy art collector whose life is shattered by a tragic event, in *Beasts of Prey*, an English-language psychological horror film directed by Italian first-timer Andrea Corsini and shot in Lombardy and Piedmont; the film premiered internationally at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival under the title *Ferine*.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/news/) Upcoming credits listed by IMDb include *The Rachel Incident*, *The Murder of Mr. Moonlight* (an RTÉ drama series about the 2011 disappearance of [Bobby Ryan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-ryan)), and *Lesbian Lines*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/)
## Writing and other work
IMDb lists one writing credit, the short film *Inner Child* (2018), in which she also played Leah.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) • [9](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1800020-carolyn-bracken) Her theater work includes roles with The Corps Ensemble in *Eden* (as Breda), *Kissing the Witch*, and *Anna Livia Wake*.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf) In 2021 she received Screen Ireland funding under the Actor as Creator scheme for the theater piece *Cleaner*, which won the 2020 Scripts Ireland Alive and Online competition; the short film version won Best in Cork at the Cork International Film Festival 2021.[5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf)
## Notes on identity
Several other people share the name. A different Carolyn Bracken, born 1944 in Los Angeles, is a daughter of the actor [Eddie Bracken](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-bracken).[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2937080/bio/) The children's book illustrator Carolyn Bracken, known for *The Magic School Bus* tie-in books and Clifford titles, is a separate person, Carolyn Bracken Franzoni of Oregon.[9](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1800020-carolyn-bracken) • [11](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-bracken-franzoni-a878a26a) Published birth dates for the actress also differ between databases: IMDb gives May 16, 1982, while TV Insider gives January 1, 1982.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/) • [12](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/carolyn-bracken/)
## References
1. [Carolyn Bracken, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/)
2. [Nenagh actress in frame for IFTA, Nenagh Guardian (24 January 2025)](https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2025/01/24/nenagh-actress-in-frame-for-ifta/)
3. [Screen Ireland Production Slate for Film & Television 2021: You Are Not My Mother](https://www.screenireland.ie/images/uploads/general/Screen_Ireland_Production_Catalogue_2021.pdf)
4. [Carolyn Bracken, Hot Press](https://www.hotpress.com/carolyn-bracken)
5. [Carolyn Bracken CV, Susannah Norris Agency](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c48c04655b02c13b37b32bd/t/688785d5f768d645f7494e7b/1753712088335/CAROLYN%2BBRACKEN%2BCV%2B(3).pdf)
6. [Carolyn Bracken (II): Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-779424/filmographie/)
7. [Tipperary actress to star in upcoming film produced by Tipperary man, Tipperary Live (17 November 2025)](https://www.tipperarylive.ie/whats-on/tipperary-actress-to-star-in-upcoming-film-produced-by-tipperary-man-6697938)
8. [Carolyn Bracken - News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5427601/news/)
9. [Carolyn Bracken, The Movie Database](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1800020-carolyn-bracken)
10. [Carolyn Bracken - Biography, IMDb (nm2937080)](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2937080/bio/)
11. [Carolyn Bracken Franzoni, LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-bracken-franzoni-a878a26a)
12. [Carolyn Bracken, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/carolyn-bracken/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Irish actors › Surnames A to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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