As if she is not busy enough preparing for her role in the new Danny DeVito film The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle alongside Pierce Brosnan and Morgan Freeman, Carlow star Saoirse Ronan is house-hunting, and soon she could be your neighbour!
Eagle-eyed celebrity watchers recently spotted Saoirse with her parents around county Carlow’s newest and still-developing estates, housing development brochures in hand.
At the tender age of 14 young Saoirse, who currently lives in Ardattin with her parents Paul and Monica, has her head firmly screwed on.
Though local auctioneers contacted by Carlow First would not be drawn on which areas of Carlow are of particular interest to the Oscar nominated star, calls to Carlow First reveal a wide search by the young woman.
Between Borris, Bagenalstown, Leighlinbridge, Killerig and Carlow, Saoirse was said to have seen some particularly nice houses and seemed very interested in some local property in which to invest her well-earned money.
Saoirse, who has told American media her heart will always be in Carlow, has not yet made a purchase but every village in the county would certainly roll out the red carpet for one of Hollywood’s rising stars.
But if she doesn’t make a purchase soon, come September she will be too busy for house-hunting as she begins filming her latest movie the new family adventure, directed by Danny DeVito, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, about a young girl who gets involved in a ship mutiny.
Saoirse, who is currently between roles, attends secondary school in Wexford’s FCJ Bunclody while a private teacher supplements her learning on set. She began her acting career in The Clinic in 2004. Since then she has starred alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in I Could Never Be Your Woman. She then teamed up with Joely Richardson and Tom Berenger for The Christmas Miracle Of Jonathan Toomey, swiftly followed by Death Defying Acts, starring Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Timothy Spall. But it was her role as Briony Tallis in the movie Atonement that netted her a best supporting actress nomination at this year’s Academy Awards.
Despite losing the statue to Tilda Swinton, Saoirse continues to enjoy success and popularity as an actress. She will soon appear on screen opposite Bill Murray in City of Ember, and then as Susie Salmon in the screen version of The Lovely Bones, directed by Peter Jackson before she takes her turn alongside Brosnan.
Despite the Hollywood lifestyle she leads, Saoirse’s feet are firmly planted on the ground thanks to her parents, who hailed originally from Dublin and spent some 12 years living in New York before re-locating to Carlow to raise their daughter.
Her father Paul, an accomplished actor, who has appeared alongside Colin Farrell in Ballykissangel, in the The Devil’s Own with Brad Pitt, in Veronica Guerin with Cate Blanchett and with Kevin Spacey in Ordinary Decent Criminal, has always told the media that his little girl is still a ‘little girl’ and they make sure she never gets too dazzled by all the bright lights of Hollywood.
