Tara-Lynne O'Neill (born 16 November 1975) is a film, theatre and television actress from Northern Ireland.
During her childhood, she aspired to become a dentist, but abandoned this after failing her General Certificate of Secondary Education in chemistry.
At sixth-form college, she opted for a career in acting.
O'Neill started work as a television presenter on Saturday Disney from 1993 to 1996. She was also a main presenter on The Over the Wall Gang, a young people's television show from BBC Northern Ireland
O'Neill also appeared in film roles such as the town's seductress in The Most Fertile Man in Ireland (1999), and as Claire McKee in Wild About Harry (2000). She later played Joanne Ryan in EastEnders, appearing in 58 episodes between 20 September 2002, and 21 August 2003.
Between 2013 and 2016, she appeared in The Fall. In 2018, she joined the main cast of Derry Girls as Mary Quinn, remaining on the show until the airing of the final episode on 18 May 2022. In April 2024, O'Neill was cast as Inspector Eve Dunlop in BBC's Hope Street for the show's fourth series.
Her other roles include The Informant (1997), Disco Pigs (2001), Full Circle and Omagh (2004).
Known for
Touched by an Angel
Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives.
Amidst the political conflict of Northern Ireland in the 1990s, five secondary school students square off with the universal challenges of being a teenager.
Family Liaison Officer Lisa Armstrong becomes a little too emotionally involved with a case (to the point where she might compromise it) concerning a pair of missing Morecambe twins to whose distraught parents she is assigned.
When the Police Service of Northern Ireland are unable to close a case after 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson of the Metropolitan Police Service is called in to review the case. Under her new leadership, the local detectives must track down and stop a serial killer who is terrorising the city of Belfast.
Port Devine, a small town in Northern Ireland, sees the mysterious arrival of English detective Leila Hussain, the first Muslim police officer in the town's history. Her entrance opens the door for a variety of cases among the locals.
1994. As Northern Ireland takes its first steps towards peace, best friends Vinny and Jonty are about to jump start their futures with the most reckless trip of their lives.
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
Michael Gallagher is an ambitious young detective, promoted to a task force aimed at taking down Belfast's most dangerous crime family: the Farrs. However, as his investigation deepens, a murder pushes him towards a reckoning with his own dark past.
A violent crime committed against a much-loved local and the police investigation brings bad news for DS Marlene Pettigrew. Love is also in the air and there’s a wedding to plan, but this is Port Devine, what could possibly go wrong?
An aging actress' husband dies of a heart attack en route to Rome, where they'd planned to holiday. There, she rents an apartment and, through the Contessa, she meets a young man, with whom she begins an affair.