Niall Tóibín Passes On

Niall Tóibín, who played Father Frank McAnally on the TV show Ballykissangel and appeared in such films as The Ballroom of Romance (1986) and Eat the Peach (1986), died on November 13 2019 at the age of 89.

Niall Tóibín was born in Cork, Ireland on November 21 1929. He grew up in an Irish speaking household. When he was young he sang in the church choir and performed at the Irish language drama society in Cork. In 1947 he moved to Dublin to work as a civil service clerk. He gave up his job after he started performing with repertory company the Radio Éireann Players. In the Fifties he started working for RTÉ on radio and later on television. He also continued to perform on stage.

Niall Tóibín made his television debut in 1967 in the mini-series Ó Dúill. He guest starred on the show Theatre 625 and appeared in the mini-series A HAon is a HAon Sin a HAon and the TV movie The Country Boy. He appeared on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Colour in the three-part episode "The Secret of Boyne Castle." Also in the Sixties he made his film debut in Guns in the Heather in 1969. He also appeared in Ryan's Daughter (1970).

In the Seventies he appeared in the TV movies The Becauseway, The Sinners, An Carabhan, Benny Lynch, and Murphy's Stroke. He guest starred on Play for Today. He was a regular on the TV series Bracken. He appeared in the films Flight of the Doves (1971), L'iguana dalla lingua di fuoco (1971), Philadelphia, Here I Come (1977), Poitín (1978), and The Outsider (1979).

In the Eighties, Mr. Tóibín continued appear on the TV series Bracken until 1982. He was a regular on the TV shows The Irish RM  and Stay Lucky. He appeared in the mini-series Brideshead Revisited, Caught in a Free State, Wagner, and The Detective. He guest starred on the TV shows Mitch, Oxbridge Blues, Bulman, Dempsey and Makepeace, Screen Two, Coronation Street, and Confessional. He appeared in the movies Lovespell (1981), Reflections (1984), The Ballroom of Romance (1986), Rawhead Rex (1986), Eat the Peach (1986), and Fools of Fortune (1990).

In the Nineties Niall Tóibín continued to appear on Stay Lucky. He started playing Father Frank McAnally on Ballykissangel in 1996 and continued to appear on the show until it ended is run in 2001. He appeared in the mini-series G.B.H. He guest starred on the shows Boon, Minder, and Casualty. He appeared in the movies Far and Away (1992), Frankie Starlight (1995), The Nephew (1998), and Rat (2000). In the Naughts he was a regular on the TV series The Clinic. He appeared in the movie Veronica Guerin (2003).