Bronagh Gallagher (born 1972) is an Irish singer and actress from Northern Ireland. She had her first acting role in the 1989 television movie Dear Sarah. She became known internationally known after her appearance in the 1991 film The Commitments.
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Early life and education
Bronagh Gallagher was born in 1972 in Derry, Northern Ireland, to working class Catholic parents. Her sister, Louise, is a film producer.
During her teenage years, she got involved in drama and music activities through school and joined a local amateur dramatics group called the Oakgrove Theatre Company. In 1989–90 she was a backing singer in a local band called The Listener.
Career
Gallagher was first a hairdresser.
Music
Her first album, Precious Soul, was released in 2004 on the Salty Dog Records label and was produced by John Reynolds. The album features collaborations with Brian Eno on the songs "He Don't Love You" and "Hooks". Gallagher wrote most of the music on the album, played the drums and sang lead vocals.
She released a second album, Bronagh Gallagher, in 2012, and a third album, Gather Your Greatness, in 2016.
Acting
Gallagher's big break came when she starred as Bernie in The Commitments (1991), followed by a supporting role in the BBC drama You, Me & Marley (1992), which is part of the BBC anthology series, ScreenPlay. She had small parts in Pulp Fiction (1994) and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). Other film appearances include Mary Reilly (1996), Divorcing Jack (1998), Thunderpants (2002), Skagerrak (2003), Tristan & Isolde (2006), Last Chance Harvey (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Grabbers (2012).
Gallagher has appeared on stage in Théâtre de Complicité touring production of The Street of Crocodiles and The National Theatre's production War Horse as Rose Narracott.
In 2009, Gallagher starred alongside a well-known cast on the MySpace/Vertigo Films production Faintheart and starred in the BBC Three comedy TV series Pramface in 2012.
On television, she played the mother of young Nick in the BBC drama Nick Nickleby. She played Trisha Meehan in The Field of Blood and Ada Mason in Agatha Christie's Poirot Series 10 episode, "The Mystery of the Blue Train".
In 2019, she began her role as Carol, the sister of amateur boxer Ashley in the Sky Original series Brassic.
Recognition
An image of Gallagher, in character as Bernie McGloughlin in the film The Commitments, was featured on an Irish postage stamp as part of the Ireland 1996: Irish Cinema Centenary series issued by An Post. The image includes her The Commitments co-stars Angeline Ball as Imelda Quirke, Maria Doyle Kennedy as Natalie Murphy and Andrew Strong as Deco Cuffe.
In 2020, she was listed at number 33 on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Pledge
In September 2025, she signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."
