The death has been announced of the television and film producer Martha O’Neill, founder of the award-winning production company Wildfire Films.
O’Neill’s credits include programmes for RTÉ, TG4, BBC, Channel 4 and PBS, among them the drama Grace Harte and the documentaries Our Town, Hidden Impact: Rugby and Concussion, OCD and Me, and John Lonergan’s School Principles. Her film credits include Ordinary Decent Criminal and Last of the High Kings.
O’Neill, who also served on the boards of Screen Ireland, Screen Producers Ireland and the Irish Film Institute, was married to Garry Hynes, artistic director of Druid.
Wildfire produced a series of films in collaboration with the Galway-based theatre company: DruidSynge, recordings of the six plays of JM Synge; Mighty Talk, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the production of DruidSynge; Playboys and Rebels, an exploration of the history of Synge’s work at the Abbey Theatre; and DruidShakespeare, about Druid’s production of Richard II, Henry IV (Parts 1 & 2) and Henry V.
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O’Neill died on Easter Sunday at the Beacon Hospital, in Dublin. She is survived by Hynes, her family Anne, David, Eoin, Sinead (Moyles), Valerie O’Riordan, sister-in-law Betty, brothers-in-law John and Robert, nieces Jenny and Kate, and nephews Mark and Tom.
