Award-winning Inishowen director Caitríona McLaughlin has signed a new five-year fixed term contract to stay at the helm of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
McLaughlin, who is originally from Carndonagh, has been Co-Director of the Abbey Theatre (Artistic Director) since 2021.
Her new contract will commence on Monday, 4th May 2026, as will returning Co-Director and Executive Director Mark O’Brien.
Commenting, Chair of the Board of the Abbey Theatre, John Cronin said: “On behalf of the Board, we are delighted to secure this reappointment of Caitríona and Mark for the next five years.
“We thank both of them for, and salute, their work and success to date, and we now congratulate them on their reappointment and look forward very much to working with them as they continue to achieve great things in the next five years.
“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the organisation for their part in what the Co-Directors and the Abbey Theatre have achieved in recent years, knowing that they will continue to work with and support Caitríona and Mark in the coming years.”
McLaughlin is directing JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, now running at the National Theatre in London. Starring Declan Conlon, Nicola Coughlan, Lorcan Cranitch, Megan Cusack, Éanna Hardwicke, Siobhán McSweeney and Marty Rea. Soon, she will also direct Tom Murphy’s A Whistle in the Dark, starring Paul Mescal in his debut at the National Theatre in London. Following its premiere there, it will transfer to the Abbey Theatre in 2027.
Inishowen director Caitríona McLaughlin reappointed to co-lead Abbey Theatre was last modified: February 14th, 2026 by Staff Writer
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