Celia Ireland

Celia Ireland
Born	16 May 1966 Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Notable work	Television: All Saints Wentworth Film: My Mother Frank Australian Rules

Celia Ireland (born 16 May 1966) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Regina Butcher on the television series All Saints and as Liz Birdsworth on the prison drama series Wentworth.

Early life

Celia Ireland was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia in 1966. She lived in Haig Street, Belmont, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia with a large cast of older sisters and a brother. Celia attended Saint Mary's Catholic High School, Gateshead, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales and later Saint Anne's/Saint Pius X College, Adamstown (Newcastle), New South Wales, Australia.

Career

Ireland made her television debut in 1992 when she made a guest appearance on the Australian television series Police Rescue. What followed was a number of guesting roles on television series such as A Country Practice, Water Rats and Murder Call, to name but a few and the feature films Dallas Dolls in 1994, which was her film debut; Dad and Dave: On Our Selection, Floating Life, Idiot Box and Thank God He Met Lizzie, with Cate Blanchett; all of which she appeared in throughout the nineties.

In 1997, Ireland played Rosy's mother Filameena in the Australian children's television series Swinging for ABC TV.

In 1998, Ireland went onto voice Boronia in the Australian children's animated television series Petals for ABC TV and Mrs. Simms in the Australian children's animated television series Seaside Hotel for Seven Network and Yoram Gross EM TV in 2003.

In 1999, Ireland was cast as Regina Butcher on the Seven Network drama series All Saints, first appearing during the series' second season. She left the series in 2005 during season eight.

While appearing on All Saints, Ireland continued to receive guest roles in several series and films; the Australian feature films After the Rain, My Mother Frank, Angst and Australian Rules, in which she received a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role; the popular Nine Network drama series McLeod's Daughters and Don't Blame Me. In 2006, Ireland played a recurring role in the second season of Supernova. Her other television credits include Monster House, Laid, Me and My Monsters, the television comedy-drama series Packed to the Rafters, and a recurring role as Connie Callahan in the Seven Network soap opera Home and Away; the films Rogue, Cactus, Being Venice and Goddess.

In 2012, Ireland received the regular role of Liz Birdsworth on Australian prison drama series Wentworth, a reimagining of the cult classic series Prisoner (Prisoner: Cell Block H) which aired on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986. Wentworth went to air on SoHo in mid-2013. Ireland has so far appeared as a regular in all three seasons, as a prisoner who gives peer support to her fellow inmates. Her character name is that of the original Prisoner character Lizzie Birdsworth, although Ireland plays a completely different character role to that of Sheila Florance's character, they do however share a similarity as Liz is a functioning alcoholic.^[1]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Dallas Dolls	Policewoman
1995	Dad and Dave: On Our Selection	Sarah
1996	Floating Life
1996	Idiot Box	Barmaid
1997	Thank God He Met Lizzie	Cheryl
1999	Oops!	Woman	Short film
2000	After the Rain	Stevie Canetti
2000	My Mother Frank	Peggy
2000	Angst	Case Worker
2002	Australian Rules	Liz Black	Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2007	Rogue	Gwen
2008	Cactus	Vesna
2012	Being Venice	Australian Woman
2013	Goddess	Mary

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Police Rescue	Lachlan's Mother	Season 2, episode 7 — "Sugar"
1993	The Comedy Sale	Various	Season 1, episodes 1–3
1993	A Country Practice	Judy Hallem	Season 13, episode 41 — "Certain Woman: Part 1" Season 13, episode 42 — "Certain Woman: Part 2"
1996	Water Rats	Sarah Fleetwood	Season 1, episode 14 — "Black Water" Season 1, episode 20 — Black Water II: Missing
1997	Swinging	Filameena	One season
1998	Petals	Boronia (voice)	Two seasons
1999	Murder Call	Barb Ferris	Season 3, episode 9 — "Hide & Seek"
1999	Dog's Head Bay	Alice Astassio	Season 1, episode 9 — "The Grim Reaper"
2002	Home and Away	Bernadette	Unknown episodes
2002	McLeod's Daughters	Melanie Powers	Season 2, episode 4 — "The Bore War"
2002	Don't Blame Me	Schoolteacher	Don't Blame the Koalas (title in United Kingdom) Season 1, episode 1 — "Fate Steps In"
1999–2000, 2002–2005	All Saints	Regina Butcher	Main role — 144 episodes
2003	Seaside Hotel	Mrs. Simms (voice)	Two seasons
2006	Supernova	Shirl	Recurring role Season 2, episode 1 — "Wild Oats" Season 2, episode 2 — "How's Your Father" Season 2, episode 4 — "Perseverance" Season 2, episode 5 — "Something Wicked This Way Comes" Season 2, episode 6 — "May The Best Man Win"
2008	Monster House	Karen Webb	Season 1, episode 1 Season 1, episode 2
2011	Laid	Brendan's Mum	Season 1, episode 1
2011	Me and My Monsters	Pauline Travis	Season 2, episode 13 — "The Monster-Sitter"
2013	Packed to the Rafters	Colleen Bourke	Season 5, episode 20 — "Weathering the Storm" Season 5, episode 21 — "Free to Choose"
2013–	Wentworth	Liz Birdsworth	Wentworth Prison (title in New Zealand and United Kingdom) Main role 34 episodes Nominated - ASTRA for Outstanding Actor
2013-2014–	Home and Away	Connie Callahan	Recurring role

References

1. (Cooper, Lorna - 27 August 2013)"Wentworth: Prisoner Cell Block H's gritty update". MSN. Retrieved 14 September 2013.

External links

• Celia Ireland at the Internet Movie Database