Barry Fitzgerald: The civil servant who became one of Ireland’s first Hollywood stars
Barry Fitzgerald speaks to Maureen O’Hara in a scene from the film ‘The Quiet Man’ in 1952.
Photograph: Republic/Getty Images
Shields’s brother Arthur, younger than him by eight years, began taking acting classes in the Abbey in 1913, graduating to larger roles by 1914 when the Abbey’s first company were touring abroad.
Bored with his civil service job but not yet ready to let go of the steady income – “It was an easy job, full of leisure” – Fitzgerald decided to try his hand at acting too. Small of stature and with excellent comic timing in contrast to Arthur’s taller physique, the brothers had different styles and were rarely in direct competition.
Nevertheless, William decided to change his name to Barry Fitzgerald, which as in part to shield his moonlighting as an actor from his bosses at the Department of Industry and Commerce. He would maintain his day job alongside actin