EVELYN
The film will be directed by Bruce
Beresford and will be produced by Pierce Brosnan and Beau St. Clair of Irish DreamTime and
Michael Ohoven of Infinity Entertainment. The film will be distributed by United
Artists/Overseas Film Group. The script is by Paul Pender.
The film is being filmed on location in Ireland.
SYNOPSIS
(for cast list see further down):
Ireland, 1953. When Desmond
Doyle's wife, Charlotte, leaves her family on the day after Christmas, her mother reports
the departure to the authorities. The Catholic Church and the Irish courts decide that a
1941 law mandates that the three Doyle children, nine year old Evelyn and her two younger
brothers, Maurice and Dermot, be put into Church-run orphanages. During that time Evelyn
and her brothers suffer the abuse of living in such orphanages.
Desmond
attempts to retrieve the children with the help of the feisty barmaid he has befriended,
Bernadette Beattie, and her solicitor brother Michael. When the Church and courts refuse
to give the children back, a visiting Irish born lawyer from America, Nick Barron, agrees
to help with the case. 
Nick drafts his old mentor, Thomas
Connolly, a famously colorful retired barrister who relishes the idea of taking on his old
foes on the Irish High Court, headed by Senior Counsel Wolfe. Nick also recruits Hugh
Cannon, a popular radio broadcaster too take up the cause.
Against
all odds, but with the support and encouragement of his fellow countrymen as well as
people around the world, Desmond and his legal team do what has never been done before -
challenge the constitutionality of a law before the Irish Supreme Court. No one is spared,
including little Evelyn, in a final attempt to reverse Ireland's Family Law and reunite a
father with his children.
CURRENT CAST LIST:
Pierce Brosnan - Desmond Doyle 
Aidan Quinn - Nick Barron
Julianna Margulies - Bernadette Beattie
Stephen Rea - Michael Beattie
Alan Bates - Thomas Connolly
Sophie Vavasseur - Evelyn Doyle
John Lynch - Wolfe
Hugh McDonagh - Maurice (Evelyn's younger brother)
Niall Beagen - Dermot (Evelyn's younger brother)
Frank Kelly - Henry (Evelyn's grandfather)
Mairhead Devlin - Charlotte (Evelyn's mother)
Eileen Colgan - Mrs. Daisley (Charlotte's mother)
Alvaro Lucchesi - Logan (from Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)
Garrett Keogh - District Judge (of Metropolitan Children's Court)
Stuart Clark - Children's Court usher
Marian Quinn (Aidan's real-life sister) - Sister Theresa (manager of St.
Joseph's Orphanage and Industrial School where Evelyn is sent)
Andrea Irvine - Sister Brigid (St. Joseph's nun who is Evelyn's nemesis)
Karen Ardiff - Sister Felicity (St. Joseph's nun who befriends Evelyn)
Daithi O'Suillebhain - Brother Eustace (Christian brother at the Kilkenny Industrial
School)
Bosco Hogan - Father O'Malley (local priest)
Des Braiden - Fergal (owner of Fergal's Pub, Bernadette's employer)
Sorcha Herlihy - Mary (friend of Evelyn's at the orphanage)
Lauren Carpenter - Annette (friend of Evelyn's at the orphanage)
Gail Fitzpatrick - Cathy Gilhooly (Michael Beattie's secretary)
Pat McGrath - gamekeeper of Lord Kilbrandon's estate
Mark Lambert - Minister of Education
David Monks - Sean (classmate of Evelyn's brothers at Kilkenny Industrial School)
Brian McGrath - Hugh Canning (popular radio and Irish Times reporter)
Conor Evans - Justice Ferris (lead judge in High Court)
Alan Berry - Justice McLaoghlin (High Court judge)
Eamon Rohan - Justice Hall (High Court judge)
Mick Nolan - Owen O'Leary (local bookie who donates winnings to Doyle's cause)
CURRENT CREW LIST:
Bruce Beresford - director
Mario Ohoven - executive producer
Eberhard Kayser - executive producer
Kieran Corrigan - executive producer
Simon Bosanquet - executive producer
Pierce Brosnan - producer
Beau St. Clair - producer
Michael Ohoven - producer
Paul Pender - writer
Cynthia A. Palormo - associate producer
Amanda Scarano - production supervisor
Ian Bailie - art director
Rich Cowan - first assistant director
John Hubbard - casting director
Ros Hubbard - casting director
Andre Fleuren - cinematographer
Joan Bergin - costume designer
Humphrey Dixon - editor
Kevan Barker - line producer
John Stoddart - production designer
David Byrne - production manager
Josie Macavin - set decorator
Brendan Deasy - sound department
Maurice Foley - special effects department
Bronco McLoughlin - stunts
Cathy Handelman - production co-ordinator
Julie Busher - graphics
Linda Murphy - art dept. co-ordinator
Dermot Cleary - location manager
Rich Cowan - 1st assistant director
Bron Roylance - makeup: Pierce Brosnan
Rick Provenzano - hair stylist: Pierce Brosnan
Bernadette Dooley - chief hairdresser
Lyn Johnson - chief make-up
Stefan Stankowski - camera operator
Jonathan Hession - stills photographer
Stephen Endelman - composer
Rob Quigley - production accountant
Renee Foley Burke - script supervisor
Paul Hedges - property master
Ger Scully - wardrobe supervisor
Dave Whelan - construction manager
John Kavanagh - transport captain
More information on Evelyn can be found on the following sites:
- The
QUINNtessential Man's EVELYN page
- Melissa Jones EVELYN Page
- Jenny Shields EVELYN Page
- Karen Rappaport's Alan Bates Archive
- Judy Darnell's Stephen Rea Page
- Marsha Finley's John
Lynch Page
For questions about Evelyn please email irish_dream@hotmail.com (please note this is not
an email for autograph seekers!).
Currently Evelyn is scheduled for cinematic release in December 2002.
Thanks to Brian for providing this detailed information. This page was last updated on 15 May 2002.