Bio
Maria Doyle is an Irish actress and singer (known as Maria Doyle Kennedy since her 1988 marriage to musician Kieran Kennedy) who appeared in Irish movies such as The Commitments, about a musical group; and The General, with Brendan Gleeson, about the notorious Irish gangster Martin Cahill, who was killed by the IRA.
She played the role of Bates's estranged wife and childhood sweetheart in the second season of the period drama television series Downton Abbey, in 2011.
Dublin-born Doyle Kennedy balances a film and television career, a recording and touring career as a singer/songwriter, and the parenting of four sons.
She joined a band while still studying at Trinity College in the mid-1980s and made her film debut as a backup singer in the 1991 film The Commitments.
Numerous film roles, including John Boorman's 1998 The General, and television roles in The Tudors and Dexter, have brought her to the attention of US audiences.
She appears in Downton Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes's 2012 television series Titanic.