Clodagh Finn: The Irish 'firecrackers' who led the way on the US stage

Aideen O'Connor was happy to present the stage version of the sweet Irish girl, but she embraced all that the experience could offer her

Aideen O'Connor in the 1930s. Her relationship with the married actor Arthur Shields would cast a lasting shadow over her career. Picture: courtesy of the Shields Family Archive, James Hardiman Library Archives, UCG.

There was such enthusiasm in the reception for Irish actress Aideen O'Connor on her debut tour of America in the 1930s that her ascent to stardom seemed assured.

The Detroit Times was in no doubt about that: “Hollywood already has its collective eye on this new and bright-eyed colleen from the Abbey players,” ran the caption under a photograph of the troupe's youngest player at 21.