Danielle Ryan is an Irish-Sri-Lanken heiress, being the daughter of Capt. Cathal Ryan and granddaughter of Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair. Her mother Tess de Kretser, is from Sri Lanka. She trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Thus far, Ryan has used her inherited €250 million fortune to try her hand at being a business woman, entrepreneur, philanthropist, actress and producer.
In 2013, Ryan launched the brand ROADS, which encompasses luxury fragrances, book publishing and film production. She has said that in setting up ROADS, she wanted to find a way of crossing over from the artistic and creative worlds into tangible products.
There are 18 Eau de Perfum, 5 candles and more than 50 books for sale under the ROADS label around the world.
As of the end of 2013, the Phoenix magazine identified that Roads has accumulated losses of sixty thousand euro, by 2019 The Irish Times confirmed that losses had increased to €769,684 and the accounts show Ms Ryan has ploughed €6.5 million into the company and its parent entity, Portico Capital Management Ltd, through loans. Separate accounts for Roads Fragrance Ltd show that accumulated losses at that company increased by €38,920 to €1.841 million in 2019. Accumulated losses increased to just under €2.1 million at Portico Capital Management that year.
In 2017, Ryan also provided funding to One in Four, a charity in Ireland which helps people affected by childhood sexual abuse by agreeing to fund two years' salary for a psychotherapist.
UNICEF
Ryan announced in 2011, at the United Nations General Assembly, that her family would donate $14 million to help some of the most vulnerable children in Sri Lanka. This was the largest single private donation ever made to UNICEF, for which Ryan received the UNICEF Ireland's children's award from former Irish president, her husbands Aunt, Mary Robinson in 2012.
The donation was used to rebuild the health and education infrastructure in four towns in the North of Sri Lanka that had been destroyed by the Sri Lankan Civil War.
She worked with UNICEF, and gave keynote speeches on their behalf during her time as a member of the UNICEF International Council.
Ryan appeared in the 2024 film “The End”, which premiered at that years Toronto Film Festival. In 2024, she also appeared on stage at the Irish Repertory Theatre off-Broadway in New York where she played the role of Judith in Brian Friel’s Aristocrats.
The Lir Academy
Trinity College Dublin discontinued its acting degree in 2007, leaving Ireland with 'no high-level full-time actor training'. In response, Ryan founded The Lir, Ireland's National Academy of Dramatic Art, which she announced in 2009.
The Lir offers conservatoire training for actors along with degrees in stage management and technical theatre as well as Masters in Fine Art for playwriting, theatre directing and stage design.
