Some of her family had a theatre background: her uncle Frank Kelly was a well-known actor, and an aunt who taught speech and drama sent her plays by George Bernard Shaw as a teenager.
[3] After graduation she got a few acting roles in Dublin's Gate Theatre before spending some time as a stand-up comedian.
She then progressed to what she has described as "a medium somewhere between theatre and comedy", doing self-performing autobiographical pieces.
[4] Productions of Kelly's plays "The Wheelchair on My Face" and "The Last Return" have won Scotsman Fringe First awards.
They met while they were both working on a play at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin.