Irish celebrities turning 50 – including models and popstars

Rockabilly queen Imelda May turned 50 this week, a landmark birthday for the Liberty Belle. She’s in good company, with some of Ireland’s best-known stars also born in 1974.

Some of those turning half a century in 2024 include Andrea Corr, Keith Duffy and Amanda Brunker.

They’re all defying their age, looking as good as they ever did throughout decades in the public eye, and enjoying continued success.

Internationally, Victoria Beckham, Leonardo Di Caprio, Penelope Cruise and Victoria Smurfit are fellow 50 year olds.

Here’s a look at some of our top Irish stars who celebrate the big 5-0 in 2024.

Singer Imelda May, born July 10, 1974

Her first TV appearance was on the Late Late Show as a 12-year-old, singing in a choir.

But it would be another 20 years until the Mayhem singer burst onto the scene big time, with her iconic look and incredible voice.

As she turns 50, she can add poet, artist and actor to her bow – and has changed her look along the way from 1950s starlet to sexy rock chick.

Her unique style, catchy songs and powerful performance ability catapulted her to stardom after she appeared on the famous Later With Jools Holland show in the late 2000s.

She soon gained an army of fans, including legends like Bono, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck.

But she was no overnight success.

Imelda, who grew up in the Liberties in Dublin’s south inner-city, was was 35 by the time she became famous.

She put in the hard years, singing in bands and moving to London and working two jobs at a time while playing gigs at night.

It all paid off with a string of Number One albums, a stint hosting her own music show, poetry books, art installations and in recent years, a turn at acting on both stage and screen.

Her new film The People Before opens opens at Galway Film Fleadh today and next month she plays Kathleen Behan in the Olympia theatre’s Mother of All The Behans.

In her time in the spotlight, she split with husband Darrel Higham but has now found love again with actor and musician Niall McNamee.

Darrel and Imelda co-parent daughter Violet, who is 12 next month.

Andrea Corr, born May 17, 1974

Hard to believe the elfin Andrea is 50, yet the Corrs’ frontwoman celebrated the big birthday in May.

But the singer – who achieved worldwide fame in the family folk group – has been a major figure in Irish music for almost 30 years now.

The Dundalk band’s debut album Forgiven Not Forgotten came out in 1995 and was a huge hit. It was followed by four more, with singles like Runaway, Breathless, What Can I Do, Only When I Sleep, Radio and So Young.

But the first time we saw her was in 1990’s Roddy Doyle music flick The Commitments when she played daughter Sharon Rabbitte.

She has since appeared in Evita, starring Madonna, the film The Boys from County Clare and on stage in London’s Old Vic and Dublin’s Gate theatres.

She recently appeared on Ryan Tubridy’s radio show on Virgin in London, when she talked about turning 50.

She said: “I’m not worried. It seems strange. I still feel like a girl.

“In a lot of ways, there’s a bit of relief with it. It’s kind of hard to be young, there’s a lot of pressure.

“There’s a side of you that you need to prove. Whereas I don’t feel I have to do that anymore.”

The Corrs split in 2006 and Andrea recorded solo albums in that time. But they reunited in 2015 and recently toured last year.

Keith Duffy, born October 1, 1974

From Donaghmede in Dublin, Keith was on the road to stardom as a teenager, playing hurling for Dublin under 16s.

He left sport for music after being spotted by music manager Louis Walsh.

The Boyzone member first came to our attention in 1993 on the Late Late show, dancing with Ronan Keating and the rest of the lads to ridicule by Gay Byrne.

But they proved everyone wrong when the chart-topping boyband became a huge success, with hits like Love Me For A Reason, No Matter What and Picture Of You.

Keith – who turns 50 in October – has gone on to become an actor, presenter and campaigner.

He has two adult children with wife Lisa – Jay, who is 28 and Mia, who is 24. Mia’s autism and struggle for services led Keith to become an effective autism campaigner.

His biggest swerve was into acting, playing the role of Ciaran McCarthy in soap Coronation Street.

He’s taken part in reality shows such as I’m A Celebrity, and delved into presenting roles too.

Last year made a documentary for RTE on dental tourism called Keith’s Teeth, inspired by his own quest to perfect his smile.

Amanda Brunker, June 12, 1974

Brunker is the original Renaissance woman, going from beauty queen to model to singer, author, actress and lately, playwright.

Known as one of Ireland’s greatest beauties, she looks far younger than her 50 years.

For all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletters here.

Like the others of her vintage, the Dubliner started off early, becoming the youngest ever winner of Miss Ireland when she took the crown in 1991, aged 17.

She went on to become one Ireland’s best-known models, and later a prominent social diarist and nightclub hostess, as well as author of romantic novels.

She has presented her own TV show – RTE’s The Dinner Party – and had acting roles in Glenroe and the film Head Rush.

In between all this, she married businessman Philip McLaughlin, at a wedding in New York where her old friend Bono was the guest of honor.

Her proudest achievement is being mother to her two teenage sons Setanta and Edward.

She has recently turned her hand to playwriting, penning the award-winning plays How To Leave Your Husband and Curiosity.

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here.