O’REILLYS The Betty Ann Norton Collection 6th - 8th April 2022

3 Betty Ann was a widely loved and well-known speech and drama teacher from Dublin.With great energy and passion, she committed much of her life to teaching generations of Irish actors, authors, producers, filmmakers, and others alike, many of whom went on to be very successful. Betty Ann grew up on Ruben Avenue, just off South Circular Road, where she lived with her parents Frances and Eugene Norton and her brother Jim Nor ton. Music, theatre and the ar ts were of great impor tance to the Nor ton family, Frances played the violin and Eugene was a singer.They sent their chil- dren to drama classes and music lessons and nur tured their creativity. Jim went on to be- come a successful actor while Betty Ann found her calling as a teacher. She completed her speech and drama diplomas in the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Lon- don and was ambitious to continue a career teaching. In 1959 she opened her own drama school,The Betty Ann NortonTheatre School and Agency and her ambitions were met with success. In 1965 Betty Ann took a trip to the idyllic west of Ire- land. She was cycling along a small both- areen on the Aran Islands when sud- denly she lost con- trol on the uneven surface. Meanwhile, a man was setting up his tripod and camera to capture a shot of the undulating mountains ahead (the winding path in the foreground made for a lovely composition). Ready to take the picture he noticed something coming in to view, it was Betty Ann on her bicycle, she crashed straight in to him and they both ended up in a heap in the ditch.The man was Michael J Cunneen, from Limerick. Michael and Betty Ann were married in 1967 and that same year they bought a splendid Georgian house in Dun Laoghaire called ‘Bel- camp’. Michael had a background in stage design and drama and together they co-di- BETTY ANN NORTON (b. 1936-2020) Betty Ann, 1995 Betty Ann and her brother Jim Betty Ann with a Feis cup, during her time at Ena Mary