His mind, however, was elsewhere, his granny having passed away in the middle of rehearsals.

It was very difficult for a while, because I wasn't able to go back to Ireland for the funeral. We were just about to open, and what should have been an absolutely amazing couple of weeks was a bit difficult, to be honest. It's hard being here when all that's happening at home. My mum and dad are coming over during the week to see the show, and it's going to be a big relief to see them."

This is the bit of the article where you're going, 'Well, of course, he's Brendan Gleeson's son, of course he's doing well for himselff' Because, well, we're Irish, and that's what we do. And, yes, the teenage Gleeson first nabbed an agent for himself after he nearly stole the show collecting an award for his father at the Irish Film and Television awards some years back, but here's the thing: watch Domhnall Gleeson do his thing for more than five minutes, and you'll quickly realise that the lad's got something that's entirely his own.

Compare and contrast, for example, his hilarious turn in The Lieutenant Of Inishmore . . . as an innocent, somewhat gormless island lad who finds himself up to his neck in absolute bloody mayhem . . . with an otherworldly performance as a holy man in Druid's recent touring production of Synge's Well Of The Saints.

He's got presence, range and, as the McDonagh play demonstrates, excellent comic timing. We safely predict big things.

Someone like Martin isn't going to cast someone unless they're absolutely right for the role, " he says.

The work I've gotten up to now, I know myself that I've gotten those parts by myself, and I'm comfortable with that. Anyone who might have a problem with that doesn't know the situation, so what can you do? I've been really, really lucky with what I've worked on . . . I mean, The Lieutenant Of Inishmorewon the Olivier Award, now Six Shooter has won the Oscar. To be a part of the Druid Synge thing was such an amazing honour. I did this amazing animation with these guys called Delicious 9, called Stars, that won a prize at the Galway Film Fleadh . . . a phenomenal piece of work.

I've worked with amazing people already, you know, and I'm 22. I don't take that for granted for a second."

Acting was not a forgone conclusion for Domhnall Gleeson; even when the gigs started rolling in, he stuck it out with his studies, graduating with a BA in Media Arts from DIT Aungier Street. There, he was drawn towards writing and directing for stage and film.

It's something that I'm still very interested in, " he says. I suppose because I think I might be good at it. I made some short films there that I'm still very proud of; they were good films, I suppose, for a young man. I still want to pursue it, but at the moment I'm still finding out about acting. I've never been to drama school. To see people like Martin and Paul Mercier and Garry Hynes work up close; you couldn't have a better education.

I just want to work with good people, people who are passionate enough that it never just becomes a job."

Gleeson previously starred in the west end production of The Lieutenant Of Inishmore, restaged by director Wilson Mirlam for its New York run; McDonagh's rather unique take on the insanity of sectarian conflict involves a homicidal republican assassin, his ailing cat, and a shedload of trouble. Of all the playwright's works to date . . . and he recently announced that he's focusing on film for the foreseeable future . . . it's by far the most expressly political, not to mention outrageously violent.

People who focus on the blood and the gore, who say that it's a just pantomime, are totally missing the point, " says Gleeson.

Martin is saying that violence just leads to more violence, and that it's all going nowhere. My character, I suppose, is the only real innocent. He's the one who, in the end, has to pick up the pieces . . . literally."

Audiences and critics alike have been in raptures; the production will travel from a sell-out run at the modest, non-profit Atlantic Theatre to Broadway's prestigious New Amsterdam Theatre, where it opens on 9 May.

Gleeson, in the meantime, is staying cool and enjoying the ride. At an age where the majority of his peers are knocking about, figuring out what to do with their lives . . . right now, everybody I know back in Dublin seems to be in a band, " he laughs . . . he's about to tackle his first run on Broadway.

When we last chat to him, he's exhausted, on steroids for his voice, up to his oxters in rehearsals for the Broadway transfer, and in fine form altogether. After all, he's just heard that Robert De Niro will be popping in to see the show that very evening.

Right now, more than anything, " he says, I just feel very lucky. I'm amazed that I've gotten this far. Amazed and delighted. The truth of the matter is, if acting didn't pan out, then I'd have to find something else that made me happy, and there are other things that make me happy . . . I don't think acting is the be all and end all, neither is writing, neither is directing, neither is film, neither is theatre.

?I suppose I can always find something else. But while I'm doing this, I'm very intent on doing well at what I do. And, sure, what else would I be doing?"

CUSACK Daddy of them all, Cyril, who died in 1993, first joined the Abbey Theatre in 1932 and appeared in over sixty productions. After a fairly successful film career, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963. Best known to the younger generation for his role alongside Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot, his last stage appearance was in Chekov's play, The Three Sisters, in which three of his daughters played roles. All four of his daughters are actresses. Eldest daughter Sinead, who most recently appeared in the Natalie Portman vehicle, V for Vendetta is married to actor Jeremy Irons. Sorcha has been in The Bill and Casualty;

Niamh played Dr Kate Rowan in Heartbeat and Catherine starred in Ballykissangel and as Carmel, the psychotic nanny in Coronation Street.

HARRIS

Richard Harris was a classically trained actor but is also remembered for his hard drinking and carousing.

Career highlights include This Sporting Life, Mutiny on the Bounty and his portrayal of King Arthur in Camelot.

Playing Bull McCabe in The Field won him an Oscar nomination. He died in 2002.

His three sons have followed him into the creative sphere.

Jamie appeared in Lemony Snicket and other sibling Damian is a director, but it's middle brother Jared who is best known. Married to Emilia Fox, he shot to fame as Andy Warhol in the 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol and has been in Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Igby Goes Down.

BERGIN Just thinking of loveable rogue Dick Byrne, so skillfully played by Emmet Bergin, can bring a tear to your eye , , we miss Glenroe. . . Since then, Emmet has focused on TV work, although he did appear in 2003's Veronica Guerin.

Brother Patrick had success across the water, notably starring with Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy.

O'SULLIVAN/FARROW Mother went to school with Vivienne Leigh and played the perfect Jane to Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan.

Daughter married Frank Sinatra, Andre Previn and made 13 films with Woody Allen. You can't get a starrier lineage than that of Maureen O'Sullivan and Mia Farrow.

Maureen was born in Co Roscommon and caught the attention of a Fox director who brought her to Hollywood.

She was one of MGM's biggest stars in the 1930s but made fewer films from the 1940s, to bring up her children with writer John Farrow. Although Mia is American, we'll claim her as one of our own. As Satan's mother in Polanksi's wonderful Rosemary's Baby, she is truly haunting.