Judy Kelly is an Irish documentary maker with two decades of experience directing highly impactful documentaries in the UK and Ireland.

She made Keelin Shanley, Faraway: Still Close with Keelin’s husband Conor Ferguson and filmed and directed The Crossing, the 2016 documentary following the Irish Navy’s work rescuing migrants in the central Mediterranean. It received Special Commendation at the Prix Europa in Berlin in 2017 and won Best Documentary at the Celtic Media Festival.

Other credits include Clerys, documenting the controversial closure of the historic Dublin department store, The Perfect Murder, part of Channel 4’s First Cut series for up and coming directors, and the portrait of the life and times of Ryanair founder ‘Tony Ryan‘. She was Series Director on John Lonergan’s Circus, which won an IFTA in 2013 for best documentary series. She was on the team that made Prime Time Investigates- Inside Ireland’s Covid Battle, which won an RTS Award and Celtic Media Award this year.

Throughout her career, she has focused on human stories at the heart of iconic institutions and organisations- including The Sheriff and Me, (following the Dublin debt recovery service), From Here to Maternity on Cork’s busy maternity hospital, Probation (following Ireland’s probation services) and Keeping Ireland Alive, charting a day in the life of Ireland’s Health Service. Much of her work has involved dealing with highly sensitive subject matter and vulnerable individuals, in an appropriate and responsible matter- for example, Our Son, David (the story of a young boy with Leukemia), the Our Lady’s series on the Crumlin Children’s Hospital, Trauma: Ireland’s Medical Emergencies, based in the Accident and Emergency department of a major Dublin hospital and she was Series Director on 2 award winning seasons of Rotunda, a fixed rig series on childbirth.