Greencastle woman Maria Mulhall ‘incredibly proud’ to produce TV sensation Trespasses

An Inishowen woman is a key figure behind one of the biggest television sensations of 2025.

Channel 4’s Trespasses – a story of forbidden love in Belfast during the 1970s, based on the Louise Kennedy novel – has been gaining rave reviews amongst viewers and critics across the UK and Ireland.

The show, which stars Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen and Gillian Anderson, has been produced by Greencastle’s Maria Mulhall, who’s understandably thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive reception so far.

“I’m incredibly proud of Trespasses,” says Maria. “I have lived and breathed it for a long time, and I’m so pleased with the reception so far.”

Maria explains how she came to be involved in Trespasses after being introduced to Executive Producer Amanda Posey, a two-time Oscar nominee.

The 39-year-old says she feels privileged to be able to help tell the story of Louise Kennedy’s masterful book for TV audiences.

“Northern Ireland Screen introduced me to Amanda when she was looking for a creative partner. We very much clicked on our first call,” Maria explains.

“I hadn’t read the book, so when she first got in touch, I devoured it in advance of our chat. I’d never read anything quite like it. Louise’s writing is completely immersive and evocative. When it came around that I did become engaged on the project, I felt incredibly privileged to be given the opportunity.”

A native of Carrowhugh in Greencastle, Maria studied media in college and completed a film course in Prague. She got her first taste of film and television around 2009, when the Game of Thrones pilot was filmed in the North.

Since then, she has worked as an assistant director on television series such as The Fall, Mrs Wilson, and Marcella, as well as films, Ordinary Love, with Liam Neeson, and Grabbers, the madcap cult classic horror filmed in Moville.

After the pandemic, Maria moved into production management in both film and TV, including God’s Creatures (Paul Mescal, Emily Watson), and the first series of Blue Lights.

She began line producing in 2021 on Element Pictures, The Dry (Ciaran Hinds, Róisin Gallagher) for two series, and the feature, Four Letters of Love (Helena Bonham-Carter, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne).

Maria began producing Trespasses in October 2023, and she says her main task was to “empower everyone to tell the best story within the parameters of the budget.”

“On Trespasses, I had the benefit of watching Amanda work closely with Ailbhe Keogan and Anne Edyvean as the scripts took shape; she’s particularly strong on story, and having four well-developed drafts a year before filming is rare in television.”

“As the scripts moved toward their final form and the wider production puzzle came into focus, the inevitable need for cuts and amendments emerged – often this happens with very little time to respond, but because I’d been across much of the development, I was able to make informed provocations and suggestions, understanding the origin of both the creative and commissioning decisions that had shaped the material.”

Maria adds: “From there, the work became intensely logistical. Producing often feels like setting up a mini government. You need a working knowledge of finance, law, health and safety, insurance, and the craft of every department. Locations and production design required early, detailed planning, particularly as we were recreating a 1970s small town on a tight budget.”

“The research load was significant, and our design, costume, and makeup teams put huge effort into making the world feel authentic while aligning with Dawn’s visual language. As prep progressed, our technical departments worked with Dawn to establish the grammar of the storytelling.”

“The ‘Cushla Lens’ at the centre of it, is brought to life through a beautifully considered approach by our cinematographer. Every single frame you see was carefully discussed and constructed. A television schedule doesn’t usually allow for this level of work, so a big part of my role was to listen and understand everyone’s particular stressors and continually adapt the puzzle from there, considering production value, safety, or budgetary constraints.”

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Maria says the main challenge on Trespasses was the difficult schedule for filming.

“While filming, I’m also the main channel for the actors, so that can be challenging. However, as we were incredibly well-prepped, with great scripts and a brilliant crew; we were very much able to focus on 'the work' and always kept that at the forefront.”

“Scheduling and actor availability can often be one of the trickiest things to manage.”

“Layer that onto all the usual moving parts, and the schedule became a complex puzzle that depends entirely on having talented, collaborative people around you. You’re constantly balancing locations, transformations, and redresses, tides, daylight, night shoots, child-actor hours, and all the hundreds of unexpected variables that appear day-to-day,” Maria added.

I’m sure viewers will all agree that Maria’s hard work has been more than worth it in the end.