The series will explore the legacy of one of Ireland’s most shocking and dark scandals, the barbaric institutions known as ‘The Magdalene Laundries’.

Lorna Brady (Ruth Wilson) lives in the fictional town of Kilkinure and awakens one day to find a dead woman in her house.  

With no memory of what has occurred, Brady doesn't know who the dead woman is and if she could be responsible for her death. 

Brady has suffered with extreme sleepwalking caused by the trauma of her time being incarcerated in Kilkinure Convent when she was 15. 

The Convent housed the infamous Magdalene Laundries which was where women who were deemed to be social immoral were taken, committing offences such as adultery and teenage pregnancies. 

When the Convent finally closed its doors, it left a trail of survivors suffering from the horrors that occurred inside. Very few survivors went on to lead normal lives and no matter where they went, none of them would ever forget. 

Detective Colman Akande (Daryl McCormack) is as ambitious as he is elusive and is hot on the tail of Brady for a crime that appears to be unrelated to the dead woman in her house. 

Detective Akande was quick to rise through the ranks of Garda Síochána with his dark wit and natural aptitude for the job. However, he has a sadness inside him that he doesn’t understand and secrets he doesn’t want the world to know. 

Filled with dark humour and psychological horror, The Woman in the Wall follows two people searching for answers in a place with deeply buried secrets. 

The drama is created by Joe Murtagh who will also direct alongside Rachna Suri, with Wilson acting as an executive producer. 

Joe Murtagh said: My family is from Mayo, the county in which the fictional Kilkinure is set, and it deeply frustrates and saddens me that it feels so few people have heard of the Laundries that existed across Ireland. 

“I hope that by making something that has the familiarity of a genre piece we are able to shed some light on the awful things that occurred within these kind of institutions and introduce this history to the wider public, so that nothing like it may ever happen again.”

Ruth Wilson commented: “Lorna Brady is a complex and fascinating character and I’m thrilled to help bring her to life. In The Woman in the Wall Joe has created both an enthralling gothic thriller and a moving examination of the legacy of The Magdalene Laundries. It’s a privilege to bring this story to screens.”