Maura Tierney can not wait to explore her roots in Ireland - SEE VIDEO

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The Irish American actress who played Abby Lockart for eight years in “ER” is set to take to the road in Ireland and discover her roots later this year.

Maura Tierney was on hand this week in Dublin to launch the Jameson Dublin Film Festival and will be sticking around to take on her role in “God and Carnage” in the Gate Theatre.

She admits that she’s already planning her next visit to Ireland so that she can explore her Irish roots.

Speaking to the Evening Herald, she said "I obviously want to do a good job on the play so that's my main priority, I'd like to see the countryside a little though and maybe travel the country a bit…My relatives are scattered a bit so I don't know where I'll go, but yes I want to try and do a bit of sightseeing and get to know the city of Dublin a bit better, too.

"I'm in Dublin until the end of March. I probably will stay on for a while after the play. I've no plans for any more work but I might just hang out and have a bit of fun."

The actress said that she was looking forward to getting her teeth into the role at the Gate theater as it is slightly darker than the characters she tends to have played in the past.

She said “It's about these two couples whose children have fallen out and they get together to try and resolve it in a calm manner…They don't succeed very well, it just brings out the worst in everyone.

"It is different for me because the character is more subdued, certainly in the beginning anyway, than I am or could be. It's a more complicated character than my ER role."

Maura launched the Jameson Film Festival alongside Irish actress Charlene McKenna. Among the stars who will attend the festival next month are Kevin Spacey, Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, Ken Loach and Aidan Gillen.