Patrick Bergin says he tied the knot with ‘the most beautiful woman in the world'

Sunday World

24-05-2025

'The spark was ignited that night and I've been hypnotised since'
Towering Bergin (74), who shot to fame as a sinister character starring alongside Julia Roberts in the 1991 movie Sleeping With The Enemy, tied the knot with Helen in a low-key wedding before Christmas.
'Helen and I jumped the broom stick just before Christmas,' Patrick tells the Sunday World , referring to their marriage.
'We've been together eight years and we know each other 25. She's so special, one of the most beautiful women in the world…in my eyes the most beautiful.' Then he laughs: 'She's a little wild at times too… just enough.'
Patrick with Julia Roberts in Sleeping With The Enemy
It's the second marriage for both — Patrick is divorced and Helen's first husband, celebrity hypnotist Paul Goldin, died in 2008 after a short illness.
Patrick says: 'I originally met Helen to discuss a script I had called The Eyes, based on the hypnotist Svengali and about an Irish girl in Paris. A friend of mine, Ronan O'Leary, introduced me to Helen and her husband Paul Goldin. I had a lunch with them that Helen cooked, and Paul was very charming.
'Nearly 20 years later I was coming to Dublin and I was meeting with Ronan O'Leary on other projects. He said to Helen, 'Guess who's in town.' And Helen said, 'Give him my number.'
'It was my birthday and I was going to the Olympia to see Keith Barry the hypnotist. I phoned and asked Helen if she would come to see Keith Barry at the Olympia on my birthday. A group of us went to it and we haven't looked back since. The spark was ignited that night and I've been hypnotised since,' he laughs.
Patrick Bergin
Helen said in the past that the timing was right for her. 'I think it was my destiny,' she explained. 'I'd been on my own for nine years at that stage and it was as if we were meant to be together. We are very comfortable with one another and have great fun together.'
Patrick also previously paid tribute to Helen for keeping him on the straight and narrow as he battled his booze addiction several years ago. 'My wonderful partner Helen has helped me every step of the way,' he said.
Helen now manages Patrick's career and the couple are involved in several projects together.
Patrick Bergin and Helen Goldin got married at Christmas
News in 90 Seconds - May 24th 2025
'Helen is very organised, she's great,' he tells me. 'She's got a very good insight into character and projects, into what works and what's good and wholesome.'
Another major female in the award-winning actor's life was Julia Roberts. 'I still get asked about her all the time,' Patrick laughs. 'One of my favourite country singers was Merle Haggard. I was in Nashville one time and I got a chance to go and see him. When I went to pick up my ticket the guy in the box office said, 'I believe you'd like to meet Merle?' My agent had mentioned it.
'So I went over to meet him in his trailer and the first thing he said to me was, 'What was Julia Roberts like to work with?' I just never thought that would come out of Merle Haggard,' he laughs.
Patrick with Fionnuala Flanagan at the IFTAs in 2007
And what was she like to work with? 'Oh she was great. She was absolutely fantastic,' he says.
His home, Emo Castle in Cloughjordan on the border of Tipperary and Offaly, was bought with the proceeds of Sleeping With The Enemy 'and a hundred other films.'
'I was very lucky,' Patrick says. 'If the film you're in makes a lot of money and, of course, Sleeping With The Enemy made a hundred million, your name goes up the list. The higher you go up the list the more money your films make.' Read more
The actor, poet, songwriter and singer never stops working and the word retirement is not in his vocabulary, he says.
As well as performing on the festival circuit in Ireland this summer, Patrick, who recently won Best Actor at the British Independent Film Festival for a movie called The Captain, has movies and other projects on the go.
Patrick with actor Danny Dyer in Eastenders
'We are both working on a project that is extremely dear and important to Helen,' he reveals. 'We are hoping to do a film or a series about Lady Louisa Mount Cashell, who had the first divorce under English law in Ireland in a notorious case during the Victorian era. Helen is the great-granddaughter of Lady Louisa.'
Patrick and Helen also have a range of jewellery in production called Cliona's Love Stones, linked to a mythical Irish character in Co Cork.
On the live performing scene you can catch Patrick Bergin performing at the King John Summer Prom festival in Trim, Co Meath, which runs from August 8-10.
Tickets are available at kjsummerprom.ie .
Patrick will also be performing at the Lovely Laois Homecoming Festival, from September 5-7.