eibhlin o'donnell, played by mary conlon, is an irish woman who met and dated eddie royle (michael melia) in the early 80s, when her job for the irish tourist board in dublin took her to a london office for a six-month stint. eibhlin was committed to her close-knit catholic family (especially her widowed father and her marijuana-smoking sister maureen), so when her work placement ended, she returned to dublin and her relationship with eddie ended. eibhlin visits eddie in walford in january 1991. in her mid thirties, eibhlin is thinking about settling down. she hopes to rekindle a romance with eddie. when eddie's current girlfriend, kathy beale (gillian taylforth), sees how close eddie and eibhlin are, she breaks up with eddie. instead of reuniting with eibhlin, eddie opts to try and win kathy back, so eibhlin returns to ireland. when eddie is badly beaten by grant mitchell (ross kemp) in april 1991, eibhlin returns to walford to visit him in hospital. eddie's brush with death makes him rethink marriage, and he proposes to eibhlin. she accepts and in august 1991, she moves in with eddie at the queen victoria public house, of which eddie is landlord. a part of eibhlin is not convinced that marriage to eddie will work; they do not get the opportunity to find out as eddie is murdered by nick cotton (john altman) in september that year. a devastated and heartbroken eibhlin then returns to ireland.