Irish Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism Martin CUllen has called her "one of our most accomplished directors." Dearbhla earned a degree from Dublin City University and has worked in television, including children's programming, for twenty-one years. Her work on the BBC soap opera EastEnders included the murder trial of Little Mo Mitchell. Dearbhla directed two episodes of the 2014 Showtime horror television show Penny Dreadful. She directed Roald Dahl's Esio Trot, a television film which will broadcast in 2014. Dearbhla has been nominated for the Irish Film and Television Awards four times.