Sinéad Keenan husband and children - Details of the Unforgotten star's family life

As she charms viewers in all new Unforgotten season 5 - we've shared what we know about Sinéad Keenan's husband, children and personal life.

All eyes are on Irish actress Sinéad Keenan this February as she steps into a leading role in season 5 of the popular ITV drama. The 45-year-old joins Sanjeev Bhaskar’s DCI Sunny Khan as his new partner-in-crime after Nicola Walker left Unforgotten (opens in new tab) at the end of series four. Ambitious and hard-working, with a picture perfect family life, DCI Jessica 'Jessie' James at first impression seems to have it all - but Sinéad has teased that there's more than meets the eye with her new Unforgotten character.

As audiences champion Sinéad on screen, many are curious for details on the actress's personal life - from whether she's married to if she's a mother too. We've shared what we know about the star's home life, alongside her career highlights to date.

READ MORE: Where is Unforgotten filmed? Filming locations of ITV show (opens in new tab)

Who is Sinéad Keenan's husband?

Sinéad Keenan is married to TV and film director Christopher McGill. The couple tied the knot in 2012 and live in London together.

Whilst not much is known about their wedding, a fan page for fellow Irish actor Andrew Scott (of Fleabag fame) shared a photo of Scott in attendance at Sinéad and Christopher's wedding. 

Sinéad's husband Christopher McGill (opens in new tab) has worked on a number of high profile TV programmes including Eastenders, Casualty and Holby City. In his Twitter bio (opens in new tab), Chris states he was "Once upon an Actor," before turning his talents to behind the camera instead. He's also the founder of Dusthouse Theatre (opens in new tab), a British-based film production company that creates "unique work for the international theatre and creative arts industries."

Chris was also previously film director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he worked on productions including the award winning Matilda, King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth and Richard II.

Sinéad and her husband Chris both worked on the short film The Snatcher (opens in new tab), released in 2020. The film is set in a post-Brexit landscape and centres on a state-run game show called The Snatcher, which sees contestants gamble with their worldly possessions in a bid for a better life.

Does Sinéad Keenan have children?

According to Wikipedia, Sinéad and Christopher share two sons together. In a tweet from December 2022, Sinéad confirmed that her kids are aged seven and five.

The couple remain tight-lipped about their family life, though Sinéad has shared some details of motherhood on her Twitter acccount. In November 2022, she tweeted " Worst thing about Saturday morning? Putting on children’s football socks!!!"

Sinéad grew up in a large family herself and is close to her siblings - brother Rory and sister Grainne - both of whom are also actors. 

Rory Keenan has appeared in film and TV hits such as Peaky Blinders, The Duchess, Versailles, War & Peace and Somewhere Boy. He married British actress Gemma Arterton in 2019 and the two have recently become parents to a baby boy.

Arterton shared the happy news on Zoe Ball's Radio 2 Breakfast Show in February 2023. "We are very very happy, he was born just before Christmas. A little Christmas elf," she said.

Sinéad's sister Grainne studied acting at RADA and her acting credits to date include Blood (alongside Line of Duty (opens in new tab)'s Adrian Dunbar), The Foreigner (2017), The Wife (2017) and Titanic (2012). Grainne will also be appearing in series 5 of Unforgotten alongside her sister. She plays Debbie in episode 3 and episode 4 of the ITV drama.

In an interview with The Mirror (opens in new tab) in February 2008, Sinéad credited her brother Rory with getting herself and Grainne into acting. 

"We support each other - it's nice we all work in the same business," she said, adding: "So he started the acting thing in the family - our parents aren't in the acting business at all but they are very proud of us."

Sinéad Keenan: Career highlights to date

Sinéad Keenan played werewolf Nina Pickering in BBC Three series Being Human and most recently starred as Di Paula Cassidy in Showtrial.

In 2018, Keenan won the RTS Programme Award for Best Female Actress for her role in Little Boy Blue. In it she played Melanie Jones, the mum of mudered schoolboy Rhys Jones who was shot on his way home from football practice in 2007. Keenan also received a BAFTA nomination for the part.

Her first television role was in the 1999 film Sunburn, where Keenan played Margaret, the teenage girlfriend of Cillian Murphy’s character. After this she joined the cast of Irish soap opera Fair City playing the role of Farrah Phelan.

Of her new role in Unforgotten, Keenan teased: "Jess is the new DCI. She was a fast-tracked cop, one of these ones who have a degree and can skip a few levels. She is very good at her job, very ambitious, and has a promotion. She’s got a husband, two children, perfect life. 

"And then she starts this new job, and on the first day she gets some news on the way to work that completely blindsides her that has implications in terms of how she is at her job. So that’s simmering in the background."

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