Inside Unforgotten star Sinéad Keenan's life from famous family to sons
The popular ITV series Unforgotten is back on our screens, with Sinéad Keenan and Sanjeev Bhaskar reprising their roles as Jess James and Sunny Khan in a gripping murder mystery. As the plot unfolds, the Bishop Street team delve into Gerry Cooper's past.
When Jess and Sunny reach out to his widow, Juliet (played by Victoria Hamilton), more secrets are unearthed. Sinéad Keenan, a 47 year old Irish actress, is recognised for her performances as Farrah Phelan in Fair City and Nina Pickering in Being Human.
Born and raised in Dublin, she is the eldest of three children, all of whom pursued acting careers - her younger siblings Rory and Gráinne are also actors. Despite initially studying sociology and history at university and dreaming of becoming a lawyer inspired by the US legal drama Matlock, she later realised that her true passion was to portray a lawyer on screen, rather than become one.
READ MORE: Inside the life of Sinead Keenan from marriage to children and famous sister-in-law
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Sinéad O'Connor made her first mark in the acting world back in 1999, playing the teenage girlfriend of Cillian Murphy in 'Sunburn'. In a candid chat with The Mirror back in February 2008, Sinéad expressed her gratitude towards her brother Rory for inspiring her and her sister Grainne to pursue acting careers.
"We support each other - it's nice we all work in the same business," she remarked, highlighting the family's unique bond within the industry despite their parents not being actors themselves. Sinéad's sibling Grainne later joined her on-screen in an episode of 'Unforgotten' season five, portraying the character Debbie.
On the personal front, Sinéad tied the knot with film and TV director Chris McGill in 2012, the founder of Dusthouse Productions. McGill boasts an impressive portfolio, having directed episodes of 'Eastenders' and 'Holby City', as well as working with stars like Tom Hiddleston and Jude Law.
He even lent his voice to a character in the video game 'Fable III'.
While Sinéad and Chris are parents to two boys, they prefer to keep their family life out of the spotlight. However, Sinéad has occasionally given glimpses into her experiences as a mother on X, previously known as Twitter.
In November 2022, she humorously tweeted about the trials of parenting: "Worst thing about Saturday morning? Putting on children’s football socks!" By December, she disclosed that her sons were seven and five at the time, which would make them around nine and seven now.
'Unforgotten' airs on ITV on February 10 at 9pm
