What to Know About Cillian Murphy’s 2 Kids, Sons Malachy and Aran

Emy LaCroix, Christopher Rudolph, Nicole PomaricoSun, October 4, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC

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Cillian Murphy in 2026; Aran Murphy in 2026.Credit: Tristar Media/WireImage; Dominik Bindl/Getty -

Cillian Murphy shares two sons, Malachy and Aran, with his wife, Yvonne McGuinness

Murphy thanked his family when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2024

Aran is pursuing a career in acting and stars in the HBO series Youth

Cillian Murphy is an Oscar-winning actor and a dad to two sons, Malachy and Aran.

In 2004, Murphy married his wife, Yvonne McGuinness, and the couple welcomed their son, Malachy, the following year. They expanded their family again in 2007 when their son Aran was born.

Murphy and McGuinness have worked hard to give their kids a private childhood, even though their father has appeared in major projects like The Dark Knight, Inception and Oppenheimer. The BAFTA winner believes their efforts have paid off.

“They seem better adjusted than I was. More sure of themselves,” Murphy told The Guardian in 2016. “I’m happy about that. For me, it was something that took a long time to figure out: that it’s all right to be you, that it’s all right to be an individual.”

The actor has also said that he is proud of the people his children have become. “They’re really good boys. We have a laugh,” he told Rolling Stone UK in 2023.

Malachy and Aran even enjoy watching their dad’s films sometimes. “We don’t do ‘Dad’s Movie Night’, but they like some of my films. They say all my films are really intense,” he added.

Aran has even followed in his dad’s acting footsteps by starring in the HBO series Youth, which premiered on Sept. 20.

Here’s everything to know about Cillian Murphy’s kids: sons Malachy and Aran.

Malachy was born in 2005 and Aran followed in 2007

Yvonne McGuinness and Cillian Murphy at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2024.Credit: Earl Gibson III/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024/Getty

Murphy and McGuinness became parents for the first time in 2005 when they welcomed their elder son, Malachy.

Though Murphy’s career began taking off around this time due to the success of his thriller Red Eye, he took care to keep his family out of the limelight and avoided speaking about his kids.

Their second son, Aran, was born in 2007.

Murphy stays close to his kids, even while filming

Cillian Murphy arrives with his wife and sons at the 2024 Oscars.Credit: VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

The Dunkirk actor is far less interested in fame than he is in acting, so he wasn’t willing to give up his quiet life with his family in exchange for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

“I don’t need to live in Los Angeles,” Murphy told PEOPLE in 2005. “I’d be tremendously far away from my family — I’d never see them.”

That’s why Murphy was so thrilled by the chance to work on The Wind that Shakes the Barley while McGuinness was pregnant with Malachy because it was filmed near his home.

“I was living at home with my folks,” he told The Guardian in 2006. “My wife was pregnant with our son, and we were running around the hills of west Cork shooting up Black and Tans. Fantastic!”

Murphy balances acting and fatherhood with the support of his wife

Yvonne McGuinness and Cillian Murphy at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 24, 2024.Credit: Stewart Cook/Shutterstock

Murphy is grateful to McGuinness for being so hands-on with Malachy and Aran so he could continue acting.

“That work-life balance thing is hard,” he told GQ in 2019. “I have an amazing wife and I couldn’t do this without her and her understanding.”

The Oppenheimer star continued, “But it is a struggle. I think it is for any dad whose work takes him away, which it generally does, and which consumes him, which my work does.”

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Malachy and Aran grew up in London

Cillian Murphy poses with the Leading Actor Award in the Winners Room during the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2024 on February 18, 2024.Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage

The 28 Days Later star and McGuinness spent 14 years living in London, where the boys spent the bulk of their childhood before moving to Ireland in 2015. Murphy revealed that he sold Malachy and Aran on Dublin with the promise of getting them a dog.

“I loved living in London in my 20s and 30s, but after a while you kind of go, ‘Right, is this it? Is this it for the rest of my days? Or is there some other possibility?’ ” he told The Guardian.

Not only did he want to return to his Irish roots, but Murphy also yearned for a more peaceful place to raise his kids, who now enjoy living by the sea.

They developed different accents after moving to Dublin

Aran Murphy, Yvonne McGuinness and Cillian Murphy at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2024Credit: Christopher Polk/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024/Getty

Murphy said his sons’ accents changed a bit after moving to Dublin — something that pleased the actor because he and McGuinness “wanted them to be Irish.”

“It’s amazing how quickly their accents have adapted,” Murphy told The Guardian. “Even within a year of moving back, they are fading into this rakish west Brit kind of thing. Which I think, hopefully, will get them lots of girls when they’re 15,” he joked.

They’re his biggest fans and source of support

Cillian Murphy at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2024.Credit: Michael Buckner/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024/Getty

Murphy appreciates Malachy and Aran’s support, and he’s taken multiple opportunities to express his gratitude for them while accepting awards.

When Murphy was honored with a Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards, he gave his family a special shout-out.

“Because I don’t ever really get to do this too often, I want to say thanks to my family,” he said at the podium.

“Two-thirds of them are sitting down there. We had to leave one of them at home doing exams,” he added. “But just thanks for putting up with me — putting up with the half me and the shadow me and the absent me, the remains of me when I’m doing a film like this or work in general. You’re always there. I love it. So thanks, guys.”

Murphy also acknowledged his loved ones when he won best actor at the 2024 Golden Globes. “To my family, I’m the luckiest man and I love you,” he said. Aran made a rare appearance at the event, sitting at a table with his mom, dad and Robert Downey Jr.

Murphy echoed similar words after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Oppenheimer, thanking his children and wife.

“I love you so much, and I’m a very proud Irish man standing here tonight,” he said of his family, who were in the audience.

Aran is following in his dad’s acting footsteps

Cillian Murphy attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 07, 2024.Credit: Jon Kopaloff/WireImage

Malachy and Aran have had private upbringings, but Aran chose to pursue an acting career like his father. At 11, he began a world tour starring as Hamnet in the stage show about Shakespeare’s only son. He performed in the United Kingdom, New York, Boston and Hong Kong.

Murphy was proud of his boy, who he described as “so chilled about” the whole thing.

“He would come off stage and ask what the score was in the Liverpool game,” Murphy told The Guardian in 2021. “And, again, you’re slightly jealous of that! There’s the danger that over analyzing everything can erode the simplicity.”

Aran dipped his toe into the film world in the 2022 movie Lola alongside The Witcher’s Emma Appleton, but his biggest break yet was announced in 2024. Deadline revealed in February of that year that Aran would star in Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun along with Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams.

Aran is also starring in the HBO series Youth, which premiered in September 2026. Sharon Horgan, who plays his character’s mom in the show, told PEOPLE that Aran is “fabulous” in the show.

“When it comes to casting, it is a mixture of luck and fate, and I just feel like that played into it with the casting of Ruari, because he’s so good,” she said. “I’m so lucky that he was free. I’m so lucky someone else didn’t find him, suck him up.”What to Know About Cillian Murphy’s 2 Kids, Sons Malachy and Aran

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