Cillian Murphy moved his family to Ireland when his kids developed posh English accents
Sarah Marsh I’m a fan of Cillian Murphy’s work but I know nothing about his life. I didn’t even realize that he’s in his 40s! This man is 46 years old. I thought he was, like, 35 years old, tops. He’s also been married to his first and only wife Yvonne McGuiness for eighteen years? And she’s in her 40s too. They have two teenage children, Malachy and Aran. Cillian and Yvonne lived and worked in the London area for years as their kids were growing up, but then Cillian noticed that Aran and Malachy were speaking with posh English accents. And that Irishman said NOT TODAY.
Cillian Murphy has revealed he decided to move his family back to his home country of Ireland in 2015, because they had ‘posh English accents.’ The Peaky Blinders star, 45, who shares children Malachy, 16, and 14-year-old Aran with his wife Yvonne McGuinness, spent over a decade living in London with his family but has now returned to his homeland. But during a chat with Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast, Cillian revealed that their 2015 move came as he wanted his children to be Irish.
He explained: ‘We wanted the kids to be Irish. They were sort of at that age where they were pre-teens and had very posh English accents and I wasn’t appreciating that too much! So we decided to come back. We were in London for 14 years, both our kids were born there and we only came back to Dublin in 2015. It’s kind of an Irish story to move away, do your thing and come home, that seems to be a common narrative for Irish people.’
While his children’s accents played a large part of the move decision, there was other factors too – with Cillian sharing that he wanted to go home to be closer to his and Yvonne’s parents.
‘And you know, our parents are at a certain age. It was just a nice time to come home,’ he added. And it seems he won’t be following in the footsteps of the acting elite, claiming he ‘couldn’t envisage’ upping sticks to Los Angeles. Cillian said: ‘I love visiting and I love the food and I do love the weather. I don’t know, I just feel European, I just feel Irish. I’d feel like a bit of an interloper if I lived in California, I couldn’t envisage living there permanently.’
It feels to me, as an outsider on British and Irish culture, that Irish people are much less neurotic about “moving away” than British people. Like Cillian says, it seems pretty common to hear about Irish people moving away from Ireland for a decade or two and then “coming home,” and no one bats an eye. Whereas the British media seems to have a full-blown panic attack if one of their English celebrities moves to LA or New York to live. It’s pretty weird. Anyway, I think it’s funny that Cillian felt so strongly about his kids’ accents. I also think it’s nice that Cillian doesn’t really have a problem with LA and he likes it there, he just doesn’t want to live there.
Photos courtesy of Instar.
- , New York, NY – 20200308- World Premiere of A Quiet Place Part II at the Rose Theatre at Jazz At Lincoln Center -PICTURED: Cillian Murphy -PHOTO by: Erik Nielsen/Media Punch/INSTARimages.com This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
- USA Rights Only – London, UK – 10/10/2017 – Premiere of The Party as part of the BFI London Film Festival, at the Embankment Garden Cinema, London. -PICTURED: Cillian Murphy -PHOTO by: Matt Crossick/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Editorial Rights Managed Image – Please contact for licensing fee and rights: North America Inquiries: email or call 212.414.0207 – UK Inquiries: email or call + 7715 698 715 – Australia Inquiries: email Êor call +02 9660 0500 Ð for any other Country, please email . ÊImage or video may not be published in any way that is or might be deemed defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene / Please consult our sales department for any clarification or question you may have – reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this image or video. If you are in violation of our intellectual property you may be liable for actual damages, loss of income, and profits you derive from the use of this image or video, and where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or statutory damage.
- , New York, NY – 20200308- World Premiere of A Quiet Place Part II at the Rose Theatre at Jazz At Lincoln Center -PICTURED: Cillian Murphy -PHOTO by: Erik Nielsen/Media Punch/INSTARimages.com This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
