Kin (Irish TV series)

Kin is an Irish crime drama television series, co-created by Peter McKenna and Ciaran Donnelly, that was first broadcast on 9 September 2021 on RTÉ One. The series revolves around a fictional Dublin family embroiled in gangland war, and stars Aidan Gillen and Ciarán Hinds as rival gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham. It became one of the most-watched series in Ireland. A second series followed in 2023. The series was acquired by the BBC in 2023 and Netflix in 2024.

Kin
Promotional poster for the first series
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Peter McKenna Ciaran Donnelly
Showrunner	Peter McKenna
Written by	Peter McKenna
Directed by	Diarmuid Goggins Tessa Hoffe
Starring	Charlie Cox Clare Dunne Aidan Gillen Emmett J. Scanlan Maria Doyle Kennedy Sam Keeley Yasmin Seky Ciarán Hinds Francis Magee Danielle Galligan
Theme music composer	David Holmes
Country of origin	Ireland
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Peter McKenna Ciaran Donnelly Christian Baute David Davoli Samantha Thomas Steven Thibault Aaron L. Gilbert Laurence Lenica Franck Calderon Tom Sherry
Producers	James Flynn Edmund Sampson
Production location	Dublin
Cinematography	James Mather
Editor	Edel McDonnell
Running time	50 minutes
Production companies	RTÉ Bron Studios Headline Pictures Nordic Entertainment Group
Original release
Network	RTÉ One
Release	9 September 2021 (2021-09-09) – 7 May 2023 (2023-05-07)

Background

The series was first announced in November 2020, with co-creator Peter McKenna set as showrunner and Diarmuid Goggins as director of the first four episodes.^[1] Tessa Hoffe was later announced as director of episodes five to eight.^[2]

Prior to the series' premiere, several news outlets stated the series was inspired by the Kinahan gang and the Hutch–Kinahan feud, and noted similarities to former RTE staple Love/Hate. A show "insider" stated that "This is not the Kinahans' story, but people can draw their own conclusions. Viewers will be able to make up their own mind about it."^[3][4]

Cast and characters

Main

• Charlie Cox as Michael ‘The Magician’ Kinsella, brother of Jimmy
• Clare Dunne as Amanda Kinsella, wife of Jimmy
• Aidan Gillen as Frank Kinsella
• Emmett J. Scanlan as Jimmy Kinsella
• Maria Doyle Kennedy as Bridget 'Birdy' Goggins, sister of Frank
• Sam Keeley as Eric 'Viking' Kinsella, son of Frank
• Yasmin Seky as Nikita Murphy, partner of Eric
• Ciarán Hinds as Eamon Cunningham (series 1)
• Francis Magee as Brendan Kinsella (series 2, guest series 1), father of Michael and Jimmy, brother of Frank and Birdy
• Danielle Galligan as Molly (series 2, guest series 1)

Supporting

• Hannah Adeogun as Anna Areoye
• Mark Mckenna Jr as Anthony Kinsella
• Keith McErlean as Con Doyle
• Ryan Lincoln as Isaac 'Kem' Kemela
• Ben Carolan as Glen Wright
• Shane Quigley Murphy as Dean Fearon
• Neill Fleming as Dotser Reid
• Thomas Kane-Byrne as Francis 'Fudge' Flynn
• Cian Fitzsimons as Jamie Kinsella
• Fiona Bell as Angela Cunningham
• Lloyd Cooney as Caolán Moore
• Stephen Jones as Noel Lawlor
• Denise McCormack as Jenny Lawlor
• Öykü Karayel as Nuray Batuk (series 2)
• Kenan Ece as Hamza (series 2)

Episodes

Series overview

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	8		12 September 2021 (2021-09-12)	31 October 2021 (2021-10-31)
2	8		19 March 2023 (2023-03-19)	7 May 2023 (2023-05-07)

Series 1 (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [5]	Ireland viewers (millions)
1	1	"Episode 1"	Diarmuid Goggins	Peter McKenna[6]	12 September 2021 (2021-09-12)	N/A
A feud between local gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham is intensified when Frank's son Eric tries to take out one of Eamon's dealers, Caolan Moore, over a petty feud.
2	2	"Episode 2"	Diarmuid Goggins	Peter McKenna	19 September 2021 (2021-09-19)	N/A
Reeling from the death in the family, the Kinsellas argue about whether or not they should retaliate, going against Frank who just struck a deal with Cunningham.
3	3	"Episode 3"	Diarmuid Goggins	Peter McKenna	26 September 2021 (2021-09-26)	N/A
The day of the funeral arrives, and the Kinsellas decide to strike back at those who were ultimately responsible for the murder, but not everything goes to plan.
4	4	"Episode 4"	Diarmuid Goggins	Peter McKenna	3 October 2021 (2021-10-03)	N/A
5	5	"Episode 5"	Tessa Hoffe	Peter McKenna	10 October 2021 (2021-10-10)	N/A
6	6	"Episode 6"	Tessa Hoffe	Peter McKenna	17 October 2021 (2021-10-17)	N/A
7	7	"Episode 7"	Tessa Hoffe	Peter McKenna	24 October 2021 (2021-10-24)	N/A
8	8	"Episode 8"	Tessa Hoffe	Peter McKenna	31 October 2021 (2021-10-31)	N/A
Amanda’s plan to take down Eamon comes into fruition.

Series 2 (2023)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [5]	Ireland viewers (millions)
9	1	"Episode 1"	Felix Thompson	Peter McKenna	19 March 2023 (2023-03-19)	N/A
10	2	"Episode 2"	Felix Thompson	Peter McKenna	26 March 2023 (2023-03-26)	N/A
11	3	"Episode 3"	Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor	Peter McKenna	2 April 2023 (2023-04-02)	N/A
12	4	"Episode 4"	Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor	Peter McKenna	9 April 2023 (2023-04-09)	N/A
13	5	"Episode 5"	Kate Dolan	Peter McKenna	16 April 2023 (2023-04-16)	N/A
14	6	"Episode 6"	Kate Dolan	Peter McKenna	22 April 2023 (2023-04-22)	N/A
15	7	"Episode 7"	Felix Thompson	Peter McKenna	30 April 2023 (2023-04-30)	N/A
16	8	"Episode 8"	Felix Thompson	Peter McKenna	7 May 2023 (2023-05-07)	N/A

Production

Peter McKenna is the creator and main writer of the series.^[7]

Release

Kin aired on RTÉ in 2021, with the second season following in 2023.^[8] The series quickly gained popularity in Ireland after premiering in 2021, as well as garnering praise from critics. Its ratings over broke records on both linear and streaming platforms, attracting more than four million lifetime streams by October 2023. The second season averaged a 40% audience share, and its finale was the most-watched programme of the year outside of sport.^[9]

In February 2022, the series premiered in the United States and Canada on AMC+,^[10] with Sundance Now premiering the series in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

A second series was announced on 10 February 2022, with production beginning in July.^[11][12] Season 2 began airing on 12 March 2023 on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.^[7]

The series was acquired by the BBC and began showing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 18 November 2023.^[13] The broadcaster also acquired the second series, which was shown on BBC One from 14 February 2024, with the whole series available on BBC iPlayer.^[14]

All episodes of Season 1 started streaming on SBS on Demand in August 2023, Australian public broadcaster SBS Television's platform, before being broadcast on linear TV.^[15] Both series were shown by SBS.^[16]

Kin won an even larger international audience after becoming available on Netflix on 1 May 2024.^[8]

The series was put on hold after season 2, after BRON Studios went bankrupt. Discussions were being held about a possible third season, but there had been no announcements by April 2024.^[8] The Standard reported on 20 February 2025 that a third season of Kin had been officially confirmed in October 2024, with filming due to start in Dublin in 2025.^[17] However, in May 2025, series star Charlie Cox denied the report of renewal, stating that "I don't believe that that is true. I'd love for that to be the case."^[18]

Critical reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating of season 1, with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on 11 critic reviews in October 2024.^[19]

Ed Power in The Irish Times called the show "RTÉ’s best drama in years".^[20] Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the series a B− and wrote: "It's simply an opportunity to watch some gifted actors do what they do, very well, with a story that glides along in entertaining but unoriginal manner."^[21]