Meet Cillian Murphy's Artist Wife Yvonne McGuinness
Cillian Murphy has had an incredible awards season, most recently winning big at the Oscars for his leading role in Oppenheimer, and his wife Yvonne McGuinness was proudly by his side.
While he's become a household name around the world following roles in Inception, 28 Days Later, and Peaky Blinders, not much is known about Cillian's wife and their two sons.
Yvonne, who is from Kilkenny and now lives with her family in Monkstown, is involved in the arts just like her husband. Here's everything we know about Yvonne and her life with Cillian...
Yvonne McGuinness, Cillian Murphy, and Robert Downey Jr. Pic: Rich Polk/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images Who is Yvonne McGuinness?Yvonne, 51, is also involved in the arts and is an Irish artist known for performance installations. Her website describes Yvonne as an artist 'working with place, time and community'.
Past work of Yvonne’s include Before The Last Sun Sets which was held in Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon, in 2019 and The Central Field which took place in Adamstown in South County Dublin in 2018.
She has a master's degree from the Royal College of Art in London.
How did they meet?Cillian, 47, and Yvonne are thought to have met at one of his band's gigs and were dating when he was starring in Enda Walsh's 1996 play Disco Pigs. The production opened in Cork before going on tour for 18 months with stops in Dublin and London.
Cillian told the Guardian in 2016: ‘That time, making Disco Pigs, was kind of the most important period of my life. The people I met there remain my closest friends … They shaped me in terms of my tastes, in terms of what I wanted to do with my life.
'And it was around the same time I met my wife. She came on tour with us. It was so exciting, 20 years ago or whatever it was—we were all just kids, trying to find our way—but such a special, special time.'
Family life Cillian Murphy with his wife Yvonne McGuinness and sons Aran and Malachy. Pic: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty ImagesYvonne and Cillian married in 2004 and have two sons, Malachy and Aran. Malachy was born in 2005 and two years later Aran arrived in 2007. Cillian was filming The Wind That Shakes The Barley in Cork when Yvonne was pregnant with their first son.
Although Malachy and Aran rarely make public appearances with their parents, they have been seen a couple of times over recent months cheering their dad on at awards ceremonies.
Pic: Christopher Polk/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty ImagesAran, who looks set to follow in Cillian's footsteps, joined his mum and dad at the Golden Globes in January but Malachy couldn't attend the awards because of exams.
Both Murphy boys were seen at the Academy Awards in March as well, with the brothers walking behind their parents as they arrived at the ceremony.
Many people on Twitter loved the rare family sighting, with some calling out how Cillian and his two boys all have the same haircut!
Moving back to IrelandThe couple lived in London for many years while their sons were young but they moved back to Ireland in 2015 and purchased a €1.7m home in Monkstown.
Cillian explained that he and Yvonne decided to move home after their boys developed ‘posh English accents’. '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. And then we wanted the kids to be Irish,' Cillian revealed.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, Cillian added: 'And you know, parents are at a certain age, it was just a nice time to come home.'
Yvonne is very down to Earth Cillian Murphy and Yvonne McGuinness. Pic: Rich Polk/Variety via Getty ImagesAhead of the Oscars, a neighbour told the Irish Mail On Sunday: 'They’re both very private and she’s very down to earth. When they moved back to Ireland first [from London in 2015] they lived at Crosthwaite Park in Dún Laoghaire – they’re big houses, but not particularly posh houses.
'They live now in Monkstown in a grander house, but you still see her or him out in the Spar in Monkstown or down on Dún Laoghaire pier. There’s no airs and graces about her. She takes the Dart.'
Although now based back in Ireland, Cillian still has to go away for long periods for work and he has previously praised his wife for all the support she gives him.
'That work-life balance thing is hard. I have an amazing wife and I couldn't do this without her and her understanding,’ he told GQ Magazine. '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.'
Cillian also gave a shoutout to his family while collecting the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards in January 2024.
According to PEOPLE, he said: 'I don't ever really get to do this too often, I want to say thanks to my family. Two-thirds of them are sitting down there. We had to leave one of them at home doing exams.
Yvonne McGuinness and Cillian Murphy at the 2024 Golden Globes. Pic: Earl Gibson III/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images'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.'
