Liam Carney

Liam Carney is an Irish actor; His credits include The Commitments (1991), Glenroe (1992-1995), Braveheart (1995), Angela's Ashes (1995), Ballykissangel (1998), Gangs of New York (2002), The Clinic (2002, 2009), Pure Mule (2005), Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012), Ripper Street (2013), Crossing Lines (2014), Outlander (2014-2015), Red Rock (2015), Sacrifice (2016), Lost & Found (2016), Calm with Horses (2019), Barber (2023), Fair City (2022-2023), The Gone (2023), and Harry Wild (2022-2024).

Biography

Carney was born in Dublin, to parents who had moved from County Mayo with 6 other children.[1]

He had two children with his first wife; however, the relationship ended in late 1986.[2] He began dating Karmel Daly; after twelve years together, they married in late 2001.[3] The couple has a daughter and three sons.[4]

He became despondent working as a civil servant in the post office, and decided to take up acting.[2]

Career

Carney began his acting career with the Laughing Gravy Theatre Company.[2] He rose to fame playing Kevin Haughey for several years on the soap opera Glenroe.[4] In 1995, he landed a supporting role playing Sean in the hit film Braveheart,[4] alongside Mel Gibson. In 1999, he played Uncle Pa Keating in the film Angela's Ashes.[4]

In 2002, he played one of the members of Bill "The Butcher" Cutting's (Daniel Day-Lewis) gang in the film Gangs of New York.[4] In 2003, he played Mr. Callan, in two episodes, then in 2009, he played Franny McGowan for five episodes of the series The Clinic.[5]

In 2012, he played Sean Malone in the series Titanic: Blood and Steel.[5] In 2014, he guest-starred playing Michael McConnell on the series Crossing Lines.[5] That same year he joined the recurring cast of the series Outlander, where he plays Alec "Old Alec" McMahon MacKenzie.[6]

In 2015 he joined the main cast of the series Red Rock, where he plays Tommy Tyrell.[7]

In 2019 he starred alongside Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Niamh Algar, & Ned Dennehy in the film Calm with Horses.[5]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Character Notes
1991 The Commitments Duffy alongside Andrew Strong, Colm Meaney, Andrea Corr, Glen Hansard, Robert Arkins & Maria Doyle Kennedy
1994 Joey's Christmas - short - alongside Stephen Dunne, Stuart Foran, Michelle McDonagh, Pauline McLynn & Frank Smith
1995 Sharpe's Battle O'Rourke alongside Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley, Hugh Fraser, Hugh Ross, Jason Durr, Ian McNeice & Oliver Cotton
1995 Braveheart Sean alongside Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Ian Bannen, Brendan Gleeson, Patrick McGoohan, James Cosmo & Tommy Flanagan
1997 The Boxer Mr.Walsh alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, Brian Cox, Ken Stott, Gerard McSorley & Ian McElhinney
1998 Soft Sand, Blue Sea Pool Hustler alongside Laurence Kinlan, Kevin McCauley, Julia Ford, Brendan Coyle, Rosemary Henderson & Deirdre Molloy
1999 Angela's Ashes Pa Keating alongside Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Devon Murray, Joe Breen, Michael Legge, Ciaran Owens & Ronnie Masterson
2000 When the Sky Falls Dessie O'Reilly alongside Joan Allen, Patrick Bergin, Liam Cunningham, Kevin McNally & Jason Barry
2001 J.J. Biker - alongside Brendan Gleeson, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Eoghan O'Riada & Daithi O'Suilleabhain
2001 On the Edge Friend of Heavy alongside Paul Hickey, Camille O'Sullivan, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Walsh, Stephen Rea & Aidan Kelly
2001 Tupperware Lone Ranger alongside Dawn Bradfield, David Herlihy, Peadar Lamb & Maire Ni Ghrainne
2002 Gangs of New York Gangbanger alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson & Gary Lewis
2003 Martin - short - alongside Pauline Cadell, Martin L. Evans, Niall O'Shea & Terence Orr
2004 Spin the Bottle Gerry alongside Michael McElhatton, Simon Delaney, Mick Fitzgerald, Bronagh Gallagher & Maria Doyle Kennedy
2005 Conflict David short - alongside Joey Lauren Adams, Laurel Holloman, Harvey Silver, Jason Mewes, Stan Lee & Renée Humphrey
2006 Studs Isaiah alongside Brendan Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Eoin Macken, Emmett Scanlan & David Wilmot
2007 Speed Dating Jupiter alongside Hugh O'Conor, Emma Choy, Alex Reid, David Hayman, Kelly Campbell & Paul Ronan
2011 Jack Taylor: The Magdalen... Bill Cassell alongside Nathan Reynolds, Ger Carey, Killian Scott, Iain Glen, Frank O'Sullivan, Nora-Jane Noone & Nick Lee
2013 Cold James alongside Tom Hopper, Jack Reynor, Eoin Macken, Rebecca Night & Melia Kreiling
2014 Spiders Trap Spike alongside Brian Fortune, Simon Delaney, Morgan C. Jones, Sarah Carroll & Jane Elizabeth Walsh
2016 Sacrifice Mr, Grey
2016 Lost & Found Eddie
2018 Cecelia Ahern: Dich zu lieben Taxifahrer TV movie
2018 Point of No Return Taxi driver
2019 Calm with Horses Fannigan alongside Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Niamh Algar, & Ned Dennehy
2023 Sunlight Iver
2023 Barber Tony Quinn alongside Aidan Gillen John Connors
2025 Crazy Love Father alongside John Connors

TV Series

Year Title Character Notes
1995 The Hanging Gale Shanahan episode 1.1
1998 Ballykissangel Johnner Delaney 3 episodes
1999 The Ambassador Healy episode "The Velvet Glove"
1995 - 2000 Glenroe Kevin Haughey -
2005 Pure Mule Cliff Jones 5 episodes
2007 Single-Handed Tommy Gallagher 3' episodes
2009 Pure Mule: The Last Weekend Cliff 2 episodes
2009 The Clinic Franny McGowan 7 episodes
2012 Titanic: Blood and Steel Sean Malone 4 episodes
2013 Ripper Street Lynch episode "The Weight of a Man's Heart"
2013 Criminal Life Stephen Forrester episode 1.2 - "miniseries"
2014 Crossing Lines Michael McConnell episode "The Velvet Glove"
2014 - 2015 Outlander[6] Alec McMahon MacKenzie [6] 3 episodes
2015 - present Red Rock Tommy Tyrell 60 episodes
2019 The Virtues Damon 2 episodes
2022 Tales from Dún Draíochta Garda Billy 9 episodes
2023 SisterS Mickey 3 episodes
2022-2023 Fair City Con Rafferty 23 episodes
2023 The Gone Joseph Martin 6 episodes
2022-2024 Harry Wild Happy the Shark 4 episodes

References

  1. ^ "Fair City's Liam Carney lifts lid on family life with five kids after breakdown of first marriage". rsvplive.ie. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Joe Jackson (5 February 2006). "Get out before it kills you". independent.ie. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  3. ^ Aisling Donnelly (27 Jun 2001). "Glenroe star's magical wedding Liam and Karmel exchange vows on Wexford hillside". independent.ie.
  4. ^ a b c d e Eimear Rabbitte (29 May 2014). "Movie stars are a fickle bunch – Liam". independent.ie.
  5. ^ a b c d "Liam Carney Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  6. ^ a b c Johanna Underwood (November 5, 2013). "Outlander Announces Liam Carney as Old Alec".
  7. ^ "From Glenroe to Red Rock - Actor Liam Carney joins new TV3 soap". goss.ie. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.