''Blackshore'' is a 2024 Irish crime drama series directed by Dathaí Keane, starring

Lisa Dwan Lisa Dwan is an Irish actress. She is best known for her work in theatre, performing in Samuel Beckett adaptations among other works. She began her career in the Fox Kids series '' Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog'' (1998–1999). More recently, she ...

and

Rory Keenan Rory Keenan (born 9 June 1980) is an Irish actor. On film and television he has starred in '' Somewhere Boy'', '' The Duchess'', '' Birdsong, Versailles'', '' War & Peace'', '' The Guard'' and ''Peaky Blinders''. Career Keenan has performed in ma ...

. It was broadcast on ''

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

'' from 4 February 2024.

Premise

A Dublin detective, Fia, is sent to a rural backwater close to her hometown in the west of Ireland. She must investigate the disappearance of a woman (later, two women) against the backdrop of a similar case many years ago that ended with Fia's father murdering the rest of Fia's family.

Cast

as DI Fia Lucey *

as Cian Furlong * Jade Jordan as Donna Walsh * Amy De Bhrún as Niamh Furlong *

Stanley Townsend Stanley Townsend is an Irish actor. Personal life Townsend was born and brought up in Dublin. After attending Wesley College, Dublin, he studied mathematics and civil engineering at Trinity College. While there he joined the Dublin University ...

as Bill McGuire * Andrew Bennett as Donal Riley *

Aidan McArdle Aidan McArdle is an Irish character actor. He is known for being a series regular in shows such as '' Beautiful People'' (2008-2009), '' Garrow's Law'' (2009-2011), and '' Mr Selfridge'' (2014-2015). Early life and education Aidan McArdle wa ...

as Charlie Reid *

Barry McGovern Barry McGovern (born 1948) is an Irish stage, film and television actor. Background He was educated at Castleknock College, Dublin. McGovern is a former member of the RTÉ Players and the Abbey Theatre Company. He has worked in theatre, fi ...

as Dr. Whelan * Dara Devaney as Liam McArdle

Production

The series is written by Kate O’Riordan and directed by Dathaí Keane. It is produced by Treasure Entertainment. Producer of the series is Rebecca O'Flanagan. The cast is led by Lisa Dwan and Rory Keenan and also includes Jade Jordan, Stanley Townsend, Andrew Bennett and Amy De Bhrún. Filming locations included

Killaloe, County Clare Killaloe ( ; ) is a small town in east County Clare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the River Shannon on the western bank of Lough Derg (Shannon), Lough Derg and is connected by Killaloe Bridge to the "twin town" of Ballina, County ...

and

Ballina, County Tipperary Ballina (historically ''Bellanaha''), from , is a census town that lies on the River Shannon in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lough Derg across from its 'twin-town' of Killaloe on the west bank of the lake. ...

Broadcast

The series debuted on ''

'' on 4 February 2024. The series was shown on ''

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, trading as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a join ...

'' from 19 October 2024.

Reception

Ben Dowell in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' praised the chemistry between Dwan and Keenan and also praised the "lively script". Phil Harrison in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said it was "not groundbreaking" but described Dwan as a "spirited lead, making her character Lucey easy to root for". Pat Stacey in ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' described Dwan as "the sarkiest, narkiest, angriest detective in television crime drama". Ed Power in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' described it as a "Silly, watchable drama" but "one of the better thrillers from RTÉ". John Brennan, Mark Henry and Fionan Higgins were nominated for Best Sound at the

Irish Film and Television Awards The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

in January 2025.

References

External links

* {{RTÉ Dramas and Soap Operas 2020s Irish television series Irish crime television series Irish drama television series RTÉ original programming Television shows set in the Republic of Ireland Television shows filmed in the Republic of Ireland