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Now... I'm in with you... and all I know is folks all seem to die... and... I still love horses.
Kieran

Kieran Duffy is a supporting character featured in Red Dead Redemption 2.

History[]

Background[]

KieranDuffyBio

Biography in RDR 2 (click to enlarge)

Kieran's father was an Irishman with a dream of farming west in California, but both he and Kieran's mother later died of cholera. This left the young Kieran orphaned, and the stables where he worked threw him out shortly after. He joined the army but says it "didn't work out well". He then fell in with some unnamed outlaws, but they were killed by their line of work, leaving him alone once again.[1]

At some point, Kieran encountered the O'Driscoll Boys, a rival of the Van der Linde gang. They said they would give him a choice, that he could "ride with them or die", which he said, "wasn't much of a choice". He has a good knowledge of horses, due to him taking care of them as a child, and again for the O'Driscolls. He also describes himself as having been the "bottom rung of the ladder" in their gang.[2]

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2[]

Colter Chapter[]

When the Van der Linde gang are scouting the O'Driscoll camp, Kieran is seen being scolded by Colm O'Driscoll, who then leaves on his horse.

As they head back from attacking the camp, they come across Kieran standing by the river, whom they recognize from earlier. Kieran bolts as soon as he sees the gang on horseback, but Arthur manages to capture him via lasso after a chase and takes him back to camp, where Dutch orders the gang to lock him up in one of the cabins and not give him food until he provides them with useful information on Colm's gang. Kieran tells them that he was part of the O'Driscoll gang unwillingly and begs to be let go, but to no avail.

Horseshoe Overlook Chapter[]

When the gang settles near Valentine, Kieran is seen tied to a tree, looking malnourished and weak. During his time tied to the tree, he is taunted by Karen, who throws her cigarette at him, but is comforted by Mary-Beth, who gives him a drink of water. He is also harassed by Sadie, who pours a plate of food onto the ground in front of him out of self-absorbed anger after some O'Driscolls killed her husband. Kieran even gets Tilly Jackson to feed him some water when no one is looking and tries to push his luck by asking for a blanket, but she sarcastically declines.

The gang decides to threaten and interrogate him again, though Kieran says he knows nothing. After Dutch threatens to have Bill castrate him with gelding tongs, Kieran admits that he knows where one of Colm's supposed safe-houses is located, and that Colm is presumably there. He willingly leads Arthur, John, and Bill to Six Point Cabin, the aforementioned supposed safe-house.

After Arthur and the other two clear out the camp of O'Driscoll members, Arthur heads for the cabin in the rear of the camp, assuming that Colm is hiding there on account of his body not being among those they killed. As Arthur opens the door, he is jumped by an O'Driscoll and is knocked to the ground. Before he can be killed, Kieran appears and fatally shoots the O’Driscoll, saving Arthur’s life.

When Arthur realizes that Colm O’Driscoll isn’t there, he assumes that Kieran set them up and points his gun at him. Kieran quickly argues that he would not have saved Arthur just moments earlier if that were the case, to which Arthur decides to reluctantly set him free, although Kieran instead insists he should join the Van der Linde gang, having made enemies of the O'Driscolls and therefore risking death in the wilderness otherwise. After some more convincing from John and Bill, Arthur eventually agrees and allows Kieran to stay with the gang.

Upon returning to camp, an event may play where Bill teases Kieran about castrating him with gelding tongs again, which causes Kieran to avoid him. At some point later, another event may play where Karen reassures him he's a part of the gang.

A random encounter with three O'Driscolls that the player can have near the Valentine Hotel after the mission "Paying a Social Call" makes it clear that the O'Driscolls by that time have become aware that Kieran has left their gang and fallen in with other people: When the three O'Driscolls spot Arthur one of them remarks, "Well, if this one ain't been riding with Kieran Duffy."[3]

Clemens Point Chapter[]

Kieran does not have much action during this chapter, he is usually just seen around camp performing horse-related chores during the day and sitting by himself at night, as he still doesn't feel as though the gang fully accepts him yet.

Earlier on in the chapter, he does have a small mission, where he and Arthur can go on a fishing trip together on a stretch of shore near the camp. While fishing, the two men see another man skinny-dipping in the water, who directs the two towards another tip of the shore which allegedly had some abnormally large fish. Kieran and Arthur head into the new spot pointed out, where Arthur can catch the Legendary Bluegill. After Arthur's first few attempts, Kieran will say it is getting late and ride back to camp, leaving Arthur to fish a little longer.

At the end of the chapter, Kieran witnesses Jack Marston being kidnapped by the Braithwaites, but later claims that he knew of the dealings between the gang and the family and assumed things were under control. Kieran and Micah are left behind to watch over camp while the others ride out to retrieve Jack.

Kieran is later seen with the other gang members when Pinkerton agents Milton and Ross approach the gang at Clemens Point.

Saint Denis Chapter[]

Kieran is mostly absent from the main events of the story after the gang relocates into Shady Belle. Before Jack is retrieved from Angelo Bronte, he can be seen confronting Abigail and apologizing for misreading the situation when Jack was kidnapped. After Jack is returned home safely, Kieran is encouraged by Karen and Arthur to join the celebration party. He eventually gets drunk and tells Arthur that joining the Van der Linde gang was the "best choice he ever made", and that he sometimes reflects on the fact that had he stayed with the O'Driscolls, Arthur may have ended up killing him at some point, to which Arthur agrees and adds that they likely would have ended up killing each other at Six Point Cabin. Kieran will then pass out somewhere outside of Shady Belle.

At some point during the night, Kieran was captured by the O'Driscolls and subsequently tortured until they found out the Van der Linde gang's location. After he had told them everything, he was decapitated, his eyes were gouged out, and his corpse was sent back to Shady Belle on horseback, tied up in a manner that displayed his decapitated, eyeless head being held in his cupped hands. Soon after, O'Driscoll Boys ambush the Shady Belle manor.

Following the gunfight, Dutch and the rest of the gang begin to clean up the mess. Dutch orders Reverend Swanson to bury Kieran somewhere that's "close, but not too close". After this, Kieran's grave can be found in the meadow west of Shady Belle.

Arthur later wrote in his journal about how he regretted being unable to save Kieran's life, even though Kieran had saved his. Kieran's death also has an impact on the gang's already-deteriorating emotional state. Mary-Beth is heart-broken and enraged, calling his murderers "pigs" and asking Arthur to "make the bastards pay". She also confesses to Arthur that she had a "soft spot" for Kieran. Bill remarks that he was "almost starting to like him", and reminds Arthur that Kieran saved his life. Charles also remarks that he was starting to like Kieran. Tilly reflects on his death and says she thinks Kieran was "always living on borrowed time." Molly O'Shea seems distraught over his death and the death of Sean MacGuire, remarking to Arthur, "How is any of this okay?" Micah Bell suggests to Arthur that Kieran was attempting to turn on them and return to the O'Driscoll Boys, but Arthur disagrees.[4]

Beaver Hollow Chapter[]

Colm O'Driscoll is later captured and sentenced to be hanged. Arthur, Dutch, and Sadie attend the execution in disguise to ensure that the sentence is carried out; Dutch points out Kieran's fate as one of the reasons why they had to succeed. Colm is hanged in the end, avenging Kieran's death.

Character[]

Personality[]

Kieran is described by Arthur as a "gentle buffoon". This is shown best during "Old Friends", as he is being chased by Arthur, he doesn't open fire on him despite this, and upon falling off his horse, he still doesn't, and simply surrenders, saying "Don't hurt me, please!".

Duffy is soft-spoken and nervous, often stuttering when he speaks. He stutters a lot especially when speaking with Arthur, and although he has a crush on Mary Beth and seems to have no trouble speaking to her or complimenting her, he becomes shy and stutters when she returns his advances. He generally has a kind-hearted demeanor and avoids conflict when he can, as when he agrees to drink with Bill Williamson even after being physically threatened by him so often. When he tells Sean MacGuire his life story of being orphaned and falling in with the O'Driscolls, he says that all he's ever known is "folks all seem to die", reflecting that he may be wary of losing friends and loved ones so often and never having a solid home or family.

Although the gang kidnapped him, he seems intent on earning their trust and becoming a fully-fledged member. He tells Arthur that he plans on proving himself to him. When Jack is kidnapped, he tells Abigail that he would give his life for Jack if he could. He becomes genuinely frustrated whenever someone refers to him as an "O'Driscoll", and zealously told Dutch upon meeting him that he hates Colm O'Driscoll.

Kieran prides himself to be a good fisherman, up to the point that he tries to bond with Arthur and gain his trust by going fishing with him; he reveals that fishing is one of the very few things he had the time to learn from his father, along with taking care of horses, another activity he shows to be fond of.

Appearance[]

Kieran is unshaven with green eyes and dark, shoulder-length hair. When Karen first sees him tied to the tree, she says she "thought O'Driscolls ate babies, but you look like a baby".[5]

Kieran is first seen wearing a fairly standard O'Driscoll outfit consisting of trousers, a white shirt with green stripes, a green bandana, and a knee-length leather jacket which buttons down entirely and has a split down the back side. In addition, he will be wearing black leather gloves, a very worn out hat and brown boots. This outfit will also serve as his winter gear.

He will next be seen in Chapter 2, where as a prisoner most of his exterior clothing and weapons will be removed leaving him with just a cotton under-shirt, trousers and boots. Though, once inducted into the gang, most of his O'Driscoll uniform will be removed though he will be still wearing his leather jacket but now left open to display a white union suit underneath. At this point he will be equipped with his own custom Cattleman Revolver.

By Chapter 3, Kieran will be seen in entirely new clothes. Over his white union suit, he will be wearing brown trousers held up with suspenders. He will also be wearing a dark blue shirt and a matching blue neck-tie. He will no longer be wearing his worn out boots but ankle boots with gold spurs, though he will return to wearing the hat that he wore in Colter. His night clothes consist of a white cotton shirt and white shorts.

Kieran is one of the only characters in the Van Der Linde gang to not have a clothing rotation between day and night cycles and will continue to wear the same outfit everyday until a new Chapter starts; due to the fact that he likely doesn't own much else.

Mission appearances[]

Red Dead Redemption 2

Companion Activities

Murders Committed[]

  • Unnamed O'Driscoll member - Shot in the stomach to save Arthur.

Trivia[]

  • Kieran appears to have a crush on Mary-Beth, and vice versa. Mary-Beth is first seen giving him water while he is tied to the tree in camp, which appears to be the only act of kindness Kieran receives whilst tied up. Later, Kieran can be seen sitting by her in camp where he tells her that she's "very pretty" and Mary Beth tells him he is "sweet". A third encounter can be seen between the two where Mary-Beth inquires if Kieran is able to read or not. When Kieran admits he never learned, Mary Beth flirtatiously remarks that "maybe someone can teach [him]" (alluding to herself), which causes Kieran to get visibly flustered and leave. When Kieran goes missing, Mary Beth is the first to notice and can be seen frantically asking if anyone has seen him or not, and will remark that she's worried about him. After his death, Mary-Beth will become angry and tell Arthur that Kieran was a "gentle soul" who did not deserve his fate, and asks Arthur to enact revenge on those responsible.
  • Based on dialogue in the mission "No, No and Thrice, No" (if completed after "Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honor"), Susan Grimshaw mentions that she hadn't seen Kieran around the camp recently, alluding to his eventual demise.
  • Bill Williamson is heavily impacted by Kieran's death. Despite initially seeming to take joy from terrifying and threatening Kieran by teasing him with the tongs, he can later be seen in camp awkwardly trying to encourage Kieran to sit and drink with him, and he gets upset when Kieran runs off scared. This suggests Bill took a liking to Kieran by the end, possibly even a crush of sorts given Bill’s implied homosexuality, which is further evidenced by how he seemed to feel guilty for how the gang initially treated Kieran.
  • Kieran appears to have a unique Cattleman Revolver, which has blued steel, an iron frame and a bone grip, first seen when he saves Arthur in "Paying a Social Call". It is unclear where he was able obtain the weapon due to him being unarmed during his captivity shortly beforehand, though it is possible he could have acquired it from the corpse of one of the dispatched O'Driscolls at the camp during the same mission.
  • During “Paying a Social Call”, Bill tells Kieran: "You'll die, boy, but you‘ll lose your balls first". This ominously foreshadows Kieran's fate of being tortured and having his eyeballs gouged out.
  • Kieran, with the exceptions of Cleet and Joe, likely for their relatively short stint with the Van der Linde gang, is the only member seen alive not to have his own promotional artwork made featuring a quote from the character in question.
  • Kieran's death is most likely a reference to the Catholic martyr, Saint Denis, who was decapitated and is often depicted in art holding his head in his hands. Additionally, the name of the chapter and the city wherein are also named 'Saint Denis'.
    • Given Kieran's Irish ancestry, his death may also reference the Dullahan, a wicked fairy in Irish mythology usually depicted as a headless horseman carrying his head.
  • Kieran only rides his horse Branwen during his companion fishing mission. How he obtained Branwen is unknown.
  • Interestingly, both Kieran's name and surname are anglicized versions of the Irish Ciarán and Ó Dubhthaigh, both of which mean "the little dark one" and "the dark one", respectively.

Gallery[]

References[]

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