Kieran Duffy (2024)

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

Background[]

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.

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.

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 before leaving on his horse.

As they head back from attacking the camp, they come across Kieran stood by the river, whom they recognise from earlier, Kieran bolts as soon as he sees the gang on horseback. Arthur captures him via lasso and takes him back to camp, and Dutch orders the gang to lock him up in one of the cabins and not give him food until he talks. Kieran tells them that he was part of the O'Driscoll gang unwillingly, and that he hates Colm O'Driscoll.

Horseshoe Overlook Chapter[]

When the gang settles near Valentine, Kieran is seen tied to a tree, looking malnourished and weak. The gang decide to interrogate him again and threaten him; Kieran again tells them that he hates Colm. After the gang threatens to use gelding tongs on him (castrating him), he admits to them that he knows where one of Colm's supposed safe-houses is located. He leads Arthur, John and Bill to Six Point Cabin, the aforementioned supposed safe-house.

After Arthur and his associates clears 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 shoots the O’Driscoll, saving Arthur’s life. When Arthur realises that Colm O’Driscoll isn’t there, he assumes that Kieran lied to them about Colm O'Driscoll's whereabouts to set them up, and points his gun at Kieran. However, Kieran quickly argues that he would not have saved Arthur just moments earlier if that were the case. Arthur hesitantly sets him free, believing he has done enough to earn his freedom, and tells him to flee. Kieran insists that he should join the Van der Linde gang because he had just made the O'Driscolls his enemies, as well as the fact he would probably die in the wild anyway if the O'Driscolls didn't get him. After some more convincing from John and Bill, Arthur agrees to bring him back to camp at Horseshoe Overlook.

Upon returning to camp an event will play where Bill teases Kieran about castrating him with gelding tongs again, which causes Kieran to run off.

Clemens Point Chapter[]

Keiran does not have much action during this chapter, he is usually just seen around camp performing chores during the day and sitting by himself at night, as he still doesn't feel as though the gang fully accepts him yet. He is not involved during any main quest and was the only male member of the gang besides Micah to be left at camp during the gang's attack on the Braithwaite Manor. Earlier on in the chapter he does however have a small mission where him 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, and the man directs the two towards another tip of shore that had some abnormally large fish. Kieran and Arthur head in to 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.

Saint Denis Chapter[]

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

Following the gunfight, Dutch and the rest of the gang began to clean up the mess. Dutch ordered Reverend Swanson to bury Kieran somewhere that's "close, but not too close".

His death had an impact on the already deteriorating emotional state of the gang, most notably affecting Arthur, Bill and Mary-Beth.

Appearance[]

He is around 28-29 years old when he is caught by Arthur Morgan, he has a few scars on his leg from a wolf bite when he was 13 years old as he was out hunting wolves with his older brothers.

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 hom*osexuality, 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'.
• Kieran only rides his horse Branwen during his companion fishing mission. How he obtained Branwen is unknown.

From Kieran Duffy[]

Gallery[]