One of 2024’s best Irish thriller shows confirmed to be returning for season two

The series' co-creator had previously spoken to JOE about the plans for a second season.

Commissioned by both TG4 and BBC Northern Ireland, the six-part first season of the show, whose title means 'anguish' or 'torment' in Irish, was set in the remote northwest of Ireland.

It followed Garda Conall Ó Súilleabháin (Dónall Ó Héalaí, Arracht) as he searched for justice in the most personal of cases: the murder of his own mother.

This was in the wake of her body being discovered 15 years after her disappearance.

In an announcement made at the Belfast Media Festival, TG4 and BBC confirmed that they have commissioned a six-part second season that will begin filming in early 2026 on location in Donegal.

The writers on the new series are Richie Conroy (Crá season one, the excellent and currently on-air Leonard and Hungry Paul), alongside duo Sarah Gordon and Damian McCann (the upcoming thriller Aontas), Noel McCann (Blue Lights) and Philip Doherty (Crá season one director, Redemption of a Rogue).

Actress and filmmaker Aoife Nic Ardghail (Casual) will also be joining the writing team on the sophomore batch of episodes.

Returning and new cast members are set to be announced soon.

Speaking about the renewal, TG4 Commissioning Editor, Máire Ní Chonláin, said in a statement:

“We’re delighted to see Crá  return for a second series. The first season captivated audiences with its unique voice, creativity and dark humour, and with Richie Conroy and Philip Doherty leading an exciting creative team, we’re confident series two will deliver another compelling and distinctly Irish-language drama for viewers.”

Karen Kirby, BBC Gaeilge Commissioning Executive, added:

"Crá was the first Irish Language crime drama series to air on BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC iPlayer and BBC Four, and after such positive reactions from audiences, a second series is great news. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story takes audiences in series two." 

Back in April of this year, JOE interviewed Crá co-creator Richie Conroy about his hit Irish comedy Fran the Man.

Dónall Ó Héalaí in Crá

During the conversation, he also spoke about the runaway success of Crá, telling us: "It was beautiful... That was a relatively low-budget TG4 Irish language drama. But it did, as you say, resonate with audiences in the UK [through the BBC]. It's been sold in America, France, different territories.

"I was listening to a podcast the other day, and it was a writer talking about [how], especially for TV, it's really nice to go to somewhere where you want to spend a bit of time. And Donegal, the west coast of Ireland, it's just breathtaking, you know? And it's kind of underused; the whole West Coast has been sort of underused.

"I mean, American movies might come in and do a kind of 'eye-diddley-eye' film out there, but actually telling a true story that's rooted in the Gaeltacht hasn't been done that much."

Conroy then spoke about his hopes for a season two, explaining: "I think audiences really responded to the location and also the character, Conall, played by Dónall Ó Héalai. He's a fantastic actor. He's just brilliant and he's just off filming in America.

"We're going to hopefully do a second series of Crá, but we don't want to lose Dónall to Hollywood because I think that's going to end up happening.

"But the character, the idea of a cop who's spent his whole life, his whole career turning a blind eye and then finally [realises]: 'This is something I have to look into and it's going to cause repercussions across the community.' - with Crá, we didn't rely on too many special effects or murders or anything. It was just slow, methodical storytelling with good actors. I think that's why it's resonated."

Following up about Crá season two, JOE asked if Conroy had a story in mind and if he thinks a follow-up would see Conall investigating another crime.

In response, he said:

"I think that's possibly what's going to happen, yeah. I definitely think we'll follow Conall's character.

"Without any spoilers, he was on a quest for an answer of who killed his mother and got the answer at the end of that series.

"What do you do with your life once you've figured out the one thing that you've been tormented by for 15 years? How do you restart your life? Is he still a cop? These kinds of questions are sort of in the melting pot at the moment."

The first season of Crá is streaming on the TG4 Player now.