Laura Quinn

Born and bred in the Roxbury neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Oscar grew up as the only child of the working class Irish-American Quinn family. Having always been a dedicated, hard-working student, he graduated with a degree in Journalism from Suffolk University and, finding he was better at speaking than writing, steadily worked his way up towards his current job as a reporter for local news station WGBH. Often tasked with covering criminal trials, Oscar regularly found himself becoming acquainted with lawyers and ultimately ended up falling in love with public defender Laura Quinn, whom he married in 2103. Although he initially believed both he and his wife had accepted the fact that Laura could not have children, he came to realise this wasn't the case, leading the Quinns to adopt four-year-old Megan in 2116.

Born Megan Colin in the Roxbury neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Megan was a mere three years old when her parents were assassinated in front of her own eyes on Thanksgiving Day, November 28th, 2115. Believed to be a murder related to gang crime, the case passed through public defender Laura Quinn's office and drew her attention, although she wasn't to meet Megan until March 2116, when she and her husband were considering adopting a child. Although initially intending to adopt a teenager, Megan's maturity coupled with the fact that Laura's own niece, Caroline Walsh, had been killed by a gang not too long ago led her to change her mind. Megan was introduced to her mother's occasionally suffocating O'Connell family soon after and has seemingly settled in well, being particularly friendly with her cousin Sean McCarthy.

Seamus is - although many would swear otherwise - the oldest child of the O'Connell family and shares his name with his father, leading his brothers and sisters to often refer to him as 'Junior'. Perhaps because his sister Bridget never hesitated in taking on the burden that should have belonged to him, Junior never saw any need to act as a role model to his younger siblings and throughout most of his youth could at best be described as immature and irresponsible. His marriage to Caitlin Keane in 2097 was all but arranged by both the Keane family and the O'Connell family, and Junior himself would probably be the first to admit that his children were the only good outcome of it, even if they weren't quite enough to stop him from straying from his wife on more than one occasion. An affair with a co-worker at his old office job caused Junior to find himself amidst the ranks of the unemployed, whereas old flame Kerry McCarthy's recent death led Junior to discover he had an extra son, Sean McCarthy. This revelation proved to be too much for Caitlin O'Connell to take, and she committed suicide on the 31st January, 2116. Junior is now a single father to five children and lives in Kerry McCarthy's old house - although he runs her old hardware store, however, the building is no longer used for arms trading.

Born Bridget O'Connell Jr., Bridge is the second of seven O'Connell children and the oldest girl. Growing up as part of the relatively low income O'Connell family in the Boston neighbourhood of Roxbury, Bridget - or Bridge, as she was often known to differentiate between her and her mother - assumed her older brother's burden of responsibility and took it upon herself to look out for her remaining six siblings. As a result, Bridge is probably the most calm and composed of the O'Connells and definitely the most capable of putting emotion aside when necessary. Bridge fulfilled her dream of starting a family of her own when she married white-collar worker Desmond Walsh in 2101 and, three years later, gave birth to her first daughter, Caroline Walsh. Her second daughter, Fiona, was born in 2109. After Caroline Walsh was murdered by a member of the Gargoyles as retribution for Liam O'Connell having ordered the death of Andrea Costigan's aunt, Caroline Scott, the devastated family decided to move away from Boston and resided for three months in Providence, Rhode Island. During that time, Bridge's discovery that she was pregnant restored some of the family faith, causing Bridge to return to Roxbury for her younger sister Susannah's wedding with the intention of staying.

Shannon is the fourth of seven O'Connell children and the second youngest girl. Growing up, she was very close to her younger sister, Susannah, and her older sister, Laura. Despite this, Shannon is probably the feistiest and least stereotypically 'girly' of the four O'Connell women; from a very young age was a big fan of almost every kind of sport apart from baseball, which the rest of her family was passionate about. Although Shannon's family was surprised when at the age of thirty-five she announced she was engaged and pregnant, they weren't surprised to find her future husband was an athlete: Owen Flynn, a basketball player for the Boston Celtics. Shannon took maternity leave from her job as a sports journalist for the local newspaper and gave birth to her first son, Colin Donald Flynn, on the 25th January, 2116. Shannon and Owen have since broken off their engagement, and currently lives with her son in a small apartment in Roxbury.

Donnie was the youngest of seven O'Connell children and grew up reaping the benefits of being the laid-back, carefree baby of the family. Although when he was younger he was close to both his older siblings, Liam and Susannah, Donnie wasn't ever particularly bright and most recently had distanced himself from both of them. He worked for the Roxbury Gang as a small-time drug dealer, but much to his older brother's disdain could often be found selling in the wrong parts of Boston as well as sampling some of his merchandise himself. Donnie had never been interested in finding a wife and settling down in a long-term relationship until the realisation that his brother Liam was going to become a father gave him a harsh wake-up call. He asked his then-girlfriend Chloe Graham to marry him, but when she refused Donnie ended up turning to drugs and in his altered state was hit by a speeding vehicle. Having suffered severe spinal chord injuries, he later died in hospital.