John Kavanagh (born 1946, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish character actor who was a member of the Abbey Theatre company for ten years (1967–1977) before going freelance. He has worked in over 20 films and numerous TV series since 1970. His film credits include Braveheart (1995), The Butcher Boy (1997), Dancing at Lughnasa (1998), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), and The Last Duel (2021). On television he is best known for playing The Seer / Pope Leo IV in Vikings (2013–2020) and Vikings: Valhalla (2022–2024), and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio in The Tudors (2007–2008). He received a Drama Desk Award nomination (1989) for Juno and the Paycock. He is also a singer, having played the lead in the Irish stage production of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in the 1970s. No other personal details are publicly confirmed.
as Jim
as Grandad
as Tommy
as Mr. Westmoreland
as Sir Alfred Beit
as Georgia's Boss(1 ep)
as The Seer(4 eps)
as Le Gris' Priest
as Gatekeeper (voice)
as Windsor
as Narrator (voice)
as Dad
as Arturo Toscanini
as The Seer (archive footage)(6 eps)
as The Seer(1 ep)
as Junior
as Inspector Michaud
as Reverend Benham
as Fionan and Little Kevin's Dad
as Pope Leo IV(1 ep)
as The Seer (voice)(1 ep)
as The Seer(39 eps)
as Edward Carson(1 ep)
as John O'Connor(4 eps)
as Reverend Smith
as Cardinal Campeggio(4 eps)
as Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio(10 eps)
as Harry
as Emmett Linscott
as Parmenion
as Stan
as Gerry the Barman
as Judge Shippen
as Sergeant Maloney
as Frank
as Haggerty
as Eugene O'Brien(4 eps)
as Charlie Rice
as Father Carlin
as Dr. Boyd
as IRA Chief
as Cardinal
as Adolphus Grigson
as Craig
as Father Patrick Curtis
as Brian Mahon
as Jamie O'Hara(1 ep)
as Canon Murtagh
as Sean Kerrigan
as Patrick Molloy
as Father Curtis(1 ep)
as Hartnett
as Seamus Reilly
as Adolphus Grigson(1 ep)
as Father Dade
as Superintendent O'Kelly
as Tom Crosbie
as Johnny Lacy
as Manager
as Beggar
as Beggar(1 ep)
as Donkey
as Robert Foxley
as Tom Crosbie(1 ep)
as Superintendent O'Kelly(1 ep)
as Father Dade(1 ep)
as Sean Kerrigan(1 ep)
as Hennessey(1 ep)
as Kearney
as Kearney(6 eps)
as Skeffington
as James
as Mr. Devereux
as Bowser Egan
as Patrick Pearse
as Priest