Jessie Buckley Is First Irish Best Actress Oscar Winner

When “Hamnet” star Jessie Buckley won the Academy Award for Best Actress on Sunday, the County Kerry native became the first Irish person to do so. Her win completes Ireland’s set of victories in all four acting categories.

Buckley was asked backstage for her message to the people of Ireland, watching her win at 2:30 am local time.

“Don’t go to bed,” she said with a laugh. “Keep partying! That’s what I’m gonna do. I’m so grateful for the support and I feel the love, man. I feel it from young people and old people, from women and men, and from my family. That’s what makes it real. I’m delighted for us all.”

The country’s most recent victor is Cillian Murphy, who referred to himself as a “very proud Irishman standing up here tonight” while accepting Best Actor in 2024 for “Oppenheimer.” Daniel Day-Lewis, who holds both British and Irish citizenship, has triumphed in the category three times, for “My Left Foot,” “There Will Be Blood” and “Lincoln.”

Brenda Fricker earned the supporting actor statuette for her role as Day-Lewis’ mother in 1989’s “My Left Foot,” and Barry Fitzgerald was awarded supporting actor for 1944’s “Going My Way.”

(Fun fact about Fitzgerald: His “Going My Way” performance as Father Fitzgibbon also earned him a nod for lead actor, making him the only person ever to be nominated in multiple categories for the same role in the same movie. He lost the lead statuette to his costar Bing Crosby. Following this flukey double nod, the Academy instituted the “Barry Fitzgerald Rule,” which prohibited the nomination of a single performance in multiple categories. Members of the Actors Branch are allowed to vote for a performance in whichever category they think it appropriate — but if that performance gets enough votes to be nominated in lead and in supporting, it only receives a nomination in the category in which it received the most votes.)

As for Best Actress, Buckley is the third Irish actress to land a nod in the category. The first was Saoirse Ronan who, nine years after scoring a supporting nom at 13 for 2007’s “Atonement,” earned a lead nomination for “Brooklyn.” She has appeared twice more in the category, for 2017’s “Lady Bird” and 2019’s “Little Women.” In between, Ruth Negga earned a Best Actress nod for 2016’s “Loving.”

Buckley’s Oscar glory comes from her second nomination, following her supporting nod for “The Lost Daughter” in 2022.

Over the years, Ireland has maintained a steady presence at the Academy Awards, winning 22 times from a total 109 nominations. Eight Irishmen (and yes, they’re all men) have been nominated for Best Director, including most recently Martin McDonagh for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” as well as twin two-timers Jim Sheridan and Kenneth Branagh, who was born in Northern Ireland and whose 2021 semi-autobiographical drama about the Troubles, “Belfast,” won Best Original Screenplay. McDonagh, who also holds dual British and Irish citizenship, won live action short in 2006 for “Six Shooter.”

Other prominent winners from the Emerald Isle include Neil Jordan (original screenplay for 1992’s “The Crying Game”), George Bernard Shaw (adapted screenplay for 1938’s “Pygmalion”) and Glen Hansard (original song for “Falling Slowly” from 2007’s “Once,” shared with Markéta Irglová).

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