Ireland’s Oscar Legacy: From Shaw to Murphy and Buckley’s Historic Bid
As the 96th Academy Awards approach on March 15, 2024, all eyes are on Jessie Buckley, who has the potential to produce history as the first Irish woman to win the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Hamnet. This year’s nominations highlight a strong showing for Irish talent, building on a legacy of Oscar wins that stretches back to the early days of the awards. From playwright George Bernard Shaw to recent Best Actor winner Cillian Murphy, Irish artists have consistently made their mark on the world of cinema.
A History of Irish Oscar Wins
Ireland’s connection to the Academy Awards began with George Bernard Shaw, who won the Oscar for Best Writing – Adaptation for Pygmalion in 1939.1 Shaw was already a Nobel laureate in Literature (1925) when he received the award, making him one of only two individuals to have won both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize – the other being Bob Dylan.1
Barry Fitzgerald followed in 1945, winning Best Supporting Actor for Going My Way.1 He uniquely received nominations in both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories for the same performance, a practice the Academy later discontinued.
Trailblazers and Multiple Winners
Michèle Burke, a Kildare native, broke ground as one of the first women to win an Oscar for Make-up, taking the award twice – for Quest for Fire (1983) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1993).1 Sadly, Burke passed away in September 2025, leaving behind a legacy of six nominations and two wins.
Josie MacAvin, an Irish set decorator, won an Oscar for her work on Out of Africa in 1986.1
Daniel Day-Lewis, while not Irish-born, holds Irish citizenship through his father, poet Cecil Day-Lewis. He has won a record three Best Actor Oscars for My Left Foot (1990), There Will Be Blood (2008), and Lincoln (2013).1
Brenda Fricker made history in 1990 as the first Irish woman to win an acting Oscar, earning Best Supporting Actress for her performance in My Left Foot.1
Writing, Directing, and Short Film Success
Neil Jordan won the Oscar for Original Screenplay for The Crying Game in 1993.1 Tyron Montgomery won Best Animated Short Film for Quest in 1997, sharing the award with Thomas Stellmach.1
Peter O’Toole received an Honorary Academy Award in 2003, recognizing his illustrious career.1
Corinne Marrinan, a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States, won Documentary Short Subject for A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin in 2006.1 Martin McDonagh also won Live Action Short Film for Six Shooter in the same year.1
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová captivated audiences with their Original Song win for “Falling Slowly” from Once in 2008.1
Recent Recognition and Future Prospects
Richard Baneham, a Dublin visual effects artist, has twice been honored with Oscars for Visual Effects, winning for Avatar (2010) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2023).1 Terry and Oorlagh George won Live Action Short Film for The Shore in 2012, and Benjamin Cleary followed suit with Stutterer in 2016.1 Kenneth Branagh won Original Screenplay for Belfast in 2022.1 Tom Berkeley and Ross White won Live Action Short Film for An Irish Goodbye in 2023.1
Most recently, Cillian Murphy won Best Actor for Oppenheimer in 2024.1
With Jessie Buckley’s nomination for Hamnet, the possibility of an Irish woman finally winning the Best Actress Oscar is within reach. The nominations also include Richard Baneham for Avatar: Fire and Ash, producers Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Best Picture nominee Bugonia, Maggie O’Farrell for Adapted Screenplay for Hamnet, and John Kelly for Animated Short Film for Retirement Plan, demonstrating the continued strength and diversity of Irish talent in the film industry.