{"id":383284,"date":"2026-03-13T14:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/383284\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:53:19","slug":"all-of-irelands-academy-award-wins-including-two-doubles-and-a-triple-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/383284\/","title":{"rendered":"All of Ireland\u2019s Academy Award wins, including two doubles and a triple \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

George Bernard ShawAdapted screenplay, 1939\"GeorgeGeorge Bernard Shaw on a visit in Los Angeles answering questions from the American journalists around him. Photograph: Keystone-France\/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Yes, yes, George Bernard Shaw<\/a> and Bob Dylan<\/a> are the only people to have won both an Oscar<\/a> and Nobel Prize for Literature<\/a>. Shaw, also the first Irishman to win, received his statuette for an excellent adaptation of Pygmalion with Wendy Hiller. \u201cIt\u2019s an insult for them to offer me any honour, as if they had never heard of me before,\u201d he said, somewhat ungratefully.<\/p>\n

Barry FitzgeraldActor in a supporting role, 1945\"ActorActor Barry Fitzgerald taken on the set of John Ford\u2019s film The Quiet Man in Co Mayo around 1951 <\/p>\n

Two famous snippets of trivia here. The Abbey Theatre<\/a> stalwart Barry Fitzgerald<\/a>, up for the twinkly musical Going My Way, became, of course, the first Irish actor to win an Oscar. He also was the first \u2013 and, following an immediate rule change, the only \u2013 person to be nominated for best actor and best supporting actor for the same role in the same year.<\/p>\n

Mich\u00e8le BurkeMake-up and hairstyling, 1983, 1993<\/p>\n

Mich\u00e8le Burke, from Kildare, who died in 2025, is the only Irish woman to have won two Academy Awards. The prizes came for her work on Quest for Fire, in 1982, and Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula, in 1992. She received the first by mail. \u201cEveryone in the post office crowded around and applauded,\u201d she later said. \u201cI thought, this is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josie MacAvinProduction design, 1986<\/p>\n

Born in Monkstown, Co Dublin, Josie MacAvin had a hugely distinguished career \u2013 she was previously nominated for Tom Jones and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold \u2013 before winning, then in her 60s, for lavish work on Out of Africa. You can see her Oscar on display in the foyer of the Irish Film Institute<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Brenda FrickerActress in a supporting role, 1990<\/p>\n

In retrospect, Brenda Fricker\u2019s<\/a> famous win for playing Christy Brown\u2019s mother in the Jim Sheridan<\/a> film My Left Foot felt like the first shot in a cultural upheaval that would transform Ireland through the 1990s. \u201cAnybody who gives birth 22 times deserves one of these,\u201d she said, from the podium, of Mrs Brown.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Brenda Fricker: \u2018It was real violence, and I needed protection. Where was my father? There was blood all over me\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Daniel Day-LewisActor in a leading role, 1990, 2008, 2013<\/p>\n

The great man got his Irish passport in 1993, but only the most tedious pedant would suggest that his first win, for My Left Foot (see above), does not count as an Irish triumph. With subsequent leading-actor wins for There Will Be Blood and Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis<\/a> became the first man to claim that prize three times.<\/p>\n

Neil JordanOriginal screenplay, 1993<\/p>\n

Neil Jordan\u2019s<\/a> win for The Crying Game \u2013 and the film\u2019s five other nominations \u2013 would have seemed a pipe dream immediately following its quiet opening in Britain and Ireland. But the offbeat thriller subsequently became a sleeper hit in the United States. \u201cI didn\u2019t know these nominations were coming up,\u201d he began, characteristically befuddled. \u201cI was in the bathroom when I heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyron MontgomeryAnimated short, 1997<\/p>\n

Born in Limerick, Tyron Montgomery shared the prize with Thomas Stellmach for his work on Quest, a German stop-motion animation that won more than 40 international awards. \u201cI\u2019m very, very happy that Billy Crystal is doing this night,\u201d he said on the evening. \u201cHe was always my very favourite show host.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin McDonaghLive-action short, 2006<\/p>\n

Martin McDonagh\u2019s<\/a> first Oscar came for the characteristically bleak Six Shooter, in which Brendan Gleeson and R\u00faaidhr\u00ed Conroy glower menacingly throughout a tense train journey. The London-born Irishman went on to receive another six nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but he has yet to collect another statuette.<\/p>\n

Corinne MarrinanDocumentary short, 2006<\/p>\n

Corinne Marrinan, a New Yorker with Irish citizenship, won for A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, the study of a writer from the great days of radio. \u201cI\u2019d like to thank the academy for seating me next to George Clooney at the nominees\u2019 luncheon,\u201d she said from the podium. <\/p>\n

Glen Hansard, Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1Original song, 2008<\/p>\n

A classic moment. Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1<\/a>, who wrote the song Falling Slowly, from John Carney\u2019s<\/a> film Once, with Glen Hansard<\/a>, was cut off before her speech got going, but Jon Stewart, host of the evening, brought her back on. \u201c[This] is just proof that, no matter how far out your dreams are, it\u2019s possible,\u201d she said. \u201cFair play to those who dare to dream, and don\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1: \u2018Glen Hansard always treated me as an equal, but I didn\u2019t see myself that way\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Richard BanehamVisual effects, 2010, 2023\"JoeJoe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023. Photograph: Caroline Brehman\/EPA-EFE <\/p>\n

Raised in Tallaght, Dublin, Baneham<\/a>, winner for the first two Avatar films, is something of a giant in the special-effects community. Nominated, this weekend, for Avatar: Fire and Ash, he is odds-on to become (after Day-Lewis, no less) only the second Irish person to win three Oscars. Expect a few words as Gaeilge if he makes it to the stage.<\/p>\n

Oorlagh George and Terry GeorgeLive-action short, 2012<\/p>\n

Terry George, also nominated for writing In the Name of the Father and Hotel Rwanda, and Oorlagh George, his daughter, beat another Irish film, Peter McDonald and Eimear O\u2019Kane\u2019s Pentecost, to the 2011 prize with the touching The Shore. Ciar\u00e1n Hinds<\/a> and Conleth Hill<\/a> star as two men reuniting after 25 years of unnecessary estrangement. <\/p>\n

Benjamin ClearyLive-action short, 2016\"OSCARSOSCARS CEREMONY: Jacob Tremblay, Shan Christopher Ogilvie, Benjamin Cleary and Abraham Attah at the 88th Oscars in Hollywood, US. Photograph: Frederic J Brown\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

A famous year for the Irish at the Oscars, with Lenny Abrahamson\u2019s Room<\/a> and John Crowley\u2019s Brooklyn<\/a> bossing the nominations. The only Irish-born winner, however, turned out to be Benjamin Cleary for Sutterer, his clever short about a man dealing with a speech impediment. \u201cEvery day is a proud day to be Irish, but today even more so,\u201d Cleary said from the stage.<\/p>\n

Kenneth BranaghBest original screenplay, 2022\"KennethKenneth Branagh, winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Belfast in 2022. Photograph: David Swanson\/EPA <\/p>\n

Kenneth Branagh<\/a> is the only person to have been nominated in seven categories at the Oscars: picture, actor, director, supporting actor, adapted screenplay, live-action short and original screenplay. Best known as an actor and director, he may have been surprised that his first win \u2013 for the autobiographical Belfast<\/a> \u2013 came in a writing category. <\/p>\n

Tom Berkeley and Ross WhiteLive-action short, 2023There were two Irish winners at the Oscars, Ross White and Tom Berkeley\u2019s An Irish Goodbye and Richard Baneham for visual effects on Avatar: The Way Of Water. <\/p>\n

Another classic moment for the Irish at the Oscars. Tom Berkeley and Ross White, winners for the charming An Irish Goodbye<\/a>, brought the film\u2019s star, James Martin<\/a>, who has Down syndrome, to the stage and led the audience in a rendition of Happy Birthday. The young man subsequently received an MBE.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Oscar pioneer James Martin: \u2018When I was growing up I was bullied. Big time\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Cillian MurphyActor in a leading role, 2024Cillian Murphy has earned his first Academy Award, taking home the best actor Oscar for Oppenheimer. Video: Reuters <\/p>\n

The Cork man, famously uneasy with the business of fame, progressed through that year\u2019s awards season with a somewhat bashful demeanour, but, by Oscar night, his win for playing the father of the atomic bomb in Christopher Nolan\u2019s film Oppenheimer<\/a> seemed nailed down. \u201cI would really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Cillian Murphy: \u2018It was one of the greatest weeks of my life. I haven\u2019t talked about it much\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

And\u2026Peter O\u2019TooleHonorary Academy Award, 2002<\/p>\n

Peter O\u2019Toole, with eight nominations, shares the record with Glenn Close for the most acting nods without a win. When the offer of an honorary statuette arrived in 2002, he was a little sceptical, saying he still hoped to \u201cwin the lovely bugger outright\u201d, but, told they would award it whether he turned up or not, he pottered along and charmed the audience. Most sources, after some dispute, now accept O\u2019Toole was born in Leeds, but he travelled under an Irish passport, and he certainly always identified as Irish.<\/p>\n

Maureen O\u2019HaraHonorary Academy Award, 2014\"MaureenMaureen O\u2019Hara reading Richard Hayward\u2019s book The Corrib Country while taking a break from her role as Mary Kate Danaher in The Quiet Man. <\/p>\n

The greatest movie star Ireland has yet produced somehow never got nominated for a competitive Oscar. She must surely have been close for The Quiet Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and How Green Was My Valley. O\u2019Hara<\/a> eventually received an honorary statuette at the Governors Awards in November 2014. \u201cIt\u2019s just absolutely wonderful,\u201d she said after hearing about the honour. \u201cI keep thinking, Oh, this is a league of baloney. They\u2019re not telling me the truth\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Bernard ShawAdapted screenplay, 1939George Bernard Shaw on a visit in Los Angeles answering questions from the American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[7118,9238,50223,26401,18,117,124131,129992,19,17,24510,153878,79020,64877,7012,146951],"class_list":{"0":"post-383284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cillian-murphy","9":"tag-academy-awards","10":"tag-brenda-fricker","11":"tag-daniel-day-lewis","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-george-bernard-shaw","15":"tag-glen-hansard","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-jessie-buckley","19":"tag-marketa-irglova","20":"tag-martin-mcdonagh","21":"tag-neil-jordan","22":"tag-oscars","23":"tag-richard-baneham"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116222440756757076","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}