Jessie Buckley at The Oscars on March 15, 2026 / Etienne Laurent / The Academy
Jessie Buckley has received congratulatory messages from the President and Taoiseach of Ireland following her Oscars triumph.
The 38-year-old, who hails from Killarney in County Kerry, capped off a productive awards season with the coveted Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes, on Sunday night.
The country’s President Catherine Connolly paid tribute to Buckley and countryman Richard Baneham, who collected an award for Visual Effects for his work on Avatar: Fire and Ash.
She said: “As President of Ireland, may I offer my warmest congratulations to Jessie Buckley and Richard Baneham following their fantastic success in being awarded an Oscar at last night’s Academy Awards ceremony.
“Jessie Buckley’s award is an historic moment, with Jessie becoming the first Irish woman to receive an Oscar in the Best Actress category. This achievement is a thoroughly deserved testament not only to Jessie’s outstanding performance in Hamnet, but to her performances both in film and on stage across her career to date. I know that her proud community in Kerry and beyond will be sharing with her in this wonderful achievement.
“The award of a third Oscar to Richard Baneham for Visual Effects is a truly remarkable achievement following his previous Oscars in 2009 and 2023 and reflects his standing as one of the outstanding technicians in his field.”
Taoiseach – the equivalent of Prime Minister – Micheál Martin added: “For Jessie it is an outstanding victory for her extraordinary hard work to get to that level in terms of winning an Oscar and to get to the level of excellence that she demonstrates and performs on an ongoing basis.
“She is a tremendous ambassador for Ireland. It is a great win for Kerry and a great win for Ireland.”
In winning, Buckley became the first ever Irish woman to win a Best Actress Oscar in the 98 years of the Academy Awards, and only the second Irish actress honoured, following Brenda Fricker’s Best Supporting Actress victory in 1989 for My Left Foot.
Daniel Day-Lewis has famously won a record three Best Actor awards, while Cillian Murphy has also taken the top honour and Barry Fitzgerald was named Best Supporting Actor in 1944.
