Cillian Murphy Named Best Actor at Irish Academy Awards

Cillian Murphy capped off his domination of awards season by claiming the top acting prize for film on home soil. 

The Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG award winner on Saturday night added perhaps a final statue to his flawless haul for Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” when he was named best lead actor at the 21st Irish Film and TV Academy Awards. 

“Being in this room is so special — being at home, with people that I love and admire amongst my fellow nominees and some of my favourite people,” Murphy said on accepting the award, handed to him by “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Lily Gladstone. Speaking backstage afterwards at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, he added: “It feels lovely being home with so many friends and colleagues.”

Gladstone, who described Murphy’s wins as a “clean sweep,” was making her first trip to Ireland as a nominee for best international actress. Her attendance wasn’t enough to secure a victory, however, with the award going to “Poor Things” star Emma Stone. Producer Ed Guiney of Element Pictures, on collecting the award for Stone, gave a special shoutout to Gladstone in the audience. 

While Murphy and Gladstone were arguably the star guests at the awards, they weren’t the only big names in the room. Among the other nominees and presenters were the likes of Sharon Horgan, Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan Eve Hewson, Kerry Condon, Pierce Brosnan and Alisha Weir, as were Kneecap, the Irish rap band whose comedy biopic was one of the buzziest titles out of Sundance. 

Other winners of the night included Pat Collins’ “That They May Face the Rising Sun,” based on Irish author John McGahern’s award-winning novel, which won the best film, while “Lies We Tell” won a number of accolades, including director, script and lead actress for Agnes O’Casey. Paul Mescal, who was unable to attend the ceremony, was named best supporting actor for “All of Us Strangers,” while Alison Oliver won best supporting actress for “Saltburn.”

Speaking on the red carpet before the awards, Gladstone described her current busy period, with the recently release of “Under the Bridge” and “Jazzy” announced as premiering in Tribeca.

“What I’m really happy about is that there’s a diversity of character there, there’s a diversity of stories that are being told,” Gladstone said. “One of the ones I have coming up that I’m particularly excited about is a light-hearted, farcical rom-com.”

Meanwhile Horgan, nominated for lead actress drama for “Best Interests,” discussed the upcoming second season of Apple TV+’s hit series “Bad Sisters,” saying she “really hoped” it would be out before the end of the year. “While we were shooting the first series, I had a story idea [for the second],” she noted. “And that’s what ended up being a lot harder to do.”

“Bad Sisters” star Eve Hewson gave little away about the new series, other than that the sisters were “still bad.”

See the 2024 Irish Film and TV Academy award winners below:

“Double Blind”
“Flora and Son”
“Lies We Tell”
“LOLA”
“Verdigris”

“Double Blind” – Ian Hunt-Duffy
“Flora and Son” – John Carney
“LOLA” – Andrew Legge
“That They May Face the Rising Sun” – Pat Collins
“Verdigris” – Patricia Kelly

“Double Blind” – Darach McGarrigle
“Flora and Son” – John Carney
“LOLA” – Andrew Legge
“That They May Face the Rising Sun” – Éamon Little
“Verdigris” – Patricia Kelly

Andrew Scott – “All of Us Strangers”
David Wilmot – “Lies We Tell”
Barry Keoghan – “Saltburn”
Barry Ward – “That They May Face the Rising Sun”
Pierce Brosnan – “The Last Rifleman”

Jessie Buckley – “Fingernails”
Eve Hewson – “Flora and Son”
Saoirse Ronan – “Foe”
Bríd Brennan – “My Sailor, My Love”
Geraldine McAlinden – “Verdigris”

Diarmuid Noyes – “Double Blind”
Chris Walley – “Lies We Tell”
Kenneth Branagh – “Oppenheimer”
Liam Carney – “Sunlight”
Lalor Roddy – “That They May Face the Rising Sun”

Bronagh Gallagher – “Dance First”
Catherine Walker – “My Sailor, My Love”
Ruth McCabe – “That They May Face the Rising Sun”
Agnes O’Casey – “The Miracle Club”
Maya O’Shea – “Verdigris”

“Blue Lights”
“Hidden Assets”
“Northern Lights”
“Obituary”
“The Woman in the Wall”

“Happy Valley” – Fergus O’Brien
“Kin” – Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor
“Northern Lights” – Tom Hall
“Obituary” – John Hayes
“The Gone” – Hannah Quinn

“Blue Lights” – Declan Lawn & Adam Patterson
“Kin” – Peter McKenna
“Northern Lights” – Stephen Jones
“Obituary” – Ray Lawlor
“The Woman in the Wall” – Joe Murtagh

Martin McCann – “Blue Lights”
Francis Magee – “Kin”
Sam Keeley – “Kin”
Michael Smiley – “Obituary”
Daryl McCormack – “The Woman in the Wall”

Sharon Horgan – “Best Interests”
Niamh Algar – “Malpractice”
Elva Trill – “Northern Lights”
Siobhán Cullen – “Obituary”
Caitriona Balfe – “Outlander”

Jared Harris – “Foundation”
Aaron Monaghan – “Hidden Assets”
Aidan Gillen – “Kin”
Emmett J. Scanlan – “Kin”
Simon Delaney – “The Woman in the Wall”

Niamh Algar – “Culprits”
Cathy Belton – “Hidden Assets”
Danielle Galligan – “Obituary”
Fionnula Flanagan – “Sisters”
Hilda Fay – “The Woman in the Wall”

“All of Us Strangers”
“Past Lives”
“Poor Things”
“Saltburn”
“The Holdovers”

Ryan Gosling – “Barbie”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Bradley Cooper – “Maestro”
Mark Ruffalo – “Poor Things”
Willem Dafoe – “Poor Things”

Margot Robbie – “Barbie”
Lily Gladstone – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Carey Mulligan – “Maestro”
Annette Bening – “Nyad”
Greta Lee – “Past Lives”

“In the Shadow of Beirut”
“Joan Baez: I Am a Noise”
“Notes From Sheepland”
“Stolen”
“The Deepest Breath”

LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
“Calf” – WINNER
“Mud Queen”
“Sound & Colour”
“The Golden West”
“Two for the Road”
“Waiting Day”

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Nana Dee”
“The Small Makings of a Storm”
“The Presenter”
“Wind & the Shadow” – WINNER