Irish Americans Billie Eilish and Finneas win Oscar for Best Original Song
Billie Eilish and Finneas brought the au‐ dience to tears at the 2024 Oscars with their performance of "What Was I Made For?" which took home the Best Original Song prize.
For the second time, Billie Eilish and her elder brother Finneas have taken home an Academy Award for Best Original Song for their tune "What Was I Made For?", from the hit movie "Barbie."
"I had a nightmare about this last night," Billie said while accepting the award. "I just didn't think this would happen, I was not expecting this. I feel so incredibly lucky and honored."
The brother and sister both donned Artists4Ceasefire red “Ceasefire” pins. Billie and Finneas also took home their first Oscar in 2022 for their song "No Time to Die," a James Bond movie theme.
Earlier during the award ceremony on March 10, the duo performed "What Was I Made For?", moving cast members, in‐ cluding America Ferrera and Kate McK‐ innon, and director Greta Gerwig to tears.
"What Was I Made For?", like the movie "Barbie", has been a huge commercial success. It reached number one in Aus‐ tralia, Ireland, Switzerland, and the UK, peaking at 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Us. It received five nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, in‐ cluding Record of the Year, and won for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Cillian Murphy made history at the Os‐ cars 2024 by winning the statue for Best Oscar in "Oppenheimer". The movie took home seven awards in total includ‐ ing Best Director for Christopher Nolan, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing. "Poor Things", produced by the Dublin company, Element Pictures, took home Oscars for Makeup and Hairstyling, Pro‐ duction Design, and Costume Design as well as Best Actress for Emma Stone. This is a record haul for an Irish-pro‐ duced film that was shortlisted in 11 Os‐ car categories.
Billie Eilish's Irish connections
Billie Eilish, whose full name is Billie Eil‐ ish Pirate Baird O'Connell, and her brother Finneas have strong Irish roots on their father's side with Scottish her‐ itage from their mother's side.
In 2019, Eilish played the main stage at the Electric Picnic, a music festival held at the Stradbally Estate, in County Laois. Addressing a crowd of 57,000 gathered to see the teen pop sensation she shouted to the crowd: “I’m part Irish, dude… This is my home.”
At the time, she also spoke to Today FM about her Irish connection. She told them "My whole life I've been told by my parents that, ye know, I'm Irish and Scottish and I'm like ' Okay, yay!'
"I'm mean it's cool but I just didn't have anything to base it on - never been to Ireland, ye know, I didn't know anything really. And it's been actually really cool to come here."
had grown to 93,000 acres and had re‐ alized a profit of $512,000. In its peak year in 1883, the ranch encompassed 1,335,000 acres (5,400 square kilome‐ tres) in portions of six Texas counties and boasted 100,000 head of cattle. Jack only visited the ranch three times in his life, his real love was his estate in Donegal, and he began to use the profits he had made in Texas to make his dream of a rival to Balmoral in the hills of Donegal a reality, which would become known as Glenveagh Castle. Jack Adair died in 1885. His wife Cordelia now took an intense personal interest in the growth and operation of the ranch and continued the partnership with Charles Goodnight. Together they raised Angus, Hereford, and Santa Gertrudis cattle. Goodnight, an innovator in the cattle industry, experimented with crossbreeding techniques to develop better beef cattle suited for the harsh Texas climate.
When the Goodnight-Adair partnership dissolved in 1887, Goodnight took the 140,000-acre Quitaque ranch and 20,000 cattle for his share in the busi‐ ness.
Cordelia passed away in September 1921, and she is buried beside her hus‐ band in Killenard, Co Laois, Ireland. To this day, the JA Ranch is still run by her descendants.
Cornelia is well remembered in both America and Ireland, while to this day, the name ‘Black Jack’ Adair is said with scorn in Donegal, especially around Glenveagh, where the name of “Black Jack” Adair is forever a curse in the county of Donegal.
As for Charles Goodnight, sadly, he suf‐ fered financial ruin when he lost his life's savings when the Mexican silver mine he invested in was nationalised by the Mexican government. He was forced to sell his ranch in 1919 to an oilman friend, W. J. McAlister, with the provi‐ sion that Goodnight and his wife could stay in their home until they both died. Goodnight passed away on December 12, 1929.
Today, the JA Ranch is still privately owned and operated. While its size has significantly reduced from its original extent, it continues to raise cattle and uphold the traditions of the historic ranching era in Texas. The ranch's his‐ torical significance earned it a designa‐ tion as a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
The JA Ranch played a pivotal role in the development of the cattle industry in Texas, contributing to the state's rich ranching heritage. Its impact on cattle breeding and ranching methods is still highly regarded, solidifying its place in Texas history.
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