A CRAIC TEAM
Marion Mcmullen marks St Patrick’s Day on Sunday with a look at Irish stars who have shone in their field
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Cillian Murphy, left, is the first Irish star to win the Best Actor Oscar, after impressing with his portrayal of J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist described as the father of the atomic bomb, in epic biopic Oppenheimer. The 47-year-old declared himself a “proud Irishman” as he collected his Academy Award. The Inception, and 28 Days Later star was born in Douglas, Cork.
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Casualty’s Brenda Fricker, 79, also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for My Left Foot. One of the Dublin-born actress’s first TV roles was a 1977 appearance in Coronation Street. She also appeared in the TV adaptation of Graham Norton’s crime drama Holding.
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Chat show host Graham Norton was born Graham Walker in County Cork and won his first Bafta in 2000. One of his early roles was Father Noel Furlong in comedy Father Ted and he’s been a commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest since 2008. He has said “to be a good chat show host you have to want to be a chat show host, not just want to be on the telly”.
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Saoirse Ronan was born in New York to Irish parents and the family later moved back to Ireland when she was three. The talented star has so far been nominated for four Oscars for film roles in Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women.
5 County Louth-born Pierce Brosnan made his film debut in gangster movie The Long Good Friday in 1980. He would go on to play James Bond 15 years later, and even tried his hand at singing in hit movie musical Mamma Mia!
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Dublin-born Dave Allen was ahead of his time when it came to comedy. His show Dave Allen at Large ran for eight years on the BBC in the 1970s and saw the ex-skegness Redcoat sitting on his trademark stool, sipping whisky and reflecting on the idiocies of life mixed with comedy sketches.
7 One of Dubliner Colin Farrell’s early TV roles was in the BBC drama Ballykissangel before making his name in movies like Phone Booth, In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin. The Miami Vice star once said: “Being Irish is very much a part of who I am. I take it everywhere with me.”
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Fellow Dubliner Brendan Gleeson co-starred with Farrell in both The Banshees of Inisherin and crime caper In Bruges. His many film credits also include playing a prison inmate in Paddington 2 and the Harry Potter movies. He worked as a teacher before finally turning to an acting in his 30s.
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Irish rock band U2 formed in Dublin in 1976 and would dominate the rock scene in the 1980s and beyond. They recently opened the new high tech immersive 17,000-seat venue the Sphere in Las Vegas with a string of concert dates.
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The success of heartrending ballad Nothing Compares 2 U made Irish singer Sinéad O’connor a star. Sinéad, who passed away last July at the age of 56, spent weeks at number one in the UK in 1990 with her cover version of the Prince song.
An emotional Annie Lennox sang the track in memory of Sinéad at this year’s Grammys.