GALLERY: Jessie Buckley makes history as first Irish woman to win Best Actress Oscar

On Sunday night, Irish actress Jessie Buckley made history and became the first Irish woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in ‘Hamnet’.

Jessie, who is a former student of the Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles, has capped off an amazing awards season with this final most prestigious recognition for her heartbreaking turn as Agnes, wife of William Shakespeare.

She had previously won the Golden Globe, BAFTA and Actor award for the same role so winning this final prize was almost guaranteed but a big relief and a massive moment for the actress nonetheless.

Jessie Buckley arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)

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Taking to the stage to accept the award from presenter and last year’s best actress winner Mikey Madison, Buckley said:
“Thank you so much. This is...this is really something. Thank you to the incredible women that I stand beside; I am inspired by your art and your heart, and I want to work with every single one of you.

“To the producers who created this ship for us to stand in, and my shipmates for life-Hilda, Jessica, Lindsey, Zack-none of this is possible without you.

“My family, my Irish family, they're all here. Mom, Dad, thank you for teaching us to dream and to never be defined by expectation and to carve from your own passion. You, Fred, I love you man. I love you; you're the most incredible dad, you're my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you, I do. I do! And Isla, my little girl who is eight months, who has absolutely no idea what's going on and is probably dreaming of milk, but this is kind of a big deal, and I love you and I love being your mom, and I can't want to discover life beside you.

“Chloé [Zhao, director and co-screenwriter of Hamnet] and Maggie [O'Farrell, co-screenwriter], to get to know this incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mother's love is the greatest collision of my life.
“It’s Mother’s Day in the UK today, so I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart. We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds. Thank you for recognising me in this role. This is the greatest honour. I can't even believe it."

Buckley beat out her fellow actors, Emma Stone, Rose Byrne, Renate Reinsve and Kate Hudson in what was a really strong year for the category. Also picking up the major awards on the night were Michael B Jordan who claimed the award for Best Actor for his dual role playing twin brothers in ‘Sinners’; Paul Thomas Anderson for Best Director on his film ‘One Battle After Another’ which also claimed the award for Best Picture; Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the horror hit ‘Weapons’ and Sean Penn won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘One Battle After Another’. In another win for the Irish, Dubliner Richard Baneham also took home an Oscar for his visual effects work on James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’.

Jessie Buckley’s family and the Irish community in general have been incredibly supportive of Jessie throughout the awards ceremony and speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland after the win, her brother Killian said though the win may change some aspects of her life “at her heart she’s incredibly, incredibly good at being herself."
He added, “it’s great to see someone like that represent me, Ireland and the world” and said Jessie is “as good a sister as you could hope for.”

Jessie’s uncle Sean called the win “absolutely extraordinary” and speaking to Morning Ireland said: “We are so, so proud of you. Well, well done, Jess,”

Jessie, who is originally from county Kerry despite spending her secondary school terms in Thurles, was joined by some family members in America but had another collection of supporters watching her win from the Arbutus Hotel in Killarney in the early hours of Monday morning.

On social media on Monday morning, the Ursuline shared: “The Ursuline Secondary School is immensely proud to congratulate past pupil Jessie Buckley on her Oscar win for Best Actress at the 2026 Academy Awards. The tender, intuitive and resilient portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in ‘Hamnet’ that brought her this accolade marks an extraordinary high point in what has been a stunning career to date. Following Jessie’s remarkable career trajectory has filled us with great pride and her work has brought honour to our school community through her remarkable passion, talent and commitment to her craft.

“From our school stage, and onto the world stage, Jessie’s success is testament to her exceptional ability and hard work. She has always been, and is now more than ever, an inspiration to all those associated with our school.

“Jessie’s journey represents all of the values we cherish here in the Ursuline; excellence, dedication, creativity and humility. This win also exemplifies the potential we believe is in every one of our students. When Jessie visited us in 2019, to speak to the entire school, she told the students that as young girls they should never be afraid of their own potential, and reminded them that they are more powerful than they can even begin to imagine. Jessie remains a shining example of this, and of what can be achieved with talent and dedication.

“We extend our warmest congratulations to Jessie, her family, and all who have supported her throughout her career. The entire Ursuline community celebrates this momentous achievement with her and we consider ourselves privileged to have been part of her journey.”

The school also made sure to recognise another past pupil, Kerry Condon, for her work in ‘F1: The Movie which won the Academy Award for Best Sound and was also nominated for Best Picture.

Though winning Best Actress is usually followed by a slew of offers to star in major upcoming movies, it’s still a little too soon to know what the full effect of this success will be for Jessie. However, she is currently in cinemas starring in ‘The Bride’ opposite Christian Bale and will be the lead in Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s upcoming ‘Three Incestuous Sisters’ alongside Josh O’Connor, Dakota Johnson and Saoirse Ronan.

A huge congratulations to Jessie!