The Irish have an affinity for show business that dates back to our bardic traditions when poets, musicians and storytellers would travel from one castle to the other, using the dramatic arts to pay tribute to the lords and chieftains. So, it’s hardly any surprise that the modern Irish have pretty much made the film world their own—with great distinction we might add…

The Most Successful Irishman at the Academy Awards

It should be no wonder then that the “Oscar” statuette presented each year at the Academy Awards was designed by Dublin-born Cedric Gibbons, who was considered MGM’s top set designer during Hollywood’s heyday. Besides designing the coveted Oscar, Gibbons even managed to win a dozen of them for himself. As they say in Ireland (and elsewhere!), nice work if you can get it!

A Shout-out to Mr. Shaw

Did you know that in 1938 when Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw won the screenplay Oscar for the film Pygmalion he became the only person ever to be awarded both an Oscar and a Nobel prize?

Try, try again

The Irish are known for never giving up, so the tale of the legendary Peter O’Toole is particularly moving. Most famous for playing Lawrence of Arabia, Mr. O’Toole was nominated eight times but never won an Oscar. This is most number of times somebody has been nominated without winning an award. However the screen veteran was given a well-deserved Honorary Academy Award in 2003. In his acceptance speech he valiantly vowed to one day “win the lovely bugger outright.”

He almost won it twice—at the same time

In 1944, Barry Fitzgerald won an Oscar for his role as Father Fitzgerald in the smash hit Going My Way. Fitzgerald also holds the dubious distinction of being the first and only person to be nominated in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories for the same film. After that awkward moment, the Academy changed the rules so this could never happen again.

Do you have a favorite Irish Oscar winner (or nominee)? Let us know about them in the comments!