Oscars 2026 FAQ: What you need to know about Irish nominees, favourites, where to watch
Irish actress Jessie Buckley, who is nominated for an Oscar this year.
All eyes will be on the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday to find out if Kerry’s Jessie Buckley will take home the award for Best Actress.
The actress, hailing from Kerry, is widely acclaimed for her performance in , a historical drama film directed by Chloé Zhao, who co-wrote the screenplay with Maggie O'Farrell.
Since its release earlier this year, the actress has been turning heads with her appearances at multiple red carpets and award ceremonies, winning Best Actress in a Leading Role at this year’s BAFTA’s, Best Actress at the Critics' Choice Awards, Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes, and Best Lead Actress – Film at the Irish Film & Television Awards.
Buckley’s family was flown out to Los Angeles earlier this week, and Kerry locals are anticipating an exciting weekend ahead.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 15, celebrating the best films from the last year and the people behind them.
Hollywood's most glamorous night will be held at the Dolby Theatre, where the global film industry will gather to honour the most outstanding achievements in cinema over the past year.
The award ceremony will be broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from 12am, with red carpet coverage starting at 11pm on Sunday.
Kerry’s Oscar-hopeful Jessie Buckley is the odds-on favourite to win Best Actress in a Leading Role at this Sunday’s Oscars award ceremony.
From her early days in Killarney Musical Society, through stage and screen roles – and even an acclaimed album along the way – Buckley is now on the cusp of Oscar success.
Buckley’s performance in which tells the powerful love story that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, has been widely praised for its emotional depth and nuance.
author Maggie O'Farrell is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film adaptation, directed by Chloé Zhao, has received a total of eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Also among the Irish Oscar nominees this year is Richard Baneham for   Baneham is already a double Oscar winner for his work on and Baneham is again nominated in the Visual Effects category alongside his colleagues.
Among the nominees for best animated short film this year is directed by Dublin-based filmmaker John Kelly. It sees Domhnall Gleeson voicing the lead character Ray, and is described as a "touching and funny examination of the beauty, curiosity and fears of our finite mortality".Â
Dark sci-fi comedy which includes the Dublin-based Element Pictures among its producers, has received four nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Element Pictures' Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe have received Oscar nominations in the Best Picture category as producers of the film.
which was made in Ireland and produced in association with Dublin-based Wild Atlantic Pictures, has also received two nominations, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
Rose Byrne, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum, and Sigourney Weaver will present at the 98th Oscar Awards.
Previously announced Oscars presenters include Will Arnett, Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kieran Culkin, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Anne Hathaway, Chase Infiniti, Mikey Madison, Paul Mescal, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Maya Rudolph and Zoe Saldaña.
Matt Berry will serve as the announcer for this year’s show, which will be hosted by Conan O’Brien.
Executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan have said that this year’s music performances are inspired by two cultural phenomena in film – and
The music performances will expand into cinematic tributes that celebrate the relationship between music and storytelling, and why both of these films resonated so deeply with audiences across the globe.
The performance will begin with a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance, celebrating the folklore and cultural inspiration that anchors the story behind the animated blockbuster. Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, the singing voices behind HUNTR/X, will perform the Oscar-nominated original song from the film.
The performance will see Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq perform the Oscar-nominated original song They will be joined by Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone Kingfish Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey, and Alice Smith in an homage to the film’s singular visual style.
The awards show will also include appearances by Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
The big names up for awards on Sunday include Jessie Buckley, the frontrunner to win Best Actress for and Timothée Chalamet, who is hoping for third time lucky after two previous acting nominations.
The film has made history as the first film to score 16 nods, while writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's political action-comedy has received 13 nominations this year.
The Oscars will be streamed on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from 11pm on Sunday. The ceremony will be broadcast live, and you can also catch the highlights on RTÉ2 at 9.30pm on Monday.
