Now Cillian Murphy won the Oscar, will everyone finally learn how to say his name right?

Julie Jay on the trouble with Irish names

Coverage of Cillian Murphy’s Oscar nod has been a trial of endurance when it comes to pronunciations.

Recently I went for coffee with a friend. As we debated whether or not to get a scone (I say debate, but I’m not sure who we were trying to fool — a coffee without a scone is like Saltburn without Barry Keoghan — a whole lot of nothing) the waitress appeared. Given this is my friend’s local they exchanged pleasantries and at the end the waitress gave a cheeky, exaggerated wink.

“I’ll be sure to throw some extra cream on that scone Debbie,” the waitress said, which was a lovely if somewhat confusing endnote as my friend in question is called Denise. Debbie/Denise just laughed and thanked the waitress for the gesture, leaving me baffled.