Hamnet: ‘Everyone will tune in – she’s one of our own’ — Killarney Abuzz Before Oscars
Jessie Buckley is the focus of a county-wide fervour in Killarney as she heads into the Oscars for hamnet on Sunday in Los Angeles; locals, family and officials are preparing a mix of low-key gatherings and public displays to mark the moment because her performance and roots have turned this into a communal milestone.
Published 15 March 2026, 11: 00 AM ET
Most urgent facts: hometown ready, prizes and favourites
Killarney’s streets and local institutions have become a staging ground for well-wishing and nervous optimism ahead of the Academy Awards night. Bookmakers have named Buckley the runaway favourite for the Oscar for best actress, ahead of Rose Byrne, Emma Stone, Kate Hudson and Renate Reinsve, for her depiction of Agnes Hathaway in Hamnet. Radio Kerry has offered a €1, 000 prize for the most creative good-luck message, a competition that has produced songs, iced buns, plaques, poems, sand art, coffee foam and crocheted wall hangings.
Only two Irish women have previously received acting Oscars: Brenda Fricker, who won best supporting actress in 1990 for My Left Foot, and Maureen O’Hara, who received an honorary Oscar in 2014. Those facts frame the scale of expectation in County Kerry if Buckley claims the top acting prize.
Hamnet and the human reaction in Killarney
Local voices capture a mix of pride and restrained jubilation. “Everyone will tune in – she’s one of our own, ” said Sinead Van Bladel, a supermarket worker who made Buckley masks for colleagues. Denis O’Connor, a bartender at the family-run Arbutus hotel, said, “It’s all go, all week, ” and stressed the effect on young people who see Buckley as a role model. Carol Dempsey, Buckley’s aunt, explained that the adjacent Buckley’s bar would close to the public at 7pm on Sunday so relatives and close friends could gather inside to follow events in Los Angeles, adding, “This isn’t a media spectacle for us. We want to celebrate the essence of Jessie and this moment. We want to enjoy the loveliness that it is. We’re not shouters, we like to whisper. ”
A family member who declined to be named worried about the anticlimax if Buckley did not win: “Oh God, the disappointment. We’d of course still be proud but can you imagine the anticlimax?” Children with special needs contributed words that capture local feeling: “Brave, ” “Inspired, ” “Seen. ” Micheál Martin recorded a message of support for the actor.
Background on Buckley’s rise and what’s next
Buckley’s path from Killarney to awards-season prominence is rooted in her early life: she was born in Killarney to creative parents; her mother trained as a singer and harpist and her father ran a guest house and writes poetry. Her breakout film role came in 2018, and she has since won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for her role as Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s film Hamnet and received an Academy Award nomination. Her stage credentials include an Olivier Award for a 2021 revival of Cabaret and professional stage debut in A Little Night Music at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Immediately next, Killarney will measure local celebrations against the Oscar outcome. Suggestions already floated include calls that, should she sweep the major awards, Ireland might mark the occasion with symbolic honours: proposals range from a new bank holiday to the freedom of Kerry and free beer in bars. Whether those ideas proceed will depend on the result on Sunday; in the meantime the town is focused on creativity, small ceremonies and a sense that a homegrown talent is representing the community on the world stage.
Whatever unfolds on Sunday, hamnet has crystallised a rare local moment — a film performance that has turned a small town into a nervous, proud theatre of hope and quiet celebration.
