President Catherine Connolly has congratulated Jessie Buckley on her Golden Globe win for best actress in a drama for Hamnet, hailing the achievement as a fresh high point for Ireland’s film industry.
“Congratulations to Jessie Buckley on her wonderful achievement in winning a Golden Globe at this year’s ceremony in Los Angeles,” Connolly said in a statement. “This award is a fantastic recognition of Jessie Buckley’s outstanding work, and of the continued exceptional success of the whole Irish film industry. May I further extend my best wishes to all those who have supported her both in this performance and across her career.”
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Buckley, from Killarney, Co. Kerry, was the favorite heading into the night for her portrayal of Agnes — the wife of William Shakespeare — in Hamnet. The film, adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel of the same name, also won best motion picture, drama. Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare opposite Buckley’s Agnes.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin praised Buckley in a post on X, calling the award “richly deserved” and adding: “Congratulations Jessie Buckley on winning Best Actress at the Golden Globes for your powerful and captivating performance in Hamnet.”
O’Farrell, speaking from Los Angeles to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, said the film’s top prize reflected the collaborative spirit of the production. “The film world isn’t really my world. I’m very used to the book world,” she said. “What’s very different about winning an award like this is it signifies a really communal effort. You know, it’s a kind of family. It’s the Hamnet family, and we all made the film together, and everybody’s been recognised, which is just really, really lovely.”
She added that the mood among the team was “pretty buoyant,” with Buckley’s individual honor a particular high point: “Everybody’s really excited. And Jessie, of course, Jessie Buckley was singled out for her best efforts, which was really fantastic to see.”
Mescal, nominated for best supporting actor, lost out to Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value. Chloe Zhao and O’Farrell were nominated for best screenplay, and Zhao for best director; both categories went to One Battle After Another. Mescal later paid a glowing tribute to Buckley in remarks after the ceremony.
Hamnet has resonated with audiences and critics for its intimate, reimagined portrait of Shakespeare’s family life and the grief that shaped his work. Buckley’s interpretation of Agnes — rooted in O’Farrell’s reclamation of a woman long overshadowed in literary history — has been widely cited as the film’s emotional anchor.
Buckley’s Golden Globe adds to a growing list of high-profile Irish successes in international cinema in recent years, and Monday’s accolades further underlined Ireland’s expanding footprint across acting, directing and screenwriting on the global stage.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
