And The Irish Oscar Goes To…

 

With a record number of Oscar Nominations, Irish eyes will be firmly fixed on Hollywood when the winners are announced on March 12. But did you know the iconic Oscar statue was actually designed by an Irishman?

Ireland has a long and illustrious, award winning film history. This year, the fourteen Oscar nominations for Irish actors and films is definitely a cause for celebration, but back in the day, an astonishing 39 nominations were racked up by a single Dubliner. Production Designer Cedric Gibbons moved to New York as a child, before being hired in 1918 by Sam Goldwyn, to become Art Director of what would become MGM at the tender age of 25. He won eleven of the famous statues, for films including Pride and Prejudice, Gaslight and The Bad and the Beautiful – which is rather fitting, given that he also actually designed the iconic Oscar itself. No wonder Irish artists and Irish films have kept Oscar firmly in their sights ever since.

The Quiet Films

An Cailín Ciún, also known by its English title as The Quiet Girl, made history this year, as the first Irish Language film to be nominated in the International Category. If it does win on March 12, it will take its place alongside another Oscar winning “quiet” Irish movie – The Quiet Man. John Ford’s 1952 film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara won two Oscars, for Best Director and Best Cinematography.

While these days the plot is perhaps a little old fashioned, The Quiet Man has been preserved, since 2013, in the US Library of Congress for its cultural and aesthetic significance. It certainly is beautiful! The film’s gorgeous cinematography is a perfect reminder of the glories of its location in Cong, Co Mayo. Find out more about Irish film locations in our Film Star City blog here.

 

Make like a movie star yourself, and enquire about The Merrion’s Town & Country break, which gives you three nights in The Merrion, and three at Ashford Castle in the heart of Quiet Man Country in Cong. With the option of a chauffeur driven transfer between the two, it is a trip of a lifetime – on the subject of which – born in Ranelagh, near Dublin’s Grand Canal, Quiet Man heroine, Maureen O’Hara won a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2015. And when you’re having dinner at The Merrion’s Garden Room, check out the team uniforms, designed for us by three-time Oscar nominated designer, Consolata Boyle. Only the best…!

Cleaning up at this year’s Oscar nominations – with nine to its name – Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin is a trifle darker than The Quiet Man, but its locations, on Co Mayo’s Achill, and also Inis Mor are easily reached if you’re lingering in the vicinity. Wild, rugged and exceptionally beautiful, both spots are well worth a visit. We can’t promise that Colin Farrell or Kerry Condon will make an appearance, but the landscape truly is the star of this show.

While the hillsides and lakes of Mayo are marvellous, Dublin too has plenty to share in terms of Oscar winning film locations. Head south a short distance around Dublin Bay to find Killiney Hill, where the gorgeous views stole the final scenes of My Left Foot, although it was Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker who picked up the Oscars in 1989. Wicklow resident, Day-Lewis must have a very crowded mantelpiece, as he also won for There Will be Blood and Lincoln.

Or stay in the city centre to walk in the footsteps of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who wandered the George’s Street Arcade in Once, where today you’ll find charming independent shops and cafés, a stroll across Grafton Street from The Merrion Hotel. Hansard and Irglová won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the beautiful Falling Slowly, which soundtracked Once.

Other Irish Oscar winning stars include George Bernard Shaw, born in Synge Street (which, coincidentally, also lent its name to a rather wonderful 2016 film, Sing Street by John Carney), in 1856. Shaw is the only person ever to have won both an Oscar – for his screenplay for Pygmalion in 1938, and a Nobel Prize. There must be something in the Synge Street water!

The Irish are highly successful behind the scenes too, with plenty of Oscars for all the creativity that makes the on-screen magic happen. Kildare native Michèle Burke has won for her Make Up work on Quest for Fire and Bram Stoker’s Dracula – quite fitting, given that Stoker was a Dubliner himself. Then there’s Josie MacAvin, who won Best Production Design for Out of Africa. She donated her statue to the Irish Film Archive, and you can see it, proudly on display at the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar.

And while we wait for the winners to be announced, spare a thought for all the nominees in previous years, who walked the Red Carpet, but sadly didn’t bring home a statue. Cartoon Saloon have been nominated five times for their award-winning animations, including Wolfwalkers and The Breadwinner. Surely a win must be coming home to Kilkenny soon. Or what about The Commitments, Alan Parker’s brilliant 1991 film about a inner city Soul band? Ask any Dubliner and they’ll tell you it should have won. It’s a shame there’s no category for Best Horse in an Urban Apartment Block!

The Oscar Ceremony takes place on March 12, 2023, but ahead of that, don’t miss the Dublin International Film Festival, which runs from February 23 until March 4. The Merrion is proud to be Hospitality Partner, so expect plenty of film talk in the Drawing Rooms and Library and Cellar Bars until late in the night. Look out too for an Oscar Inspired Cocktail, created by our own star mixologists.