A rainbow appeared over Killarney on Monday midmorning. On the Mangerton Road, overlooking Jessie Buckley’s hometown, neighbours were quick to point out the pot of gold in the form of an Oscar had been found.
Frank Lewis on his morning stroll along the pine woods of the national park to the foot of the mountain, remarked how for Buckley, her family and the community “it’s great, it’s huge. It’s also great for Killarney”.
Down in the valley, at the Buckley family’s Arbutus Hotel, members of the clan gathered over a late breakfast.
The Arbutus Hotel itself is celebrating 100 years this year. It had been a long night, but people had taken the actor’s advice in an interview from Los Angeles – “Don’t go to bed, keep partying” – and stayed up.
Brendan Fuller, a younger cousin of the actor, paid tribute to her and to their late grandmother Dr Norrie Buckley whose work locally and nationally for people with disabilities still resonated.
Jessie Buckley might be a superstar but she had “remained Jessie”, said Fuller who works as a broadcaster on Radio Kerry and a DJ.
There was “a lot of relief” and the pressure would be off Jessie now, he said.
“She’ll get back to the family bubble.”
Brendan Fuller, who is the first cousin of actress Jessie Buckley, at the Arbutus Hotel, Killarney. Photograph: Lina Jevdet/PA Wire At the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Jessie Buckley wins Best Actress at The Oscars 2026. Clip Courtesy A.M.P.A.S.© 2026
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Another cousin, Jimmy Lyons, originally from Tralee, working as an anaesthetist at University Hospital Waterford, said he and his children were “fans and family”.
He recalled how when Buckley was 17 and taking part in the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, he had rallied his friends and colleagues in England to vote for her.
Jessie Buckley in the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything
That was over 18 years ago and she was brilliant then too, Lyons said.
“The amount of work she has done to get to where she is – people don’t see the hard work.”
Fiona Crowley, who runs a stage school in Killarney that Jessie Buckley worked at while a student, said her win is “huge” for younger people.
She said boys and girls can look up to people like Jessie and say “God, maybe I could do that” but also know, it is okay to be normal on the global stage.
Fiona Crowley at the Arbutus Hotel in Killarney. Photograph: Lina Jevdet/PA Wire
“I think that’s really important and I think that’s a really good thing.
“That’s really important for people to see you can be a mom, you can be somebody who is young, who’s vibrant, but who has lived a life going in different directions, and yet you can still be yourself.
“You don’t have to have a fake accent, you don’t have to have a fake body, you don’t have to have a fake persona. You can actually just be yourself and isn’t that what shines in the end.”
Signs for Jessie Buckley in Killarney, Co Kerry. Photograph: Lina Jevdet/PA Wire
Attention locally is now turning to a possible homecoming event. A Buckley neighbour in College Street, Niall Botty O’Callaghan of the Fáilte Hotel, a town councillor who is heavily involved in the GAA, says Killarney should host a parade through the town for her and her Oscar similar to that held for the victorious Kerry football team and the Sam Maguire. – Additional reporting PA
[ Oscars 2026: Jessie Buckley finishes a job started by three other Irish starsOpens in new window ]