There was delight at Cillian Murphy’s old school community after his Oscar success for his starring role in Oppenheimer.
The principal of Murphy’s old secondary school said he “absolutely” expects students to be inspired by the Cork man’s Oscar win.
Senior politicians and film sector organisations have congratulated Murphy on becoming the first Irish-born star to win an Oscar for best actor.
The 47-year-old, who is from Douglas, Cork, said he was “overwhelmed” by the win and is “a very proud Irishman”.
He dedicated the award for his performance as J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, to “peacemakers everywhere” and thanked his “partner in life and art” Yvonne McGuinness and his two sons, Malachy and Aran.
Murphy’s Oscar win follows other successes on the awards circuit – with a Golden Globe, a Bafta and a Screen Actors Guild award bagged for his starring performance in Oppenheimer.
David Barry, the principal of Murphy’s former school, said they were “absolutely delighted”.
“Presentation Brothers College are delighted for Cillian and his family on his success in winning the Oscar. We’re so proud to have one of our past pupils so successful on the world stage,” Mr Barry told the PA news agency.
“The whole community is delighted and we want to congratulate Cillian on his fantastic success.
“Hopefully when he’s back in Cork he might be able to visit us.”
He added: “I suppose from his speech last night you can see that he was very supportive of everyone who helped him in his journey to winning the Oscar, he’s very clear and grounded in where he’s from as well and that comes from his own family background where he had supportive parents and a supportive family now.
“Your roots are really important and Cillian has worked abroad so often but really never forgets his roots and visits his parents regularly.
“Because he has such a busy schedule getting back to Ireland and Cork brings him back to who he is really.”
Asked whether students would be inspired by his win, Mr Barry said: “Oh absolutely.
“The students here have always been big fans of him, even before Oppenheimer.
“We’ve a big piece of artwork from our senior arts students – we did a collage made out of aluminium tins in the character of Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy’s character in the hit TV show Peaky Blinders) and that’s up in the school corridor.
“He’s always about for us really in our thoughts as the kids walk through the corridors everyday.”
He added: “The harder you work, the luckier you get. So if you put in the efforts you will get the rewards eventually, no matter what field you’re in.”
Murphy’s breakthrough role came in 2002 with the Danny Boyle film 28 Days Later, playing a bicycle courier who wakes from a coma to discover that the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.
He also had memorable roles in Breakfast On Pluto, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, and Sunshine, and stars in the 2024 adaptation of the Claire Keegan novel Small Things Like These.
