The biggest night in Hollywood happened in Los Angeles tonight and as a nation, we had a specially vested interest in this year's award show.
With a whopping quarter of the acting nominations being taken up by Irish actors, AND an Irish language film getting a nom for the first time in history, we went in with high hopes.
And while there was disappointment in the acting categories with no Irish wins, there was so no shortage of Irish success on the night.
The Northern Irish comedy-drama An Irish Goodbye won Best Live-Action Short Film and Tallaght Man Richard Baneham won his second visual effects Oscar for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water.
The alternative universe action comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once was the biggest winner on the night winning 7 Oscars, including Best Picture, Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Original Screenplay, Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan).
Michelle Yeoh's win meant she was the first ever Asian women to take home the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Michelle Yeoh accepts the Oscar for Best Actress for her outstanding performance in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/fIDMBH1rEy
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023
And despite absolute raking in the nominations, The Banshees of Inisherin went home empty-handed, losing out in all nine categories.
An Cailín Ciúin made history when it was nominated, as it's the first ever full length feature film as Gaeilge to be nominated for an Oscar. On the night however, they lost out to German film All Quiet on the Western Front.
And there was further disappointment for the Irish in the Best Actor category as our men Colin Farrell and Paul Mescal were up for the big award, but lost out to Brendan Fraser for his role in The Whale. He was gracious to his fellow nominees in his speech, with good old Colin giving him great support from the audience.
Brendan Fraser accepts the Best Actor Oscar for his incredible performance in 'The Whale' #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/ofuc00ckv3
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023
Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan were up for awards in the supporting actor categories but lost out to Everything Everywhere All at Once's Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan respectively.
Dubliner Jonathan Redmond was also up for an award for his editing work on Elvis, which also lost out to the big winner Everything Everywhere All at Once.
On the red carpet before the event, Brendan Gleeson reminded us all it's an honour just to be there.
"Nobody's going to believe me when I say it, but I've just taken joy out of this. It's a historic occasion, it's a cinematic story that's ours that works in a cinematic town and all over the world. There's no downside to it. If we win anything, it'd be brilliant - but it doesn't really matter that much."
The Irish wins also brought some moments to remember. Richard Baneham began his acceptance speech for Avatar: The Way Of Water by saying "Go raibh maith agat."
An Irish Goodbye's writer-directors, Tom Berkeley and Ross White, were joined onstage by stars James Martin and Séamus O'Hara as they accepted their Oscar.
The team behind the short film had the audience sing happy birthday to James, who turned 31 on the day. Imagine being able to say a room full of celebrities sang Happy Birthday to you - talk about a flex!
Oh now this is just lovely 🥰 https://t.co/XFuuaewthg
— 98FM (@98FM) March 13, 2023
Director Ross White described James, who has Down's syndrome, as "the beating heart of our film" backstage in the winners' room.
He told the PA news agency: "We just wanted to make sure he had an extra special moment, so it was amazing to have everyone singing for him at the Dolby Theatre - how ridiculous!"
We'll be able to watch the 95th Academy Awards here at home tonight on RTE One at 9.30pm
