Oscar nods for ‘Sinners’ is music to Cork composer Iarla’s ears

The Cork composer Iarla Ó Lionáird — who worked as a vocalist, arranger, and musical consultant on the first film in history to receive 16 Oscar nominations — has said it deserves every success.

, a 2025 supernatural thriller by director Ryan Coogler, stars Michael B Jordan as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who start a blues club in 1930s Mississippi while fighting the Ku Klux Klan, and vampires. It has received nods including best picture, director, leading actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, and original score.

One of its most striking scenes features British-Irish actor Jack O’Connell, as Irish vampire Remmick, performing a spectacular version of Rocky Road to Dublin.

The song was arranged by Baile Mhúirne native Mr Ó Lionáird, who worked as a musical consultant on the scene.

He told The Echo that his role in the film had been very confined, but very rewarding.

“I was surprised they came to me,” he said.

“They had already designed the shot, and what they wanted to happen in that shot, in terms of pace, tone, and atmosphere.

“What was very unusual about the scene, was the music was as much leading the film as the filmography, they weren’t going to shoot the scene unless they understood whether or not an aspect of that song could be delivered in a specific way.”

His role was to design a method by which Jack O’Connell could sing the opening verse of Rocky Road to Dublin in a way that chimed with the atmosphere the producers were attempting to create.

“It was much slower, less rhythmical, and much more atmospheric, before it broke into the rhythmic dancing,” Mr Iarla Ó Lionáird said.

“That was the challenge, but it was a really confined role. I really don’t want to take any credit for anything to do with the nomination, other than to say I’m absolutely delighted that they have achieved the nomination, because they deserve it.”

He said it had been “delightful” to work with composer Ludwig Göransson and his wife, Serena, the producer of the film’s soundtrack.

“I had the opportunity to speak to Jack O’Connell after he had sung the piece, and I was in a position to tell him how much I delighted in what he had done.”

Mr Ó Lionáird said he thought Sinners was a remarkable film.

“I do remember when they were telling me it was a vampire movie, maybe I had an eye-roll moment, nobody could blame you for that. But it turns out that it was a very profound, very intelligent, very interesting piece of filmmaking.

“It’s a very important movie about the nature of music and the contribution of African-Americans, Africans initially, and the ways that music becomes a most powerful human expression that defines a nation, a people, in a really profound way,” he said.

The 2026 Academy Awards feature several Irish nominees, led by Killarney’s Jessie Buckley, nominated for best actress for her role as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet.

Coleraine-born author Maggie O’Farrell and Hamnet director Chloé Zhao — who adapted the screenplay together from Ms O’Farrell’s novel — could win a best adapted screenplay Oscar.

Dubliner Richard Baneham, already a double Oscar winner for his work on Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, is again nominated in the visual effects category for Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Sci-fi comedy Bugonia, which includes the Dublin-based Element Pictures among its producers, has received four nominations: best picture, best actress, best original score, and best adapted screenplay. Retirement Plan, directed by Dubliner John Kelly, starring Domhnall Gleeson, is up for best animated short film.

The Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 15.