Jessie Buckley's Cork cousins join Oscars hype

As Jessie Buckley looks to make history by becoming the first Irish winner of the Best Actress award at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday, her Cork cousins will be watching closely from her home town.

Rory Buckley, manager of the Castle Hotel in Macroom, will be hoping his Kerry cousin can add another award to her very impressive collection.

Although Jessie has been getting global recognition in recent months, Mr Buckley told The Echo yesterday that all of the family are hugely proud of what the Killarney woman has accomplished throughout her career.

“The nicest thing to say is that when you see her interviewed on TV, that is exactly how we remember her growing up. She hasn’t changed at all.

“Nothing has gone to her head or anything like that. She is still the same person that we remember from growing up, and I think that will stay with her also.”

Mr Buckley recalled: “When we were kids or teenagers, we would have been very good for having family reunions.

“So we would go back to the Killarney cousins one year and they would come to Macroom the next.

“Jessie is the same age as myself — 36. That was always her thing — the music, singing and acting.

“I don’t know if any of us could have predicted what she has gone onto. But that was always her passion from an early age.”

Gathering

Regarding the family’s plans for this coming weekend, all of the Buckley family and cousins will travel to Killarney on Sunday night to watch the Oscars from California at a gathering in the Arbutus Hotel in Killarney, where Jessie’s grandfather came from, and which her uncle Seán now runs.

“It is really exciting and a nice way to have a good family gathering as well, hopefully seeing Jessie pick up an Oscar,” said Rory.

Pride

But regardless of what happens at the Oscars on Sunday, the pride that Rory and the Buckleys have for Jessie in what she has achieved is clear.

“It has been many years of hard work for her. Hamnet has brought her to a whole new level.

“She has been at this for 17 to 18 years, and in her childhood doing stage shows and singing. So it is not an overnight success. But this has gone to a whole new level now,” Rory explained.

“For me, it is like a young fella that is mad for soccer, but you don’t expect them to grow up to be Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

“But that is what it is. When you see the names that Jessie is with the next day at the Oscars, there is Emma Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio — the best actors in the world. Jessie is up there with them now, and hopefully will win the Oscar on Sunday.”