BANDON native Fiona Crowley has sent her congratulations to her former drama student Jessie Buckley on becoming the first Irish woman to win a Best Actress Oscar.

Fiona, who runs her own stage school in Killarney – noted the significance of the date (March 15th) of Jessie’s historic win for her role in Hamnet opposite Paul Mescal.

‘Jessie appeared on the first episode of the BBC talent series ‘I’d Do Anything’ on March 15th 2008, and exactly 20 years later on the same date she won an Oscar,’ said Fiona.

Fiona was one of the lucky ones invited by the Buckley family to attend an Oscar party at Jessie’s uncle’s hotel in the Arbutus in Killarney late into the hours on Sunday night.

‘They invited family and friends to the event and there was about 50 of us in total. I stayed until she was announced the winner at around 3am but was back in the hotel early the following morning to speak on radio shows.’

Fiona said Jessie is an inspiration to all the girls in her stage school proving that anything is achievable if you put in the hard work.

She said the Oscar win has even inspired some local girls to audition for prestigious London acting schools this week.

‘I still believe that it’s all about the art of the craft. The work that she put into that role is testament to the art and the craft. You also need to be happy with the work you’ve done.’

She stressed that Jessie’s success wasn’t overnight and it’s 20 years in the making and said her ‘humility’ has helped her to achieve huge success in her acting career.

Fiona took Jessie ‘under her wing’ when she was younger as a member of Killarney Musical Society.

She said the buzz around Killarney over the past few days since Jessie’s Oscar win has been unbelievable with TV and radio crews descending on the town.

Meanwhile, her first cousin, Rory Buckley of the Castle Hotel in Macroom told Cork’s 96FM The Opinion Line that there wasn’t a ‘dry eye in the house’ as about her family and friends watched the Oscars in Buckley’s Bar in the Arbutus Hotel in Killarney.

‘It was amazing and all night there was excitement but when she got the award and gave her wonderful speech I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house really. It kind of just hit everyone then what she’d achieved and where she had come from,’ said Rory.

‘Everyone had such fantastic memories of her growing up and being in school plays and things like that.’

Jessie’s historic Oscar win wraps up a busy awards season for the actress having picked up Best Actress awards at the Golden Globes, BATFA, Actors Guild Awards and IFTAs.

She is currently on the big screen in The Bride! Read our review of the movie on page 20.