It’ll take time for Jessie’s great win to sink in

Given that it’s hard to process certain huge events in the moment, it’ll take some time for Jessie Buckley’s extraordinary Oscar-winning achievement to be fully understood and appreciated.

At the star-studded event in Los Angeles at the weekend, Kerry’s pride and joy became the very first Irish woman to receive an Oscar for Best Actress. Our Jessie made history.

It’s a staggering, world-class acknowledgment of her magnificent talent as an actor and entertainer and one that most people, with even a passing awareness of her over the past decade or so, would have expected to happen at some stage. But when it happens, at such scale and depth, it takes the breath away.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that this Oscar success will change Jessie Buckley’s life in ways nobody can envisage. But judging by the obvious ‘groundedness’ that she, her family and friends have demonstrated during her unstoppable rise to stardom, any change that occurs will enhance, and not detract.

Jessie Buckley will wear her fame lightly, with grace and decency, without forgetting where it all began and the many people who helped and inspired her along the way. That’s for sure.

She has worked hard to get to where she is today and the support she has received from the sidelines from everybody here in Kerry and throughout the entire country is a reflection of her own innate humanity and good spirit, plus her irresistible smile.

It also puts the lie to the notion that we Irish are a nation of begrudgers which, I have always felt, was just a vicious smear on our collective character. Because the truth is, we all rejoice at her historic triumph and look forward to the further blossoming of her contributions to entertainment and creativity for decades into the future.

It’s not clear at this stage when Jessie Buckley will be able to schedule in a visit home to her native Killarney to celebrate her Oscar with wider family and friends. Apart from what is certain to be a heavy workload, she also has her hands full right now with her little baby daughter Isla.

But it’s appropriate that Kerry County Council should now commence plans to honour Jessie Buckley with a full civic reception as an expression of the joy and admiration we all feel for her in the Kingdom.

What’s the point of success if it’s not shared around. The people of Kerry are superbly proud of Jessie Buckley and there’s no doubt whatsoever that, given the opportunity to welcome her back to her native Killarney, they’ll throng the streets in their thousands.

Congratulations Jessie Buckley.