
People are flooding to social media in praise of Cillian Murphy’s speech at the 2024 Oscars.
At the 96th Academy Awards ceremony last night (10 March), the Irish-born actor took home the award for Best Actor for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
And there’s one part of his speech you may’ve missed or not quite understood and that’s because Murphy concluded his speech with a sentence spoken in Irish. Here’s Murphy giving possibly the best acceptance speech ever heard:
The 47-year-old starred in the 2023 release as the titular character, taking on the role of American theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer – the man who created the atomic bomb.
The performance saw him take home the award for Best Actor and subsequently become the first Irish-born person to win the accolade.
In his speech Murphy said: “I’m a little overwhelmed. Thank you to The Academy, Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, it’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the last 20 years, I owe you more than I can say.
“Every single crew member, every single cast member on Oppenheimer you guys carried me through. All my fellow nominees, I remain in awe of you guys, truly.”
The actor went on to thank his ‘incredible team’ alongside his wife and other members of his family, however, it’s his final comment which shouldn’t have slipped your notice.

Murphy continued his speech by noting he’s a ‘very proud Irish man standing here tonight’.
He resolved: “You know, we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world so I would really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere. Go raibh mile maith agat.”
‘Go raibh mile maith agat’ is Irish for ‘a thousand thank yous,’ according to Machnamh.com.
And the actor’s conclusion of his speech in Irish Gaelic has seen an outpouring of praise for him online.

A clip of Murphy’s speech was shared to Reddit thread r/ireland by u/TombstonePete and people flooded to the post to weigh in on the actor’s use of the language
U/MIM86 said: “We hear ‘Go raibh míle maith agat’ so much nationally but to hear it being spoken by Cillian at the Oscars like this hits a bit differently. Absolute legend!”
“I very rarely care for celebrities and awards and I feel weird about national pride. But f**k me I am chuffed for the man. Hearing Irish being spoke on stage at this level of event made me smile,” u/Thebunsenburger added.
And U/Saint_EDGEBOI commented: “Absolute class act. Nice little message towards the end that I’m interpreting as a nod to Ireland’s support of a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s important for us to be the nation that always advocates for peace.”
Oscars 2024 Winners
Best director
Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon – Martin Scorsese
Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan – WINNER
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer
Best actor
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer – WINNER
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction
Best actress
Annette Bening – Nyad
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller – Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Emma Stone – Poor Things – WINNER
Best picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer – WINNER
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best supporting actress
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
America Ferrera – Barbie
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers – WINNER
Best animated short
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko – WINNER
Best animated feature
The Boy and the Heron – WINNER
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best original screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall – WINNER
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives
Best adapted screenplay
American Fiction – WINNER
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best make-up and hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things – WINNER
Society of the Snow
Best production design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things – WINNER
Best costume design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things – WINNER
Best international feature
Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers’ Lounge
The Zone of Interest – WINNER
Best supporting actor
Sterling K Brown – American Fiction
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon