IFTA Award for Best Lead Actress – Film

IFTA Award for Lead Actress – Film
The 2024 recipient: Saoirse Ronan
Awarded forBest Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
CountryIreland
Presented byIrish Film & Television Academy (IFTA)
First award2003
Most recent winnerSaoirse Ronan, The Outrun (2025)
Websiteifta.ie

The IFTA Award for Lead Actress – Film is an award presented annually by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA). It has been presented since the 1st Irish Film & Television Awards ceremony in 2003 to an Irish actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a feature film.

The record for most wins is six, held by Saoirse Ronan, while Eva Birthistle has won the award twice. Ronan also holds the record for most nominations with nine. Seána Kerslake has the most nominations without winning, with four. Ronan is the award's most recent winner, for The Outrun (2024).

Eligibility

The award is exclusively open to Irish actresses; there is a separate International award for non-Irish actresses. The rules define an Irish person as follows:

  • Born in Ireland (32 counties) or
  • Have Irish Citizenship or
  • Be full-time resident in Ireland (minimum of 3 years)[1]
Eva Birthistle won twice, for Ae Fond Kiss (2004) and Middletown (2006).
Eileen Walsh won for Eden (2008).
Saoirse Ronan won six times, for The Lovely Bones (2009), Hanna (2011), Byzantium (2012), Brooklyn (2015), Lady Bird (2017), and The Outrun (2024).
Amy Huberman won for Rewind (2010).
Ruth Negga won for Loving (2016).
Jessie Buckley won for Wild Rose (2018).
Nika McGuigan won posthumously for Wildfire (2020).

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years are listed as the year of film. The first three ceremonies were held at the end of the year, but since the 4th Irish Film & Television Awards the ceremonies have generally been held the following year. As there was no ceremony in 2019, the 16th Irish Film & Television Awards covered a period of two years.[2]

Table key
‡ Indicates the winner
† Indicates a posthumous winner

2000s

Year Actress Film Ref.
2003
(1st) 		Angeline Ball ‡ Bloom [3]
Bronagh Gallagher Spin the Bottle
Maria Doyle Kennedy Mystics
Flora Montgomery Goldfish Memory
Natascha McElhone Solaris
2004
(2nd) 		Eva Birthistle ‡ Ae Fond Kiss [4]
Eva Birthistle Timbuktu
Michèle Forbes Omagh
Brenda Fricker Inside I'm Dancing
Louise Lewis Adam & Paul
2005
(3rd) 		Renée Weldon ‡ Trouble with Sex [5]
Andrea Corr The Boys & Girl from County Clare
Jillian Bradbury Winter's End
Winnie Maughan Pavee Lackeen
2006
(4th) 		Eva Birthistle ‡ Middletown [6]
Gemma Doorly A Song for Rebecca
Pauline McLynn Gypo
Ruth Negga Isolation
2007[a]
(5th) 		Bríd Ní Neachtain Cré na Cille [7]
2008
(6th) 		Eileen Walsh ‡ Eden [8]
Jenn Murray Dorothy
Kelly O'Neill Kisses
Saoirse Ronan City of Ember
2009
(7th) 		Saoirse Ronan ‡ The Lovely Bones [9]
Janice Byrne Zonad
Amy Kirwan Eamon
Jae Yourell Happy Ever Afters

2010s

Year Actress Film Ref.
2010[b]
(8th) 		Amy Huberman ‡ Rewind [11]
2011
(9th) 		Saoirse Ronan ‡ Hanna [12]
Aoife Duffin Behold the Lamb
Antonia Campbell-Hughes The Other Side of Sleep
Marcella Plunkett Stella Days
2012
(10th) 		Ruth Bradley ‡ Grabbers [13]
Anne-Marie Duff Sanctuary
Seána Kerslake Dollhouse
Róisín Murphy What Richard Did
2013
(11th) 		Saoirse Ronan ‡ Byzantium [14]
Antonia Campbell-Hughes 3096 Days
Jane McGrath Black Ice
Kelly Thornton Life's a Breeze
2014
(12th) 		Deirdre O'Kane ‡ Noble [15]
Tara Breathnach A Nightingale Falling
Jordanne Jones I Used to Live Here
Simone Kirby Jimmy's Hall
2015
(13th) 		Saoirse Ronan ‡ Brooklyn [16]
Eva Birthistle Swansong
Ruth Bradley Pursuit
Orla Brady The Price of Desire
Evanna Lynch My Name Is Emily
2016
(14th) 		Ruth Negga ‡ Loving [17]
Caoilfhionn Dunne In View
Seána Kerslake A Date for Mad Mary
Aisling Loftus Property of the State
Catherine Walker A Dark Song
2017
(15th) 		Saoirse Ronan ‡ Lady Bird [18]
Sarah Bolger Halal Daddy
Ann Skelly Kissing Candice
2018/19
(16th) 		Jessie Buckley ‡ Wild Rose [19]
Aisling Franciosi The Nightingale
Bronagh Gallagher A Bump Along the Way
Sarah Greene Rosie
Seána Kerslake The Hole in the Ground
Saoirse Ronan Little Women

2020s

Year Actress Film Ref.
2020/21
(17th) 		Nika McGuigan † Wildfire [20]
Jessie Buckley I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Clare Dunne Herself
Lola Petticrew Dating Amber
Nora-Jane Noone Wildfire
2021/22
(18th) 		Catherine Clinch ‡ An Cailín Ciúin [21]
Niamh Algar Censor
Angeline Ball Deadly Cuts
Gemma-Leah Devereux The Bright Side
Hazel Doupe You Are Not My Mother
2022/23
(19th) 		Bríd Ní Neachtain ‡ Róise & Frank [22]
Zara Devlin Ann
Danielle Galligan Lakelands
Kelly Gough Tarrac
Seána Kerslake Ballywalter
Alisha Weir Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
2023
(20th) 		Agnes O'Casey ‡ Lies We Tell [23]
Jessie Buckley Fingernails
Eve Hewson Flora and Son
Saoirse Ronan Foe
Bríd Brennan My Sailor, My Love
Geraldine McAlinden Verdigris
2024
(21st) 		Saoirse Ronan ‡ The Outrun [24]
Carolyn Bracken Oddity
Jessie Buckley Wicked Little Letters
Hazel Doupe Kathleen Is Here
Eileen Walsh Small Things Like These
Alisha Weir Abigail

Multiple awards and nominations

The following individuals have received two or more Lead Actress awards:

Wins Actor Nominations
6 Saoirse Ronan 9
2 Eva Birthistle 4

The following individuals have received two or more Lead Actress nominations:

Nominations Actor
9 Saoirse Ronan
4 Eva Birthistle
Jessie Buckley
Seána Kerslake
2 Angeline Ball
Ruth Bradley
Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Hazel Doupe
Bronagh Gallagher
Bríd Ní Neachtain
Ruth Negga
Eileen Walsh
Alisha Weir

Notes

  1. ^ The Lead Actress Film and TV awards were combined this year. Ní Neachtain was the only nominee from a film, and she did not win the award.
  2. ^ The Lead Actress Film and TV awards were combined this year as IFTA had “not received sufficient submissions” to have separate awards.[10] Huberman was the only nominee from a film, and went on to win the award.

References

  1. ^ "IFTA Film & Drama Awards | Rules & Guidelines for Submissions" (PDF). Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA). p. 4. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  2. ^ "IFTA Film & Drama Awards 2020 | Rules & Guidelines for Submissions" (PDF). Irish Film & Television Academy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Winners of the 1st Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  4. ^ "Winners of the 2nd Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  5. ^ "Winners of the 3rd Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  6. ^ "IFTA Winners Announced". Irish Film and Television Network. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Winners of the 5th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Winners of the 6th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  9. ^ "Irish Film & Television Awards Winners Announced". Irish Film and Television Network. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  10. ^ Daly, Susan (11 January 2011). "IFTA nominations: Where have all the actresses gone?". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  11. ^ "IFTA winners 2011 announced". RTÉ News. 13 February 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Winners of the 9th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  13. ^ "'What Richard Did' the Big Winner in Film at IFTA's". Screen Ireland. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  14. ^ Rosser, Michael (7 April 2014). "Calvary, Philomena, Byzantium each win three at IFTAs". Screen Daily. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  15. ^ "Frank, Patrick's Day and Noble Amongst the Winners at this Year's IFTA Awards Ceremony". Screen Ireland. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  16. ^ "'And the winner is'- The full list of winners at last night's IFTAs". Irish Independent. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  17. ^ "A Date for Mad Mary does a double at IFTAs". RTÉ News. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  18. ^ "Saoirse Ronan among IFTA nominees". RTÉ News. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
    "Irish stars savour their IFTA wins". RTÉ News. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  19. ^ Clarke, Sophie (18 October 2020). "All the winners at the virtual IFTA Awards". Goss.ie. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  20. ^ "IFTA Film & Drama Nominees and Winners 2021". Irish Film & Television Academy. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  21. ^ Becker, Kendra (12 March 2022). "The full list of winners at the 2022 IFTA Film & Drama Awards". Goss.ie. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  22. ^ Yossman, K.J. (9 May 2023). "Paul Mescal, Sharon Horgan Take Home Top Prizes at the Irish Film and Television Awards". Variety. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  23. ^ Szalai, George (20 April 2024). "Cillian Murphy, 'Kin' Season 2 Among Irish Film & Television Awards Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  24. ^ Frost, Caroline (15 February 2025). "Cillian Murphy, Demi Moore, Ralph Fiennes Winners At IFTA Awards (Complete Winners List)". Deadline. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
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