LAST UPDATE | 13 Jan 2020

SAOIRSE RONAN HAS been nominated for an Oscar for the fourth time in her career. 

The Irish actress has been nominated for the Academy Award for Leading Actress for her role in the adaption of Little Women.

Ronan was previously nominated for her performances in Atonement, Brooklyn and Lady Bird.

The Carlow-native is nominated alongside Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Cynthia Ervio (Harriet), Charlize Theron (Bombshell), and Renée Zellweger (Judy). 

The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD congratulated Ronan on her nomination:

“I am delighted to see Saoirse Ronan nominated for such a prestigious award – the Academy Awards are among the premier annual film industry awards and to be nominated, particularly in this category, is an honour. Saoirse Ronan’s nomination is a tribute to the strength of the Irish Film Industry and it’s fantastic to see Irish talent capturing the attention of the film industry at an international level.”

Issa Rae and John Cho announced the nominees just after 1pm Irish time. 

Elsewhere, Joker led the way with 11 nominations with The Irishman and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood close behind with 10. 

Like Ronan, Joker star Joaquin Phoenix also gets his fourth nomination having never previously won a gold statue. 

Also nominated for Leading Actor are: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes). 

There are nine nominees for Best Picture, they are:  Ford v. Ferrari; The Irishman; Jojo Rabbit; Joker; Little Women; Marriage Story; 1917; Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood; Parasite.

The best director nominees were all-male, prompting Rae to say, “Congratulations to those men”, after the names were read.

The directing nominees are: Bong Joon Ho (Parasite), Sam Mendes (1917), Todd Phillips (Joker), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood).

Some of the other nominees