Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor

The Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor was an award bestowed by the Irish Film & Television Academy celebrating outstanding performances by actors in supporting roles in films and television dramas. It was a joint category until 2005, where actors were nominated from films and television dramas for the same award. The 3rd Irish Film & Television Awards introduced the current separate categories: Irish Film & Television Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Film and Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Television.

IFTA Award for Supporting Actor
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Country	Ireland
Presented by	Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA)
First award	2003
Most recent winner	Brían F. O'Byrne, Conclave (2025)
Website	ifta.ie

Winners and nominees

Table key

‡	Indicates the winner

2003-2004

Year	Actor	Film/Television Drama	Ref.
2003 (1st)	David Wilmot ‡	Intermission	[1]
	Colin Farrell	Intermission
	Ciarán Hinds	Veronica Guerin
	Gerard McSorley	Veronica Guerin
	Owen Roe	Any Time Now
2004 (2nd)	Peter O'Toole ‡	Troy	[2]
	Colum Convey	Holy Cross
	Gary Lydon	The Clinic
	Ciarán Nolan	Man About Dog
	Jim Norton	Proof

Film

2000s

Year	Actor	Film	Ref.
2005 (3rd)	David Kelly ‡	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	[3]
	Seán McGinley	On a Clear Day
	Cillian Murphy	Batman Begins
	Tadgh Murphy	Boy Eats Girl
2006 (4th)	Liam Cunningham ‡	The Wind That Shakes the Barley	[4]
	Pádraic Delaney	The Wind That Shakes the Barley
	Gerard McSorley	Middletown
	Stephen Rea	Breakfast on Pluto
2007 (5th)	Brendan Conroy ‡	Kings	[5]
	Donal O'Kelly	Kings
	Conor J. Ryan	Garage
	Don Wycherley	Speed Dating
2008 (6th)	Liam Cunningham ‡	Hunger	[6]
	Stuart Graham	Hunger
	Gerard McSorley	Anton
	Peter O'Toole	Dean Spanley
2009 (7th)	Aidan Quinn ‡	The Eclipse	[7]
	Simon Delaney	Happy Ever Afters
	Michael Fassbender	Fish Tank
	Michael Gambon	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2010s

Year	Actor	Film	Ref.
2010 (8th)	Pierce Brosnan ‡	The Ghost Writer	[8]
	Colin Farrell	The Way Back
	Brendan Gleeson	Perrier's Bounty
	Cillian Murphy	Inception
2011 (9th)	Chris O'Dowd ‡	Bridesmaids
	Liam Cunningham	The Guard
	Brendan Gleeson	Albert Nobbs
	Ciarán Hinds	The Debt
2012 (10th)	Domhnall Gleeson ‡	Anna Karenina	[9]
	Ciarán Hinds	The Woman in Black
	Michael McElhatton	Death of a Superhero
	David Wilmot	Shadow Dancer
2013 (11th)	Michael Fassbender ‡	12 Years a Slave	[10]
	Colin Farrell	Saving Mr. Banks
	Edward MacLiam	Run & Jump
	Peter McDonald	The Stag
2014 (12th)	Domhnall Gleeson ‡	Frank	[11]
	Allen Leech	The Imitation Game
	James Nesbitt	Gold
	Andrew Scott	Pride
2015 (13th)	Jack Reynor ‡	Sing Street	[12]
	Sean T. Ó Meallaigh	The Callback Queen
	Domhnall Gleeson	Brooklyn
	Owen Roe	Pursuit
	Michael Smiley	My Name Is Emily
2016 (14th)	Jason O'Mara ‡	The Siege of Jadotville	[13]
	Colin Farrell	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
	Brendan Gleeson	Trespass Against Us
	Ciarán Hinds	Bleed for This
	Chris Walley	The Young Offenders
2017 (15th)	Barry Keoghan ‡	The Killing of a Sacred Deer	[14]
	Jacob McCarthy	The Drummer and The Keeper
	Andrew Scott	Handsome Devil
	Fionn Walton	Cardboard Gangsters
	Barry Ward	Maze
2018/19 (16th)	David Wilmot ‡	Ordinary Love	[15]
	Lorcan Cranitch	The Dig
	Dara Devaney	Arracht
	Barry Keoghan	Calm with Horses
	Ian Lloyd Anderson	Dublin Oldschool
	Stephen Rea	Black '47

2020s

Year	Actor	Film	Ref.
2020/21 (17th)	Barry Ward ‡	Dating Amber	[16]
	Brian Gleeson	Death of a Ladies' Man
	Colm Meaney	Pixie
	Conleth Hill	Herself
	Ned Dennehy	Undergods
2021/22 (18th)	Ciarán Hinds ‡	Belfast	[17]
	Jamie Dornan	Belfast
	Cillian Ó'Gairbhí	Foscadh
	Dean Quinn	Who We Love
	Tom Vaughan-Lawlor	The Bright Side
2022/23 (19th)	Brendan Gleeson ‡	The Banshees of Inisherin	[18]
	Pierce Brosnan	Black Adam
	Colin Farrell	The Batman
	Barry Keoghan	The Banshees of Inisherin
	Paul Mescal	God's Creatures
	Andrew Scott	Catherine Called Birdy
2023 (20th)	Paul Mescal ‡	All of Us Strangers	[19]
	Diarmuid Noyes	Double Blind
	Chris Walley	Lies We Tell
	Kenneth Branagh	Oppenheimer
	Liam Carney	Sunlight
	Lalor Roddy	That They May Face The Rising Sun

Television Drama

2000s

Year	Actor	Television Drama	Ref.
2005	Garrett Lombard	Pure Mule	[3]
	Gary Lydon	The Clinic
	John Lynch	The Baby War
	Chris O'Dowd	The Clinic
2006	Gary Lydon	The Clinic	[4]
	Liam Cunningham	Murphy's Law
	Allen Leech	Legend
	Chris O'Dowd	Showbands
2007	Nick Dunning	The Tudors	[5]
	Leroy Harris	Prosperity
	Eamonn Hunt	The Running Mate
	Gary Lydon	The Clinic
2008	Peter O'Toole	The Tudors	[6]
	Michael Fassbender	The Devil's Whore
	David Herlihy	The Clinic
	John Kavanagh	George Gently
2009	Stephen Rea	Father & Son	[7]
	Declan Conlon	Fair City
	Diarmuid Noyes	Pure Mule – The Last Weekend
	Owen Roe	Val Falvey, TD

2010s

Year	Actor	Television Drama	Ref.
2010	Stephen Rea	Single Handed	[8]
	Brian Gleeson	Love/Hate
	Seán McGinley	Wild Decembers
	Eamon Morrissey	Fair City
2011	Tom Vaughan-Lawlor	Love/Hate
	Brendan Coyle	Downton Abbey
	Aidan Gillen	Game of Thrones
	Robert Sheehan	Misfits
2012	Andrew Scott	Sherlock	[9]
	Peter Coonan	Love/Hate
	Allen Leech	Downton Abbey
	Chris O'Dowd	Moone Boy
2013	Peter Coonan	Love/Hate	[10]
	Liam Cunningham	Game of Thrones
	Aidan Gillen	Game of Thrones
	Allen Leech	Downton Abbey
2014	Stephen Rea	The Honourable Woman	[11]
	John Connors	Love/Hate
	Liam Cunningham	Game of Thrones
	Andrew Scott	Sherlock
2015	Moe Dunford	Vikings	[12]
	Ned Dennehy	Dickensian
	Liam Cunningham	Game of Thrones
	Robert O'Mahoney	An Klondike
	Stephen Rea	War & Peace
2016	Ned Dennehy	An Klondike	[13]
	Liam Cunningham	Game of Thrones
	Moe Dunford	Vikings
	Andrew Scott	The Hollow Crown
	Robert Sheehan	Fortitude
2017	Liam Cunningham	Game of Thrones	[14]
	Moe Dunford	Vikings
	Aidan Gillen	Game of Thrones
	Owen McDonnell	Paula
	Jason O'Mara	Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2018-2019	Mark O'Halloran	The Virtues	[15]
	Liam Cunningham	Game of Thrones
	Barry Keoghan	Chernobyl
	Owen McDonnell	Killing Eve
	Cillian O’Gairbhi	Blood
	Tom Vaughan-Lawlor	Dublin Murders

2020s

Year	Actor	Television Drama	Ref.
2020	Fionn O'Shea	Normal People	[16]
	Desmond Eastwood	Normal People
	Éanna Hardwicke	Smother
	Colm Meaney	Gangs of London
	Andrew Scott	His Dark Materials
2021	Ciarán Hinds	Kin	[17]
	Peter Coonan	Hidden Assets
	Owen McDonnell	Three Families
	Emmett J. Scanlan	Kin
	Andrew Scott	The Pursuit of Love
2022	Moe Dunford	The Dry	[18]
	Brian Gleeson	Bad Sisters
	Ciarán Hinds	The Dry
	Daryl McCormack	Bad Sisters
	Michael Smiley	Bad Sisters
	Tommy Tiernan	Conversations with Friends
2023	Richard Dormer	Blue Lights	[19]
	Jared Harris	Foundation
	Aaron Monaghan	Hidden Assets
	Aidan Gillen	Kin
	Emmett J. Scanlan
	Simon Delaney	The Woman in the Wall

See also

• Irish Film & Television Award for Best Supporting Actress – Film