IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor – TV Drama
Irish television industry award
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The IFTA Award for Supporting Actor – Drama is an award presented annually by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA). It has been presented since the 3rd Irish Film & Television Awards ceremony in 2005 to an Irish actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role in television. For the first and second ceremonies, supporting performances for film and television were combined into one category.
| IFTA Award for Supporting Actor – Drama | |
|---|---|
| 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 | Chris Walley, The Young Offenders (2026) |
| Website | ifta |
The record for most wins is three, held by Stephen Rea. The record for most nominations is nine, held by Liam Cunningham, who has won the award once. Chris Walley is the award's most recent winner, for The Young Offenders (2025).
Eligibility
The award is exclusively open to Irish actors. 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]
.jpg)
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years are listed as the year of television. 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]
| ‡ | Indicates the winner |
|---|
2000s
| Year | Actor | Programme | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003[a] (1st) |
Owen Roe | Murphy's Law | [3] |
| 2004[a] (2nd) |
Colum Convey | Holy Cross | [4] |
| Gary Lydon | The Clinic | ||
| Jim Norton | Proof | ||
| 2005 (3rd) |
Garrett Lombard ‡ | Pure Mule | [5] |
| Gary Lydon | The Clinic | ||
| John Lynch | The Baby War | ||
| Chris O'Dowd | The Clinic | ||
| 2006 (4th) |
Gary Lydon ‡ | The Clinic | [6] |
| Liam Cunningham | Murphy's Law | ||
| Allen Leech | Legend | ||
| Chris O'Dowd | Showbands | ||
| 2007 (5th) |
Nick Dunning ‡ | The Tudors | [7] |
| Denis Conway | Prosperity | ||
| Eamonn Hunt | The Running Mate | ||
| Gary Lydon | The Clinic | ||
| 2008 (6th) |
Peter O'Toole ‡ | The Tudors | [8] |
| Michael Fassbender | The Devil's Whore | ||
| David Herlihy | The Clinic | ||
| John Kavanagh | George Gently | ||
| 2009 (7th) |
Stephen Rea ‡ | Father & Son | [9] |
| Declan Conlon | Fair City | ||
| Diarmuid Noyes | Pure Mule: The Last Weekend | ||
| Owen Roe | Val Falvey, TD |
2010s
2020s
Multiple awards and nominations
The following individuals have received two or more Supporting Actor awards:
| Wins | Actor | Nominations |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Stephen Rea | 4 |
| 2 | Tom Vaughan-Lawlor | 3 |
| Ciarán Hinds | 2 |
The following individuals have received two or more Supporting Actor nominations:
Notes
- For the first two ceremonies, supporting performances for film and television were combined into one category. Only nominees from television are included in this list.