On Thursday night, Hollywood’s Irish, and Irish-for-a-night, raised a pint in celebration of the 12th Annual Oscar Wilde Awards held at Bad Robot in Santa Monica, CA. Emceed by J.J. Abrams, the evening feted honorees including Academy Award nominated Ruth Negga, Caitriona Balfe, Martin Short, Zachary Quinto, and Glen Hansard. Performances by Hansard as well as Irish duo Glenn & Ronan set the backdrop for the casual outdoor event hosted by the non-profit US-Ireland Alliance.

Abrams opened the evening with kind memories of his late friend and former Oscar Wilde honoree, Carrie Fisher. Remarks from the honorees were lovingly strung together with cheeky quotes from the great Oscar Wilde and each honoree spoke from the heart about what their Irish ties meant to them in their personal and professional lives. While accepting his award, Glen Hansard led the crowd in an impromptu sing-along of This Land is Your Land. He also had Irish poet Stephen James Smith join him for a recitation of Smith’s poem My Ireland.