JOE Men of the Year Awards 2015: Irish TV Star of the Year

A big year for these stars of the small screen.

When you think of some of the biggest TV shows worldwide in recent years, so many of them feature an established or up-and-coming actor from this country. Game of Thrones, True Detective and Peaky Blinders are just some of the shows graced by our nominees for Irish TV Star of the Year; cast your vote at the bottom of the page. Vote on all the JOE Men of the Year categories here.

David Rawle (Moone Boy)

The nation has taken to its hearts young Martin Moone, the star of one of the funniest, sweetest and most charming sitcoms ever to have come out of this country. Odd as it sounds for a teenager with an imaginary friend, Martin is the rock that holds the rest of a show full of eccentric characters together. Rawle’s chemistry with his co-stars in all of his major relationships (imaginary friend Seán, parents Liam and Debra and, of course, best friend Padraic) is a large part of what of what makes the show so great.

Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones)

Stannis Baratheon is possibly the most dislikeable character in a show where evil pops its head around every corner, but you nearly find yourself rooting for him solely for the sake of his loyal sidekick Davos Seaworth. One of the few in Westeros with any sort of morals or compassion, Cunningham’s performance as Davos bring a touch of badly needed warmth to a place where you can’t go five seconds without winter being mentioned.

Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones)

Liam Cunningham’s Davos might be full of heart, but we’re not sure if Lord Roose Bolton, the character played by Michael McElhatton, even has one. Bolton is so comfortable with cruelty that he somehow manages to carry himself with a certain dignity despite some of the heinous things he has done and that is all down to how convincing McElhatton is in what must be a difficult role.

Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders)

More used to the big screen, Murphy has adapted seamlessly to the role of Tommy Shelby, the quietly ruthless leader of a Birmingham crime gang in the early 20 century, in the BBC production. The Corkman brings a calm authority to the leading role in an excellent series and he certainly does a better job of pulling off an unfamiliar accent than co-star Sam Neill. Colin Farrell was the most high-profile addition to the True Detective cast for the second series, but he wasn’t the only Irish actor added to the mix. Kerryman Timothy V Murphy, a regular in Sons of Anarchy and a number of US TV series in recent years, stood out as Osip Agranov, an especially shady and hard-looking Russian gangster who you would not want to cross in a hurry.