Talk about a pot of gold! St. Patrick’s Day is about more than simply wearing a green sweater and drinking a pint of Guinness. It’s also the perfect opportunity to drool over the Irish brogue and glistening six-packs (we’re not talking about green beer) of some of Hollywood’s elite from across the pond.
Here are the Top 10 hunky Irish celebs to get your Sham-rocked this St. Paddy’s Day!
Our OG favorite Irish bad boy, 38, has wooed many with his Lucky Charms. Not only has he cleaned his act up in recent years, starring in hit films like 2009’s Crazy Heart and 2013’s Saving Mr. Banks, but he’s also become an advocate for same-sex marriage in Ireland.
“Same-sex couples are already parents in Ireland… without same-sex marriage being legalized, without the constitution being changed to support this demographic of our community, it’s the children who are going to be left in the dark if there’s a separation,” Farrell said on Irish TV network RTE in January.
Dreamy and fighting for justice? Swoon!
2. Cillian Murphy
Everyone loves a villain! Add in those piercing sky blue eyes and the Cork native makes being bad look oh so good. He brought Batman villain the Scarecrow to life in all three of Christopher Nolan’s installments of the DC Comics films. He also terrorized Rachel McAdams in the 2005 thriller Red Eye. As evil as he is on-screen, Murphy, 38, has a heart of gold and is a feminist in real life.
“It’s a much tougher world for women,” he told Film Ireland Magazine in 2013. “Irish actresses are on the way up at the moment. But it’s a much tougher and far more judgmental world for actresses. Men can play soldiers and cops and stuff for the rest of their lives. For women after a certain age the roles start to become thinner and thinner, you know. And that is just the way this awful show-business world is set up.”
3. Michael Fassbender
Though technically born in Germany, Fassebender, 37, whose mother hails from Northern Ireland, spent the majority of his childhood in Killarney. This sexy ginger is the master of switching accents, playing British Lieutenant Archie Hicox in 2009’s Inglourious Basterds, a role that required him to ditch his Irish brogue for an English one before impersonating a German officer while undercover. Fassbender will have to go American for the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, in which he will play the late Apple cofounder. But one of his most memorable roles was as sex addict Brandon in 2011’s Shame. One thing we didn’t feel while watching this stud clothes-free: shame!
4. Jamie Dornan
From sexy Irish underwear model to Christian Grey! Growing up in Belfast, Dornan, 32, got his first break in 2006’s Marie Antoinette. After several memorable TV spots on hit shows Once Upon a Time and The Fall, Dornan landed the coveted role of the billionaire with an S&M fetish in Fifty Shades of Grey. Sorry, ladies, but this stud married singer-songwriter Amelia Warner in 2013. In November 2013, she welcomed their daughter Dulcie.
He’s played British royalty and even a Romanian vampire, but in real life, Rhys Meyers, 37, hails from Dublin. Though he has a naughty reputation, it only makes his on-screen roles all the more steamy. It’s hard to pick a favorite, whether it be the villainous King Henry VIII on The Tudors or the sex-crazed Count Dracula in the short-lived NBC series.
“Playing Henry [VIII] was about having people see me as a lean, mean, testosterone machine,” he told Details in 2010. Mmmm, yes please!
6. Niall Horan
This One Direction cutie, 21, is the group’s only Irishman among four other Brits, but he reps his homeland with pride.
“for such a small country/ small population , the power that the Irish name carries around the world is unbelievable ! #pride,” the blonde hottie tweeted on March 17.
7. Colin O’Donoghue
Captain Hooks Us in! Having attended the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, O’Donoghue’s swarthy features and on point facial hair make him the sexiest Captain Hook we’ve ever seen. He was cast as the Peter Pan villain on the hit ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time in 2012.
“I get all the saucy lines, and I wear leather pants,” O’Donoghue, 34, gushed to RTE in 2013.
8. Chris O’Dowd
His goofy-yet-lovable characters make O’Dowd, 35, the Irish Jim Halpert. Though he’s been in the business since 2003, O’Dowd got his big break in 2011’s Bridemaids as love interest Officer Rhodes. He is currently starring in the sitcom Moone Boy, which he wrote, and is filming in his homeland.
9. Devon Murray
Blimey! When he’s not busy lighting things on fire as the pyromaniac wizard Seamus Finnigan in the Harry Potter series, Murray, 26, is lighting our hearts ablaze with his baby blues. The Kildare native is also fiercely proud of his Irish upbringing.
“Okay so for everyone mentioning #StPaddysDay remember it’s not #StPattysDay haha every year without fail I get them :),” he tweeted on March 17.
10. Pierce Brosnan
There may be more salt in his pepper these days, but there’s no denying that this former James Bond, now 61, is a certifiable stud. Not only is he the king of the action flicks, but he also has a heart of gold when it comes to the environment and charity work. Brosnan is an ambassador for UNICEF Ireland and was named Best Dressed Environmentalist by the Sustainable Style Foundation.
Bonus Pick: Allen Leech
He plays Tom Branson, the noble chauffeur-turned-gentry-through-marriage/widower on Downton Abbey, but in real life Leech, 33, is a Dublin native. In addition to his role on the award-winning series, we also love Leech for his hilarious red carpet antics. At the 2015 BAFTA Awards, his shirt button popped off in the middle of an interview, and mocking his own red carpet pose on Twitter he wrote in January, “So a lesson in ‘How to Red Carpet.. By @CharlieCW who looks radiant and then me who just looks like I need to poop!”
Tell Us: Who’s your favorite Irish hottie?
